store

Ukraine is a country that celebrated its tenth anniversary of independence last year. It has in this short time, planted its mark firmly on the map of the world as a nation determined to follow the course of democratic development, social stability and economic reform. In these few years, Ukraine has demonstrated that it can change governments, hold parliamentary elections, draft and pass a Constitution, eliminate its inherited nuclear weapons, create necessary new governmental institutions, curb inflation, introduce a new currency (the "Hryvnia"), spread a network of diplomatic missions throughout the world, and gain the attention of the international community.

A tremendous amount of work still lies ahead in the area of economic development and the creation of true market forces. The path is riddled with problems symptomatic of all nations that are transforming themselves from command structures to free enterprise. But the trek is in place.

About Ukraine
Ukraine is situated in the southeastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory, government, national emblem, flag and anthem. It borders on Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Roumania, Hungary and Poland on land and Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey on sea.
The territory of Ukraine is mostly a level, treeless plain, calls "steppe". There are the Crimean Mountains in the Crimean peninsula and the Carpathians in the west, but they are not very high. Mixed forests of pine and fir-trees, beeches, limes, oaks and elms cover the mountains, but the thickest woods can still be found in the northern part of the republic, in Volyn. Kyiv and Cherkassy lie in the midst of Ukrainian southernmost pine forest. The main Ukrainian river is the Dnieper. It is one of the longest European rivers and one of the republic's main source of hydroelectric power. The Dnieper and its tributary the Ross had been the cradle of the Ukrainian and Russian people in time immemorial.

Due to favorable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural area. It grows wheat, maize, buckwheat and other corn, red and green vegetables, and all kinds of fruit, melons and berries.
Ukraine is one of the world's main centers of sugar production. It produces sugar both for her own needs and for export.

The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, color metal, oil, gas, mineral salts, clay and potential water power. It has developed a varied industry, concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kyiv, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Dnyeprodzerzhinsk, Odessa, Kharkov, Lviv, Nickolayev and other.