Government type:
republic
Capital:
Kiev (Kyyiv)
Administrative divisions:
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,
Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy,
Kirovohrad, Kiev (Kyyiv)**, Kyyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv,
Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya,
Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their
administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center
name following in parentheses)
Independence:
24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 24 August (1991); the date of 22 January (1918),
the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet
Russia), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Constitution:
adopted 28 June 1996
Legal system:
based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January
2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (since 4
February 2005); First Deputy Prime Minister - Anatoliy KINAKH (since
4 February 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president and
approved by the Supreme Council
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor
YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004
after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by Mr. YANUKOVYCH -
was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread
and significant violations; prime minister and deputy prime
ministers appointed by the president and approved by the Supreme
Council
election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of
vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 51.99%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%
note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC
originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council, but
significantly revamped and strengthened under former-President
KUCHMA; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security
policy on domestic and international matters and advising the
president; a Presidential Administration that helps draft
presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president;
and a Council of Regions that serves as an advisory body
Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; under
recent amendments to Ukraine's election law, the Rada's seats are
allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or
more of the national electoral vote; members serve four-year terms)
election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Our Ukraine 24%,
CPU 20%, United Ukraine 12%, SPU 7%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 7%,
United Social Democratic Party 6%, other 24%; seats by party/bloc -
Our Ukraine 101, Regions of Ukraine 61, CPU 59, Working Ukraine 14,
United Social Democratic Party 33, Agrarian Party 22, SPU 20, Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc 19, United Ukraine 19, People's Democratic
Party-Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs 16, Center Group 15,
Democratic Initiatives 14, unaffiliated 57 (December 2004)
note: following the election, United Ukraine splintered into the
Agrarian Party, European Choice, People's Choice, People's
Democratic Party, Regions of Ukraine, and Working
Ukraine-Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; these factions have since
undergone a number of changes
elections: last held 31 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006)