{
  "Introduction": {
    "Background": {
      "text": "Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine achieved a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and endured a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although Ukraine achieved final independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. ++ A peaceful mass protest referred to as the \"Orange Revolution\" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary (Rada) elections, become prime minister in August 2006, and be elected president in February 2010. In October 2012, Ukraine held Rada elections, widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates, interference with media access, and harassment of opposition candidates. President YANUKOVYCH's backtracking on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU in November 2013 - in favor of closer economic ties with Russia - and subsequent use of force against civil society activists in favor of the agreement led to a three-month protest occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's use of violence to break up the protest camp in February 2014 led to all out pitched battles, scores of deaths, international condemnation, and the president's abrupt departure to Russia. New elections in the spring allowed pro-West president Petro POROSHENKO to assume office on 7 June 2014. ++ Shortly after YANUKOVYCH's departure in late February 2014, Russian President PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there. Two weeks later, a \"referendum\" was held regarding the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The \"referendum\" was condemned as illegitimate by the Ukrainian Government, the EU, the US, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Although Russia illegally annexed Crimea after the \"referendum,\" the Ukrainian Government, backed by UNGA resolution 68/262, asserts that Crimea remains part of Ukraine and fully under Ukrainian sovereignty. Russia also continues to supply separatists in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces with manpower, funding, and materiel resulting in an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized separatist republics signed a ceasefire agreement in September 2014. However, this ceasefire failed to stop the fighting. In a renewed attempt to alleviate ongoing clashes, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany negotiated a follow-on peace deal in February 2015 known as the Minsk Agreements. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also meet regularly to facilitate implementation of the peace deal. Scattered fighting between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces is still ongoing in eastern Ukraine."
    }
  },
  "Geography": {
    "Location": {
      "text": "Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east"
    },
    "Geographic coordinates": {
      "text": "49 00 N, 32 00 E"
    },
    "Map references": {
      "text": "Asia, Europe"
    },
    "Area": {
      "total": {
        "text": "603,550 sq km"
      },
      "land": {
        "text": "579,330 sq km"
      },
      "water": {
        "text": "24,220 sq km"
      }
    },
    "Area - comparative": {
      "text": "almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas"
    },
    "Land boundaries": {
      "total": {
        "text": "5,618 km"
      },
      "border countries": {
        "text": "Belarus 1,111 km, Hungary 128 km, Moldova 1,202 km, Poland 535 km, Romania 601 km, Russia 1,944 km, Slovakia 97 km"
      }
    },
    "Coastline": {
      "text": "2,782 km"
    },
    "Maritime claims": {
      "territorial sea": {
        "text": "12 nm"
      },
      "exclusive economic zone": {
        "text": "200 nm"
      },
      "continental shelf": {
        "text": "200 m or to the depth of exploitation"
      }
    },
    "Climate": {
      "text": "temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south"
    },
    "Terrain": {
      "text": "mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula"
    },
    "Elevation": {
      "mean elevation": {
        "text": "175 m"
      },
      "elevation extremes": {
        "text": "lowest point: Black Sea 0 m ++ highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m"
      }
    },
    "Natural resources": {
      "text": "iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land"
    },
    "Land use": {
      "agricultural land": {
        "text": "71.2% ++ arable land 56.1%; permanent crops 1.5%; permanent pasture 13.6%"
      },
      "forest": {
        "text": "16.8%"
      },
      "other": {
        "text": "12% (2011 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Irrigated land": {
      "text": "21,670 sq km (2012)"
    },
    "Population - distribution": {
      "text": "densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa"
    },
    "Natural hazards": {
      "text": "NA"
    },
    "Environment - current issues": {
      "text": "inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant"
    },
    "Environment - international agreements": {
      "party to": {
        "text": "Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
      },
      "signed, but not ratified": {
        "text": "Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds"
      }
    },
    "Geography - note": {
      "text": "strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe after Russia"
    }
  },
  "People and Society": {
    "Population": {
      "text": "44,209,733 (July 2016 est.)"
