INTRODUCTION TO UKRAINE

Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland and Russia

Area:
Total area: 603,700 sq km
Land area: 603,700 sq km

Climate:
Temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south.

Terrain:
Most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaux, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Natural resources:
Iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulphur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber.