32 Things You May Not Know About Ukraine

Ukraine has over 233,000 square miles of total area, about 9,350 square miles of which is water. It is the 48th-largest country on Earth. Ukraine is almost four times the size of the state of Georgia and slightly smaller than Texas.

Ukraine borders seven countries: Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Slovakia.

Ukraine’s major industries are coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, and food processing.

Prior to the 2022 invasion, Russia had shown aggression along its border with Ukraine – primarily demonstrated by Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Approximately 16,650 square miles, or about 7.1% of Ukraine’s area, is Russian occupied. The seized area includes all of Crimea and about one-third of both Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

Ukraine’s population was 43,745,640, as of July 2021, the 34th-largest population in the world. However, as of late March 2022, an estimated 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Most have gone to Poland.

Ukraine’s head of state is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took office in May 2019.

Ukraine has several major rivers, including the Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Vistula – all of which stretch for over 750 miles in the country.

Ukraine’s densest settlement is in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions. Its major population centers include the urban areas around Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odessa.

Ukraine’s leading exports are corn, sunflower seed oils, iron and iron products, wheat, and insulated wiring.

Ukraine’s main imports are refined petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, coal, and natural gas.

Ukraine spends an estimated 4% of its gross domestic product on its military, the 19th-highest share in the world. For context, the U.S. spends 3.5% of its GDP on the military.

Ukraine has one of the largest military forces in the world, with approximately 200,000 active troops: 125,000 in the Army, 40,000 in the Air Force, 25,000 in the Airborne and Air Assault Forces, 10,000 in the Navy, and 2,000 in its Special Operations Forces. Ukraine also has approximately 50,000 National Guard troops. Also, in early 2022, the Ukrainian government announced plans to add 100,000 personnel to the armed forces over three years.

Ukraine’s largest ethnic group is Ukrainian, at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Russians (17.3%), Belarusian (0.6%), Moldovan (0.5%), and more.

The nation’s official language is Ukrainian, which is spoken by 67.5% of the population. Nearly 30% of the country speaks Russian primarily.

Nearly all of Ukraine’s population is Christian, and two-thirds of Christians identify as Orthodox, but many do not specify a particular branch. Other religions include Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish.

Even prior to the war, Ukraine had been shrinking faster than nearly all other nations. As of 2021, the nation’s population growth rate was -0.49%, ranking 226th out of 236 countries with data.

Ukraine had the sixth-highest death rate in the world in 2022, at 13.77 deaths per 1,000 residents.

The Ukrainian life expectancy at birth is 73.2 years – 68.5 years for men and 78.2 years for women. Ukraine ranks 149 out of 227 countries with data in life expectancy.

Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day on Aug. 24. It was on that date in 1991 when the country gained its independence from the Soviet Union.

Ukraine has seven World Heritage Sites – six cultural, and one natural. They are the Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings; the Lviv Historic Center; the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans; Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese; Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region; Struve Geodetic Arc; and the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians.

Ukraine’s economy is the 40th-largest in the world, with a GDP (PPP) of $516.7 billion in 2020.

Ukraine’s GDP composition by sector of origin is: services (60%), industrial (28.6%), and agriculture (12.2%). (Per the CIA, data may be incomplete, hence the total is not 100%.)

When it was a part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine (then the Ukrainian Republic) was essential to feeding the USSR. It produced about a quarter of the USSR’s agricultural and food output, with Ukrainian farms providing meat, milk, grain, and vegetables.

Ukraine’s top agricultural products are maize, wheat, potatoes, sunflower seed, sugar beet, milk, barley, soybeans, rapeseed, and tomatoes.

Ukraine’s landmass is 71.2% agricultural land. The next largest percentage is made up by forests, at 16.8%.

Ukraine’s capital city is Kyiv, which is located in the north-central part of the country along the Dnieper River. It is also Ukraine’s most populous city. Up until recent years, the name had been spelled “Kiev” in English. Today, this spelling is considered to be the Russian version, whereas “Kyiv” is based on the Ukrainian spelling.

Ukraine’s natural resources are iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, and arable land.

As of 2019, 58.9% of Ukrainians had internet access – nearly 30 million people.

The highest point in Ukraine is Hora Hoverla – a peak in the Carpathian Mountains, at 2,061 meters (6,762 feet) above sea level. Its lowest point is where the country meets the Black Sea, at sea level.

Ukraine’s economy fell into crisis because of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ensuing trade war with Russia. This resulted in a 17% decline in GDP and inflation at near 60%.

Prior to the war, Ukraine had a relatively high youth unemployment rate. In 2020, residents ages 15 to 24 had a jobless rate of 19.3%, which ranked 83rd-highest in the world.

As of 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, Ukraine had one of the lowest poverty rates in the world, at 1.1%.