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-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol
Geography - note:
strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia;
second-largest country in Europe
People Ukraine
Population:
48,055,439 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 4,004,948; female 3,832,931)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 15,779,735; female 17,225,103)
65 years and over: 15% (male 2,419,612; female 4,793,110) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 38 years
male: 34.8 years
female: 40.9 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
-0.69% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
9.89 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
16.39 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)