Ukraine

Ukraine is situated in the eastern part of Europe. It borders on Russia in the east, Belorussia in the north, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova in the west. Ukraine is washed by the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea in the south.

The area of Ukraine is more than 603,000 sq km. There are the Crimean Mountains in the south and the Carpathians in the west.

The territory of our country has a variety of landscapes as it lies in three main zones: mixed forests, forest-steppes and steppes.

The nature of Ukraine is especially beautiful due to a number of rivers and lakes. There are 131 rivers in Ukraine. The longest rivers are the Dniester, the Donets, the Bug. The Dnieper is the main river in Ukraine. The rivers of Ukraine are navigable.

There are more than three hundred cities and towns in Ukraine. The biggest of them are the industrial centres such as Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Lviv. Odessa, Mikolayiv, Kherson, Kerch are the most important ports of Ukraine.

The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. It is an administrative, industrial, scientific and cultural centre.

Ukraine is rich in mineral resources: coal, oil, gas, different ores. Ukraine is a developed industrial country. It has metallurgical and heavy industries, machine building and ship building industries. Ukraine produces up-to-date instruments, electronic microscopes, synthetic diamonds as well as consumer goods.

Ukraine is an agricultural country because its soil is fertile. Its climate is good for cultivating different agricultural plants.

All the principle areas of plant cultivation are: grain and industrial crops, meadow cultures, fruit and vegetable raising. Almost half the cropping area is occupied by cereals such as winter wheat, maize and legumes, rye, oats and barley.

Animal Husbandry is the second largest component of agriculture. The most widespread branch is cattle breeding.

The Constitution of Ukraine

On June 28, 1996, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Fundamental Law of Ukraine, its Constitution.

The Constitution establishes the country's political system, assures rights, freedoms and duties of citizens and is the basis for its law.

According to the Constitution Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, legal state. Ukraine is a republic. The state language is Ukrainian. The state symbols of Ukraine are the State Flag, the State Emblem and the State Anthem of Ukraine. The State Flag is a blue and yellow banner. The trident is the State Emblem.

The Constitution outlines the activities of the Verkhovna Rada. Its main function is making laws. The people's deputies are elected to the Verkhovna Rada for a term of four years.

The Constitution specifies the power and obligations of the President, who is the head of the State. He is elected for a term of five years. He can't be elected for more than two full terms.

The highest body of the executive power is the Cabinet of Ministers. It carries out the domestic and foreign policy of the State.

Ukraine has an ancient history. There are many places worth sightseeing on its territory.