    },
    "Nationality": {
      "noun": {
        "text": "Ukrainian(s)"
      },
      "adjective": {
        "text": "Ukrainian"
      }
    },
    "Ethnic groups": {
      "text": "Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 est.)"
    },
    "Languages": {
      "text": "Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes small Crimean Tatar-, Moldavian-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 2.9% (2001 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "2012 legislation enables a language spoken by at least 10% of an oblast's population to be given the status of \"regional language,\" allowing for its use in courts, schools, and other government institutions; Ukrainian remains the country's only official nationwide language"
      }
    },
    "Religions": {
      "text": "Orthodox (includes Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox (UAOC), Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish",
      "note": {
        "text": "Ukraine's population is overwhelmingly Christian; the vast majority - up to two-thirds - identify themselves as Orthodox, but many do not specify a particular branch; the UOC-KP and the UOC-MP each represent less than a quarter of the country's population, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church accounts for 8-10%, and the UAOC accounts for 1-2%; Muslim and Jewish adherents each compose less than 1% of the total population (2013 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Age structure": {
      "0-14 years": {
        "text": "15.51% (male 3,528,821/female 3,326,405)"
      },
      "15-24 years": {
        "text": "10.3% (male 2,334,454/female 2,218,718)"
      },
      "25-54 years": {
        "text": "44.47% (male 9,639,404/female 10,020,385)"
      },
      "55-64 years": {
        "text": "13.68% (male 2,587,898/female 3,458,016)"
      },
      "65 years and over": {
        "text": "16.05% (male 2,375,904/female 4,719,728) (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Dependency ratios": {
      "total dependency ratio": {
        "text": "43.3%"
      },
      "youth dependency ratio": {
        "text": "21.4%"
      },
      "elderly dependency ratio": {
        "text": "21.9%"
      },
      "potential support ratio": {
        "text": "4.6% (2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Median age": {
      "total": {
        "text": "40.4 years"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "37.2 years"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "43.5 years (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Population growth rate": {
      "text": "-0.39% (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Birth rate": {
      "text": "10.5 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Death rate": {
      "text": "14.4 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Net migration rate": {
      "text": "0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Population distribution": {
      "text": "densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa"
    },
    "Urbanization": {
      "urban population": {
        "text": "69.7% of total population (2015)"
      },
      "rate of urbanization": {
        "text": "-0.33% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Major urban areas - population": {
      "text": "KYIV (capital) 2.942 million; Kharkiv 1.441 million; Odesa 1.01 million; Dnipropetrovsk 957,000; Donetsk 934,000; Zaporizhzhya 753,000 (2015)"
    },
    "Sex ratio": {
      "at birth": {
        "text": "1.06 male(s)/female"
      },
      "0-14 years": {
        "text": "1.06 male(s)/female"
      },
      "15-24 years": {
        "text": "1.05 male(s)/female"
      },
      "25-54 years": {
        "text": "0.96 male(s)/female"
      },
      "55-64 years": {
        "text": "0.75 male(s)/female"
      },
      "65 years and over": {
        "text": "0.5 male(s)/female"
      },
      "total population": {
        "text": "0.86 male(s)/female (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Mother's mean age at first birth": {
      "text": "25 (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Maternal mortality rate": {
      "text": "24 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Infant mortality rate": {
      "total": {
        "text": "8 deaths/1,000 live births"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "8.9 deaths/1,000 live births"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "7 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Life expectancy at birth": {
      "total population": {
        "text": "71.8 years"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "67.1 years"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "76.9 years (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Total fertility rate": {
      "text": "1.54 children born/woman (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Contraceptive prevalence rate": {
      "text": "65.4% (2012)"
    },
    "Health expenditures": {
      "text": "7.1% of GDP (2014)"
    },
    "Physicians density": {
      "text": "3.54 physicians/1,000 population (2013)"
    },
    "Hospital bed density": {
      "text": "9 beds/1,000 population (2012)"
    },
    "Drinking water source": {
      "improved": {
        "text": " ++ urban: 95.5% of population ++ rural: 97.8% of population ++ total: 96.2% of population"
      },
      "unimproved": {
        "text": " ++ urban: 4.5% of population ++ rural: 2.2% of population ++ total: 3.8% of population (2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Sanitation facility access": {
      "improved": {
        "text": " ++ urban: 97.4% of population ++ rural: 92.6% of population ++ total: 95.9% of population"
      },
      "unimproved": {
        "text": " ++ urban: 2.6% of population ++ rural: 7.4% of population ++ total: 4.1% of population (2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate": {
      "text": "0.86% (2015 est.)"
