The Geographical Position of Ukraine

We live in Ukraine. Ukraine is our Motherland. It is one of the largest countries in Europe. It occupies the territory of 603 700 square km. Ukraine is larger than France and Italy. It is twice as big as Italy. Our country stretches for 1. 300 km from east to west and 900 km from north to south. 95 % of the Ukrainian area is flat. The rest of the Ukrainian territory is mountainous.

Ukraine has twenty-four regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The largest regions of Ukraine are Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions. There are many cities, towns and villages in Ukraine. They are very green and nice. Many people live there. The population of the country is 47 mln people.

The country is situated in the centre of Europe. The geographical centre of Europe is the town of Rakhiv. Ukraine borders on seven countries: Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Rumania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov wash the country in the south. The Black Sea is deep. The sea of Azov is very small but it is warm and shallow. Due to the fact that the country has sea borders and many bordering countries, the geographical position of Ukraine is rather favourable for the trade and international links. The main ports are Odesa, Kherson, Mykolayiv and Sevastopol.

The biggest cities are Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odesa. Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine. It is a very old and nice city. Kyiv stands on the Dnieper. The Dnieper is one of the longest rivers in Europe. It divides the country into right-bank and left-bank Ukraine, and flows into the Black Sea. The main rivers of Ukraine are the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Bug and the Donets.

There are the Crimean Mountains and the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. The Crimea is a famous Ukrainian resort. Many Ukrainian people and people from abroad come to the Crimea in summer. Their slopes are steep. Roman-Kosh is the highest peak of the Crimeans. It is 1, 545 m high.

The Carpathian Mountains also attract many tourists. Hoverla is the highest peak of the Carpathians. It is 2, 061 m high. Many tourists climb there. These mountains are young. They have flat summits and gentle slopes. There are many treeless summits which are called polonynas. People come there in any time of the year, especially in winter, they like to skate and to ski there. Boukovel is a famous ski centre of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians rivers with cold, pure and fresh water attract many tourists too. There are over 3, 000 lakes in Ukraine. The largest freshwater lakes are Lake Yalpuh and lake Svytiaz.

There are a lot of picturesque parks, forests, ancient castles and beautiful streets in Ukraine. Most forests are in the Carpathians and in Polissia. We can see such trees as: pines, fir-trees, oaks, beeches, and birches there. Ukraine has extremely fertile black soil. They grow a lot of crops, fruits and vegetables there. We can find many birds and animals in Ukraine.

The geographical position of Ukraine has many advantages. It is favourable for the development of its economy due to the natural resources, such as coal, iron, ore, titanium, granite and marble, salt. Ukraine has 5% of the world’s mineral resources. Our country has many plants, institutes, schools, theatres, cinemas and museums. Ukraine is the nicest country in the world and we love it very much. Ukrainian people are always ready to invite a lot of foreigners.

Exercise 5. Answer the questions: