Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Ukraine
local long form:
none
local short form:
Ukrayina
former:
Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name:
Kyiv (Kiev)
note:
pronounced KAY-yiv
geographic coordinates:
50 26 N, 30 31 E
time difference:
UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
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, Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr
note 1:
administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
note 2:
the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol
Independence:
24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus), 1648 (establishment of Cossack Hetmanate)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Constitution:
several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996; amended 2004, 2010; note - to revert to the 2004 version pending additional constitutional reforms (2014)
Legal system:
civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
President Petro POROSHENKO (since 7 June 2014)
head of government:
Prime Minister Arseniy YATSENYUK (since 27 February 2014); First Deputy Prime Minister (vacant), Deputy Prime Ministers Volodymyr HROYSMAN and Oleksandr SYCH (all since 27 February 2014)
cabinet:
Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the president
note:
there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 25 May 2014 (next to be held in 2019)
election results:
Petro POROSHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Petro POROSHENKO 54.5%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO 12.9%, Oleh LYASHKO 8.4%, others 24.2%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 50% of seats allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 5% or more of the national electoral vote and 50% to members elected in single mandate districts; members serve five-year terms)
elections:
last held on 28 October 2012 (next to be held fall 2017)
election results:
percent of vote by party - Party of Regions 30%, Batkivshchyna 25.5%, UDAR 14%, CPU 13.2%, Svoboda 10.4%, other parties 6.9%; seats by party - Party of Regions 185, Batkivshchyna 101, UDAR 40, Svoboda 37, CPU 32, United Center 3, People's Party 2, Radical 1, Union 1, independents 43, vacant 5; composition as of early April 2014 - Party of Regions 120, Batkivshchyna 88, UDAR 42, "Economic Development" group 36, "Sovereign European Ukraine" group 36, Svoboda 35, CPU 32, independents 59, vacant 2
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Court of Ukraine (consists of 95 judges organized into civil, criminal, commercial, and administrative chambers, and a military panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices)
judge selection and term of office:
Supreme Court judges proposed by the Supreme Council of Justice or SCJ (a 20-member independent body of judicial officials and other appointees) and appointed by presidential decree; judges initially appointed for 5 years and, if approved by the SCJ, serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the SCU, and by the Verkhovna Rada; justices appointed for 9-year non-renewable terms
subordinate courts:
specialized high courts; Courts of Cassation; Courts of Appeal; regional, district, city, and town courts
Political parties and leaders:
Batkivshchyna ("Fatherland") [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]
Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]
Party of Regions [vacant]
People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]
People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]
Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO]
Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ]
Svoboda ("Freedom") [Oleh TYAHNYBOK]
Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms or UDAR [Vitaliy KLYCHKO]
Union [Lev MIRIMSKY]
United Center [Viktor BALOHA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Oleksandr CHERNENKO]
OPORA [Olha AIVAZOVSKA]
International organization participation:
Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter although it participates in meetings), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Oleksandr MOTSYK (since 24 June 2010)
chancery:
3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone:
[1] (202) 349-2920
FAX:
[1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general:
Chicago, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Geoffrey R. PYATT (since 30 July 2013)
embassy:
4 Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv
mailing address:
5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850
telephone:
[380] (44) 521-5000
FAX:
[380] (44) 521-5155
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky
National symbol(s):
trident (tryzub)
National anthem:
name:
"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished)
lyrics/music: Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI
note: music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; the song was first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003