    },
    "HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS": {
      "text": "219,000 (2015 est.)"
    },
    "HIV/AIDS - deaths": {
      "text": "7,900 (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Obesity - adult prevalence rate": {
      "text": "21.7% (2014)"
    },
    "Education expenditures": {
      "text": "6% of GDP (2014)"
    },
    "Literacy": {
      "definition": {
        "text": "age 15 and over can read and write"
      },
      "total population": {
        "text": "99.8%"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "99.8%"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "99.7% (2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)": {
      "total": {
        "text": "15 years"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "15 years"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "16 years (2014)"
      }
    },
    "Child labor - children ages 5-14": {
      "total number": {
        "text": "356,213"
      },
      "percentage": {
        "text": "7% (2005 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Unemployment, youth ages 15-24": {
      "total": {
        "text": "23.1%"
      },
      "male": {
        "text": "23.7%"
      },
      "female": {
        "text": "22.4% (2014 est.)"
      }
    }
  },
  "Government": {
    "Country name": {
      "conventional long form": {
        "text": "none"
      },
      "conventional short form": {
        "text": "Ukraine"
      },
      "local long form": {
        "text": "none"
      },
      "local short form": {
        "text": "Ukrayina"
      },
      "former": {
        "text": "Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"
      },
      "etymology": {
        "text": "name derives from the Old East Slavic word \"ukraina\" meaning \"borderland or march (militarized border region)\" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus)"
      }
    },
    "Government type": {
      "text": "semi-presidential republic"
    },
    "Capital": {
      "name": {
        "text": "Kyiv (Kiev)"
      },
      "note": {
        "text": "pronounced KAY-yiv"
      },
      "geographic coordinates": {
        "text": "50 26 N, 30 31 E"
      },
      "time difference": {
        "text": "UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
      },
      "daylight saving time": {
        "text": "+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
      }
    },
    "Administrative divisions": {
      "text": "24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k (Dnipro), Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnyts'kyy), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr",
      "note 1": {
        "text": "administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment"
      },
      "note 2": {
        "text": "the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol"
      }
    },
    "Independence": {
      "text": "24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus), 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate)"
    },
    "National holiday": {
      "text": "Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day"
    },
    "Constitution": {
      "history": {
        "text": "several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996"
      },
      "amendments": {
        "text": "proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one-third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended 2004, 2010, 2015 (2016)"
      }
    },
    "Legal system": {
      "text": "civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts"
    },
    "International law organization participation": {
      "text": "has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt"
    },
    "Citizenship": {
      "citizenship by birth": {
        "text": "no"
      },
      "citizenship by descent only": {
        "text": "at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine"
      },
      "dual citizenship recognized": {
        "text": "no"
      },
      "residency requirement for naturalization": {
        "text": "5 years"
      }
    },
    "Suffrage": {
      "text": "18 years of age; universal"
    },
    "Executive branch": {
      "chief of state": {
        "text": "President Petro POROSHENKO (since 7 June 2014)"
      },
      "head of government": {
        "text": "Prime Minister Volodymyr HROYSMAN (since 14 April 2016); First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan KUBIV (since 14 April 2016)"
      },
      "cabinet": {
        "text": "Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, approved by the Verkhovna Rada"
      },
      "elections/appointments": {
        "text": "president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 25 May 2014 (next to be held in 2019); prime minister nominated by the president, confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada"
      },
      "election results": {
        "text": "Petro POROSHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Petro POROSHENKO (independent) 54.5%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 12.9%, Oleh LYASHKO (Radical Party) 8.4%, other 24.2%; Volodymyr HROISMAN elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote 257-50"
      },
      "note": {
        "text": "there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president"
      }
    },
    "Legislative branch": {
      "description": {
        "text": "unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms); note - because of the Russian annexation of Crimea and the partial occupation of two eastern provinces, 27 of the 450 seats remain unfilled"
      },
      "elections": {
        "text": "last held on 26 October 2014 (next to be held fall of 2019)"
      },
      "election results": {
        "text": "percent of vote by party - NF 22.1%, BPP 21.8%, Samopomich 11.0%, OB 9.4%, Radical 7.4%, Batkivshchyna 5.7%, Svoboda 4.7%, CPU 3.9%, other 13.9%; seats by party - BPP 132, NF 82, Samopomich 33, OB 29, Radical 22, Batkivshchyna 19, Svoboda 6, other 4, independent 96, vacant 27; note - voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 27 seats vacant; seats as of December 2015 - BPP 139, NF 81, OB 43, Samopomich 26, Vidrozhennya 23, Radical 21, Batkivshchyna 19, VN 20, independent 50, vacant 28"
      }
    },
    "Judicial branch": {
      "highest court(s)": {
        "text": "Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 95 judges organized into civil, criminal, commercial, and administrative chambers, and a military panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices)"
      },
      "judge selection and term of office": {
        "text": "Supreme Court judges proposed by the Supreme Council of Justice or SCJ (a 20-member independent body of judicial officials and other appointees) and appointed by presidential decree; judges initially appointed for 5 years and, if approved by the SCJ, serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the SCU, and by the Verkhovna Rada; justices appointed for 9-year non-renewable terms"
      },
      "subordinate courts": {
        "text": "specialized high courts; Courts of Cassation; Courts of Appeal; regional, district, city, and town courts"
      }
    },
    "Political parties and leaders": {
      "text": "Batkivshchyna (\"Fatherland\") [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO] ++ Bloc of Petro Poroshenko – Solidarnist or BPP [Vitaliy KLYCHKO] (formed from the merger of Solidarnist and UDAR) ++ Narodnyy Front (\"People's Front\") or NF [Arseniy YATSENIUK] ++ Opposition Bloc or OB [Yuriy BOYKO] ++ Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO] ++ Samopomich (\"Self Reliance\") [Andriy SADOVYY] ++ Svoboda (\"Freedom\") [Oleh TYAHNYBOK] ++ Ukrainian Association of Patriots or UKROP [Ihor KOLOMOYSKYY] ++ Vidrozhennya (\"Revival\") [Vitaliy KHOMUTYNNIK] (parliamentary group) ++ Volya Naroda (“People's Will”) or VN (Yaroslav MOSKALENKO)"
    },
    "Political pressure groups and leaders": {
      "text": "Centre UA [Oleh RYBACHUK] ++ OPORA Civic Network [Olha AIVAZOVSKA]"
    },
    "International organization participation": {
      "text": "Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC"
    },
    "Diplomatic representation in the US": {
      "chief of mission": {
        "text": "Ambassador Valeriy CHALYY (since 3 August 2015)"
      },
      "chancery": {
        "text": "3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007"
      },
      "telephone": {
        "text": "[1] (202) 349-2920"
      },
      "FAX": {
        "text": "[1] (202) 333-0817"
      },
      "consulate(s) general": {
        "text": "Chicago, New York, San Francisco"
      }
    },
    "Diplomatic representation from the US": {
      "chief of mission": {
        "text": "Ambassador Marie YOVANOVITCH (since 29 August 2016)"
      },
      "embassy": {
        "text": "4 Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv"
      },
      "mailing address": {
        "text": "5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850"
      },
      "telephone": {
        "text": "[380] (44) 521-5000"
      },
      "FAX": {
        "text": "[380] (44) 521-5155"
      }
    },
    "Flag description": {
      "text": "two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky"
    },
    "National symbol(s)": {
      "text": "tryzub (trident); national colors: blue, yellow"
    },
    "National anthem": {
      "name": {
        "text": "\"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina\" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished)"
      },
      "lyrics/music": {
        "text": "Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI"
      },
      "note": {
        "text": "music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003"
      }
    }
  },
  "Economy": {
    "Economy - overview": {
      "text": "After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied unique equipment, such as, large diameter pipes and vertical drilling apparatus, and raw materials to industrial and mining sites in other regions of the former USSR. ++  ++ Shortly after independence in August 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF –encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms to foster economic growth. Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy. But more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and improving the legislative framework. From 2000 until mid-2008, Ukraine's economy was buoyant despite political turmoil between the prime minister and president. ++  ++ Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its annual oil and natural gas requirements and 100% of its nuclear fuel needs. In January 2009, after a two-week dispute that saw gas supplies cut off to Europe, Ukraine agreed to 10-year gas supply and transit contracts with Russia that brought gas prices to \"world\" levels. The strict terms of the contracts further hobbled Ukraine's cash-strapped state gas company, Naftohaz. The economy contracted nearly 15% in 2009, among the worst economic performances in the world. In April 2010, Ukraine negotiated a price discount on Russian gas imports in exchange for extending Russia's lease on its naval base in Crimea. ++  ++ Ukraine’s oligarch-dominated economy grew slowly from 2010 to 2014. After former President YANUKOVYCH fled the country during the Revolution of Dignity, the international community began efforts to stabilize the Ukrainian economy, including a March 2014 IMF assistance package of $14-18 billion. Ukraine has made significant progress on reforms designed to make the country a prosperous, democratic, and transparent country. ++  ++ Russia’s occupation of Crimea in March 2014 and on-going aggression in eastern Ukraine have hurt economic growth. With the loss of a major portion of Ukraine’s heavy industry in Donbas and ongoing violence, Ukraine’s economy contracted by 6.8% in 2014 and by an estimated 10.5% in 2015. Ukraine and Russia have engaged in a trade war with sharply reduced trade between the countries by the end of 2015. The EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area finally started up on 1 January 2016, and is expected to help Ukraine integrate its economy with Europe by opening up markets and harmonizing regulations."
    },
    "GDP (purchasing power parity)": {
      "text": "$349.8 billion (2016 est.) ++ $344.6 billion (2015 est.) ++ $382.4 billion (2014 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "data are in 2016 dollars"
      }
    },
    "GDP (official exchange rate)": {
      "text": "$87.2 billion (2015 est.)"
    },
    "GDP - real growth rate": {
      "text": "1.5% (2016 est.) ++ -9.9% (2015 est.) ++ -6.6% (2014 est.)"
    },
    "GDP - per capita (PPP)": {
      "text": "$8,200 (2016 est.) ++ $8,100 (2015 est.) ++ $8,900 (2014 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "data are in 2016 dollars"
      }
    },
    "Gross national saving": {
      "text": "14.3% of GDP (2016 est.) ++ 15% of GDP (2015 est.) ++ 9.5% of GDP (2014 est.)"
    },
    "GDP - composition, by end use": {
      "household consumption": {
        "text": "69.3%"
      },
      "government consumption": {
        "text": "20.3%"
      },
      "investment in fixed capital": {
        "text": "13.3%"
      },
      "investment in inventories": {
        "text": "0.5%"
      },
      "exports of goods and services": {
        "text": "55.9%"
      },
      "imports of goods and services": {
        "text": "-59.3% (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "GDP - composition, by sector of origin": {
      "agriculture": {
        "text": "14.4%"
      },
      "industry": {
        "text": "26.3%"
      },
      "services": {
        "text": "59.3% ++  (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Agriculture - products": {
      "text": "grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk"
    },
    "Industries": {
      "text": "coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing"
    },
    "Industrial production growth rate": {
      "text": "2% (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Labor force": {
      "text": "18.04 million (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Labor force - by occupation": {
      "agriculture": {
        "text": "5.8%"
      },
      "industry": {
        "text": "26.5%"
      },
      "services": {
        "text": "67.8% ++  (2014)"
      }
    },
    "Unemployment rate": {
      "text": "10% (2016 est.) ++ 9.1% (2015 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "officially registered workers; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers"
      }
    },
    "Population below poverty line": {
      "text": "24.1% (2010 est.)"
    },
    "Household income or consumption by percentage share": {
      "lowest 10%": {
        "text": "3.8%"
      },
      "highest 10%": {
        "text": "22.5% (2011 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Distribution of family income - Gini index": {
      "text": "24.6 (2013) ++ 28.2 (2009)"
    },
    "Budget": {
      "revenues": {
        "text": "$27.8 billion"
      },
      "expenditures": {
        "text": "$30.87 billion"
      },
      "note": {
        "text": "this is the planned, consolidated budget (2016 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Taxes and other revenues": {
      "text": "31.9% of GDP (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)": {
      "text": "-3.5% of GDP (2016 est.)"
    },
    "Public debt": {
      "text": "78.2% of GDP (2016 est.) ++ 79.4% of GDP (2015 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "the total public debt of $64.5 billion consists of: domestic public debt ($23.8 billion); external public debt ($26.1 billion); and sovereign guarantees ($14.6 billion)"
      }
    },
    "Fiscal year": {
      "text": "calendar year"
    },
    "Inflation rate (consumer prices)": {
      "text": "13.5% (2016 est.) ++ 48.7% (2015 est.)",
      "note": {
        "text": "Excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and part of the anti-terrorist operation zone"
      }
    },
    "Central bank discount rate": {
      "text": "22% (23 December 2015) ++ 7.5% (31 January 2012)"
    },
    "Commercial bank prime lending rate": {
      "text": "18.5% (31 December 2016 est.) ++ 21.82% (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Stock of narrow money": {
      "text": "$19.81 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $19.68 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Stock of broad money": {
      "text": "$78.02 billion (31 December 2014 est.) ++ $113.4 billion (31 December 2013 est.)"
    },
    "Stock of domestic credit": {
      "text": "$60.72 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $62.77 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Market value of publicly traded shares": {
      "text": "$20.71 billion (31 December 2012 est.) ++ $25.56 billion (31 December 2011 est.) ++ $39.46 billion (31 December 2010 est.)"
    },
    "Current account balance": {
      "text": "-$1.315 billion (2016 est.) ++ -$251 million (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Exports": {
      "text": "$33.97 billion (2016 est.) ++ $35.5 billion (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Exports - commodities": {
      "text": "ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs"
    },
    "Exports - partners": {
      "text": "Russia 12.7%, Turkey 7.3%, China 6.3%, Egypt 5.5%, Italy 5.2%, Poland 5.2% (2015)"
    },
    "Imports": {
      "text": "$38.3 billion (2016 est.) ++ $38.94 billion (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Imports - commodities": {
      "text": "energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals"
    },
    "Imports - partners": {
      "text": "Russia 20%, Germany 10.4%, China 10.1%, Belarus 6.5%, Poland 6.2%, Hungary 4.2% (2015)"
    },
    "Reserves of foreign exchange and gold": {
      "text": "$16.01 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $13.3 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Debt - external": {
      "text": "$127.7 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $119.8 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Stock of direct foreign investment - at home": {
      "text": "$65.95 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $60.95 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad": {
      "text": "$7.983 billion (31 December 2016 est.) ++ $7.183 billion (31 December 2015 est.)"
    },
    "Exchange rates": {
      "text": "hryvnia (UAH) per US dollar - ++ 25.26 (2016 est.) ++ 21.8447 (2015 est.) ++ 21.8447 (2014 est.) ++ 11.8867 (2013 est.) ++ 7.99 (2012 est.)"
    }
  },
  "Energy": {
    "Electricity - production": {
      "text": "171 billion kWh (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - consumption": {
      "text": "143 billion kWh (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - exports": {
      "text": "8.5 billion kWh (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - imports": {
      "text": "89 million kWh (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - installed generating capacity": {
      "text": "56 million kW (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - from fossil fuels": {
      "text": "63.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - from nuclear fuels": {
      "text": "23.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - from hydroelectric plants": {
      "text": "9.9% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)"
    },
    "Electricity - from other renewable sources": {
      "text": "1.1% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)"
    },
    "Crude oil - production": {
      "text": "35,910 bbl/day (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Crude oil - exports": {
      "text": "668.1 bbl/day (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Crude oil - imports": {
      "text": "24,180 bbl/day (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Crude oil - proved reserves": {
      "text": "400 million bbl (1 January 2016 es)"
    },
    "Refined petroleum products - production": {
      "text": "96,210 bbl/day (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Refined petroleum products - consumption": {
      "text": "257,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Refined petroleum products - exports": {
      "text": "19,250 bbl/day (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Refined petroleum products - imports": {
      "text": "153,000 bbl/day (2013 est.)"
    },
    "Natural gas - production": {
      "text": "19.9 billion cu m (2015)"
    },
    "Natural gas - consumption": {
      "text": "33.8 billion cu m (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Natural gas - exports": {
      "text": "0 cu m (2015 est.)"
    },
    "Natural gas - imports": {
      "text": "20 billion cu m (2014 est.)"
    },
    "Natural gas - proved reserves": {
      "text": "1.104 trillion cu m (1 January 2016 es)"
    },
    "Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy": {
      "text": "291 million Mt (2013 est.)"
    }
  },
  "Communications": {
    "Telephones - fixed lines": {
      "total subscriptions": {
        "text": "9,113,061"
      },
      "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": {
        "text": "21 (July 2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Telephones - mobile cellular": {
      "total": {
        "text": "60.72 million"
      },
      "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": {
        "text": "137 (July 2015 est.)"
      }
    },
    "Telephone system": {
      "general assessment": {
        "text": "Ukraine's telecommunication development plan emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile-cellular system"
      },
      "domestic": {
        "text": "the country's former sole telephone provider, Ukrtelekom, was successfully privatized 2011 and independent foreign-invested private companies now provide substantial telecommunications services; the mobile-cellular telephone system's expansion has slowed,"
      },
      "international": {
        "text": "country code - 380; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and 3 Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries; additional internationa (2015)"
      }
    },
    "Broadcast media": {
      "text": "state-controlled nationwide TV broadcast channel (UT1) and a number of privately owned TV networks provide basic TV coverage; multi-channel cable and satellite TV services are available; Russian television broadcasts have a small audience nationwide, but (2007)"
    },
    "Internet country code": {
      "text": ".ua"
    },
    "Internet users": {
      "total": {
        "text": "21.886 million"
      },
      "percent of population": {
        "text": "49.3% (July 2015 est.)"
      }
    }
  },
  "Transportation": {
    "National air transport system": {
      "number of registered air carriers": {
        "text": "17"
      },
      "inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers": {
        "text": "92"
      },
      "annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers": {
        "text": "4,613,224"
      },
      "annual freight traffic on registered air carriers": {
        "text": "37,721,565 mt-km (2015)"
      }
    },
    "Civil aircraft registration country code prefix": {
      "text": "UR (2016)"
    },
    "Airports": {
      "text": "187 (2013)"
    },
    "Airports - with paved runways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "108"
      },
      "over 3,047 m": {
        "text": "13"
      },
      "2,438 to 3,047 m": {
        "text": "42"
      },
      "1,524 to 2,437 m": {
        "text": "22"
      },
      "914 to 1,523 m": {
        "text": "3"
      },
      "under 914 m": {
        "text": "28 (2013)"
      }
    },
    "Airports - with unpaved runways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "79"
      },
      "1,524 to 2,437 m": {
        "text": "5"
      },
      "914 to 1,523 m": {
        "text": "5"
      },
      "under 914 m": {
        "text": "69 (2013)"
      }
    },
    "Heliports": {
      "text": "9 (2013)"
    },
    "Pipelines": {
      "text": "gas 36,720 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,363 km (2013)"
