Ukraine is situated in the south-eastern part of Central Europe and has its own territory, government, national emblem, flag and anthem. It borders on Russia, Byelorussia, Moldova, Slovakia, Roumania, Hungary and Poland on land and Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Turkey on sea.
The territory of Ukraine is mostly a level, treeless plain, calls "steppe". There are the Crimean Mountains in the Crimean peninsula and the Carpathians in the west, but they are not very high. Mixed forests of pine and fir-trees, beeches, limes, oaks and elms cover the mountains, but the thickest woods can still be found in the northern part of the republic, in Volyn. Kiev and Cherkassy lie in the midst of Ukrainian southernmost pine forest. The main Ukrainian river is the Dnieper. It is one of the longest European rivers and one of the republic's main source of hydroelectric power. The Dnieper and its tributary the Ross had been the cradle of the Ukrainian and Russian people in time immemorial.
The climate of the country is moderate. Winter is rather mild, with no severe frosts but with regular snowfalls everywhere except the south. The rivers and lakes freeze in winter. The average winter temperature varies -20 Centigrade in the north to -3-5 in the south. Summer is quite hot and dry, with occasional showers and thunderstorms. The fertile black soil is well watered in spring and autumn and gets plenty of sunshine in summer.
Due to favorable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural area. It grows wheat, maize, buckwheat and other corn, red and green vegetables, all kinds of fruit, melons and berries.
Ukraine is one of the world's main centers of sugar production. It produces sugar both for her own needs and for export.
The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, color metal, oil, gas, mineral salts, clay and potential water power. It has developed a varied industry, concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kiev, Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk, Dnyeprodzerzhinsk, Odessa, Kharkov, Lviv, Nickolayev and other. It produces planes and ships, lorries and buses, motorcars and locomotives, computer and electronic equipment, precision instruments and agricultural machines, TV and radioset, chemicals and textiles and various consumer goods. Odessa, Sebastopol, Nickolayev, Kherson and Kerch are main ukrainian ports
Many travelers contemplating a visit to Eastern Europe are surprised to find just how many interesting attractions there are in Ukraine. And so there should be, after hundreds of years of history and a strong culture shared with surrounding nations such as Russia, Poland and Romania. There are thousands of fascinating old historical buildings, hundreds of beautiful woodland areas and lakes and dozens of interesting old cities to see. The country is divided up into several regions or ‘oblasts’ and each region is then further divided up into districts (raions) in which you will find literally hundreds of thousands of cities, towns and villages. There are so many destinations in Ukraine worth visiting that you will be simply spoilt for choice!
If you are trying to get an idea of how to arrange your trip to Ukraine, it may help you to learn that the country is divided up into twenty-four different oblasts. These are: Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivsti, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivan-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia and Zhytomyr. The country also encompasses the autonomous republic of Crimea. Each of these provinces or regions are subdivided into 494 different ‘raions’, complete with their own capital city and various attractions. The vast majority of the oblasts are named for their administrative capital and the most well known capitals are usually Kiev, Odessa and Lviv. Those who are new to Ukraine will most likely want to start their travels at one of these three cities since they likely have the most to offer. However, that does not mean that these are the only Ukrainian destinations worth considering, and you really should try to find out all you can about the various cities and villages in Ukraine in order to make the most of your stay here.
In order to help you become better acquainted with the many different destinations in Ukraine, we’ve done all we can to provide you with a basic description of at least a few of the different cities and towns in each province. Why not take a look and see which ones appeal to you the most? Doing so can save you time and money and make your holiday in Ukraine a much more enjoyable one.