Country name:
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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
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Government type:
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republic
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Capital:
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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
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Administrative divisions:
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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:
administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
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Independence:
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24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus), 1648 (establishment of Cossack Hetmanate)
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National holiday:
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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
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Constitution:
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adopted 28 June 1996
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Legal system:
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civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
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International law organization participation:
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has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 25 February 2010)
head of government:
Prime Minister Mykola AZAROV (since 11 March 2010); First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy ARBUZOV (since 24 December 2012); Deputy Prime Ministers Yuriy BOYKO, Kostyantyn HRYSHCHENKO, Oleksandr VILKUL (all since 24 December 2012)
cabinet:
Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the president
(For more information visit the World Leaders website )
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 17 January 2010 with runoff on 7 February 2010 (next to be held in October 2015)
election results:
Viktor YANUKOVYCH elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YANUKOVYCH 48.9%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO 45.5%, other 5.6%
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Legislative branch:
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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, undetermined 5 (mid November 2012)
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
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Political parties and leaders:
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Batkivshchyna (All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland") [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; European Party of Ukraine [Mykola KATERYNCHUK]; Front of Change [Arseniy YATSENYUK]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; Party of Regions [Mykola AZAROV, chairman]; Party of the Defenders of the Fatherland [Yuriy KARMAZIN]; People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; Peoples' Self-Defense Party [Oleh NOVIKOV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Republican Party Sobor [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Yuriy ZAHORODNIY]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ]; Svoboda [Oleh TYAHNYBOK]; Ukraine-Forward! [Natalia KOROLEVSKA]; Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms or UDAR [Vitaliy KLYCHKO]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; Union [Lev MIRIMSKY]; United Center [Viktor BALOHA]; Viche [Inna BOHOSLOVSKA]
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Aleksandr CHERNENKO]; OPORA [Olha AIVAZOVSKA]
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International organization participation:
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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
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Oleksandr MOTSYK
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
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador John F. TEFFT
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
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Flag description:
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two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky
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National symbol(s):
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trident (tryzub)
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National anthem:
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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
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