Ukraine

Ukraine is a sovereign, independent, democratic state. It is situated in the south-east of Europe. It borders on Russia in the east, Belarus in the north, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova in the west. It is washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the south.

The greater part of its territory is flat. The mountains cover only 5% of its area. There are the Carpathians in the west and the Crimean Mountains in the south. Goverla is the highest peak of the Ukrainian Carpathians, it is 2061 meters high.

Many rivers cross the territory of Ukraine. The longest rivers are the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Danube, the Southern Bug, and the Siverskiy Donets.

Ukraine is rich in mineral resources. It has deposits of coal, iron ore, salt, natural gas, oil, nickel, manganese, graphite and others.

It is an industrial country. Such branches of industry as metallurgy, machine-building, power, chemical are developed here. It produces planes, turbines, different kinds of machines and equipment, and various consumer goods. Ukraine is also an agricultural country. Wheat, rye, potatoes, sugar beets, sunflowers, fruit and vegetables are grown here.

The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. The biggest cities of Ukraine are Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhiya, Lviv, Odesa, Mikolaiv.

The territory of Ukraine is divided into 24 regions and the autonomous republic of Crimea. The population is about 46 million people. The representatives of many nationalities live here: Ukrainians, Russians, Byelorussians, Romanians, Moldavians, Poles, Bulgarians and others.

Ukraine is a republic. Its independence was proclaimed on the 24^th of August, 1991. The Constitution is the main law of the country. It was adopted on the 28^th of June, 1996. It guarantees rights and freedoms to the Ukrainian citizens and determines their duties.

Ukraine has three separate branches of power: legislative, executive and judicial.

The President is the head of the state and the head of the executive branch. He is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. He governs the country with the help of his administration and the government. The government is called the Cabinet of Ministers and is headed by the Prime Minister.

The legislative branch is represented by a national Parliament called Verkhovna Rada. The main function of the Verkhovna Rada is to make laws. It consists of 450 deputies and is headed by the Speaker.

The judicial power is represented by the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the system of courts.

The National symbols of the country are the flag, the coat of arms and the anthem. The Ukrainian flag consists of two horizontal stripes of blue and yellow colours. The national coat of arms of Ukraine is a trident. The anthem of Ukraine is “Ukraine has not died yet. It was written by poet Pavlo Chubinsky and was set to music by the composer Mykhaylo Verbytsky.

EXERCISE 5