Ukraine

Ukrayina

Political Status: Formerly the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a constituent republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; declared independence on August 24, 1991; new constitution adopted on June 28, 1996.

Area: 233,090 sq. mi. (603,700 sq. km). (Includes Crimea [approximately 10,000 sq. mi. or 26,000 sq. km], which was annexed by Russia in March 2014 but was still formally recognized by the Ukrainian government and much of the international community as part of Ukraine.)

Population: 43,659,900 (2020E—World Bank); 43,733,762 (2020E—U.S. Census). (Includes Crimea, whose population has been estimated recently at 2,284,000.)

Major Urban Centers (2020E—UN): KIEV (KYİV, 2,988,000), Kharkov (Charkiv, 1,443,207), Dnepropetrovsk (Dnipropėtrovsk, 990,724), Donetsk (Donėc’k, 906,000), Lviv (L’viv, 724,000), Odessa (Odėsa, 1,013,984).

Official Language: Ukrainian (replaced Russian in 1990). Following independence in 1991, the Council for Language ...