Ukraine  is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The historic city of Kiev (Kyiv) is the country's capital.

On August 22, 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Act of Independence of Ukraine in which the parliament declared Ukraine as an independent democratic state. Ukraine is a republic under a mixed semi-parliamentary semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President is elected by popular vote and is the formal head of state. The 450-seat unicameral parliament, Verkhovna Rada, is primarily responsible for the formation of the executive branch, the Cabinet of Ministers, which is headed by the Prime Minister.

Ukraine is subdivided into twenty-four oblasts (provinces) and one autonomous republic Crimea. Additionally, two cities Kiev and Sevastopol, have a special legal status. The oblasts are subdivided into 494 raions (districts). At 603,700 km² (233,074 sq mi) and with a coastline of 2,782 km (1,729 sq mi) Ukraine is the world's 44th largest country (after the Central African Republic, before Madagascar). It is the second largest country in Europe (after European part of Russia, before metropolitan France). The geographical center of Europe lies in Ukraine,  near the western town of Rakhiv. The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains (or steppes) and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnepr, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest, the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 m (6,762 ft), and those on the Crimean peninsula. Ukraine has a mostly temperate continental climate, although a more Mediterranean climate is found on the southern Crimean coast.

According toUkrainian Census of 2001, ethnic Ukrainians make up 77.8% of the population. Other significant ethnic groups are Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldovans (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%). The dominant religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is currently split between three Church bodies: Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. A distant second is the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which practices a similar liturgical and spiritual tradition as Eastern Orthodoxy, but it is in communion with the See of Peter (Roman Catholic Church) and recognizes the primacy of the Pope as head of the Church.

Ukraine's 2006 GDP (PPP) is ranked 28th in the world and estimated at $355.8 billions. Nominal GDP (in U.S. dollars, calculated at market exchange rate) was $81.53 billions, ranked 53rd in the world. The industrial regions in the east and south-east are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas.