e 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; summers are warm
across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Terrain: most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and
plateaus, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians),
and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt,
sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber

Land use:
arable land: 58%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 18%
other: 9% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 26,050 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment-current issues: 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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Law of the Sea

Geography-note: strategic position at the crossroads between Europe
and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

@Ukraine:People

Population: 50,125,108 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 4,852,461; female 4,656,688)
15-64 years: 67% (male 16,096,737; female 17,481,600)
65 years and over: 14% (male 2,284,960; female 4,752,662) (July 1998
est.)

Population growth rate: -0.64% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 9.53 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 16.31 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 21.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.84 years
male: 60.08 years
female: 71.89 years (