    },
    "Railways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "21,733 km"
      },
      "broad gauge": {
        "text": "21,684 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified)"
      },
      "standard gauge": {
        "text": "49 km 1.435-m gauge (49 km electrified) (2014)"
      }
    },
    "Roadways": {
      "total": {
        "text": "169,694 km"
      },
      "paved": {
        "text": "166,095 km (includes 17 km of expressways)"
      },
      "unpaved": {
        "text": "3,599 km (2012)"
      }
    },
    "Waterways": {
      "text": "1,672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2012)"
    },
    "Merchant marine": {
      "total": {
        "text": "134"
      },
      "by type": {
        "text": "bulk carrier 3, cargo 98, chemical tanker 1, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 8, refrigerated cargo 11, specialized tanker 2"
      },
      "registered in other countries": {
        "text": "172 (Belize 6, Cambodia 35, Comoros 10, Cyprus 3, Dominica 1, Georgia 10, Liberia 10, Malta 29, Marshall Islands 1, Moldova 14, Mongolia 1, Panama 8, Russia 12, Saint Kitts and Nevis 8, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12, Sierra Leone 5, Slovakia 2, unknown (2010)"
      }
    },
    "Ports and terminals": {
      "major seaport(s)": {
        "text": "Feodosiya (Theodosia), Illichivsk, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Yuzhnyy"
      }
    }
  },
  "Military and Security": {
    "Military branches": {
      "text": "Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (2013)"
    },
    "Military service age and obligation": {
      "text": "20-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months (2015)"
    },
    "Military expenditures": {
      "text": "3.8% of GDP (2016) ++ 2.7% of GDP (2015) ++ 1.77% of GDP (2014) ++ 0.97% of GDP (2013)"
    }
  },
  "Transnational Issues": {
    "Disputes - international": {
      "text": "1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains unratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete and demarcation began in 2012; the dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov is suspended due to the occupation of Crimea by Russia; Ukraine and Moldova signed an agreement officially delimiting their border in 1999, but the border has not been demarcated due to Moldova's difficulties with the break-away region of Transnistria; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's Transnistria Region, which remains under the auspices of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-mandated peacekeeping mission comprised of Moldovan, Transnistrian, Russian, and Ukrainian troops; the ICJ ruled largely in favor of Romania in its dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary delimitation; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea"
    },
    "Refugees and internally displaced persons": {
      "IDPs": {
        "text": "800,000 (Russian-sponsored separatist violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine) (2015); note - revised figure reflects updates to UN's IDP verification and registration processes"
      },
      "stateless persons": {
        "text": "35,228 (2015); note - citizens of the former USSR who were permanently resident in Ukraine were granted citizenship upon Ukraine's independence in 1991, but some missed this window of opportunity; people arriving after 1991, Crimean Tatars, ethnic Koreans, people with expired Soviet passports, and people with no documents have difficulty acquiring Ukrainian citizenship; following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, thousands of Crimean Tatars and their descendants deported from Ukraine under the STALIN regime returned to their homeland, some being stateless and others holding the citizenship of Uzbekistan or other former Soviet republics; a 1998 bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Uzbekistan simplified the process of renouncing Uzbek citizenship and obtaining Ukrainian citizenship"
      }
    },
    "Trafficking in persons": {
      "current situation": {
        "text": "Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Ukrainian victims are sex trafficked within Ukraine as well as in Russia, Poland, Iraq, Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Seychelles, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Moldova, China, the United Arab Emirates, Montenegro, UK, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and other countries; small numbers of foreigners from Moldova, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cameroon, and Azerbaijan were victims of labor trafficking in Ukraine; Ukrainian recruiters most often target Ukrainians from rural areas with limited job prospects using fraud, coercion, and debt bondage"
      },
      "tier rating": {
        "text": "Tier 2 Watch List – Ukraine does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government’s focus on its security situation constrained its anti-trafficking capabilities; law enforcement efforts to pursue trafficking cases weakened in 2014, continuing a multi-year decline, and no investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials were made, despite reports of official complicity in the sex and labor trafficking of children living in state-run institutions; fewer victims were identified and referred to NGOs, which continued to provide and to fund the majority of victims’ services (2015)"
      }
    },
    "Illicit drugs": {
      "text": "limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF"
    }
  }
}