G e o g r a p h y

Geographic coordinates: 49 00 N, 32 00 E

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 .The hottest month is July, when the daily high averages 25°C (80°F), while January, the coldest month, averages around freezing - -15 °C(- 8 °F).

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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Mountain Hoverla 2,061 m (6,870 feet)

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land.

Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant.

Geography - note: strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe.

Nature A central 'black belt' of humus-rich soil - one of the world's most fertile regions - covers nearly two-thirds of Ukraine. Large tracts are set aside as grazing land, and in spring they explode into brilliant, swaying seas of maky (red poppies), sonyashnyky (sunflowers) and golden mustard. Breaking up the flat, heavily cultivated grasslands are a few patches of oak, maple, linden and ash forests. Willow and aspen grow along the rivers. A thin belt of forest runs across the north of the country, consisting mostly of silver fir, beech, oak and spruce.
There are Carpathian Mountians in the east of the country that extend over more than 150 miles (240 km). Crimean Peninsula, in the extreme south, has both lowlands and low mountains.
The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov wash the southern coast of Ukraine. The main water supply comes from the longest river in the country and one of the largest in Europe - the Dnepr River- that runs from north to south.