Central Eastern Europe.

GMT + 2 (GMT + 3 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

603,700 sq km (233,090 sq miles).

47.8 million (UN estimate 2005).

79.2 per sq km.

Kyiv. Population: 2.67 million (official estimate 2005).

Ukraine is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north and east; Belarus to the north; Poland, the Slovak Republic and Hungary to the west; and Romania and Moldova to the southwest. It is a varied country with mountains in the west, plains in the centre and the Black Sea views to the south. The north of the state is dominated by forests. Its other two main features are wooded steppe with beech and oak forests and the treeless steppe. The River Dnieper divides Ukraine roughly in half, and flows into the Black Sea.

Legislative power is in the hands of the 450-strong Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council) of whom half are elected by proportional representation and half directly in single-seat constituencies. Executive power is held by the president, who is directly elected for a five-year term, assisted by the Council of Ministers, which controls the day-to-day operation of the government. The Prime Minister, who heads the Council of Ministers, is a presidential appointee.

Republic. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State: President Viktor Yushchenko since 2005. Head of Government: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych since 2006. Recent history: Following the elections in late 2004 when he lost to the candidate backed by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, Mr Yushchenko and his supporters took to the streets to protest that the vote had been rigged. After 10 days of peaceful but dramatic demonstrations dubbed the 'Orange Revolution', a rerun was ordered and Mr Yushchenko won. Viktor Yushchenko's time in government has been far from smooth however. The heady days of the Orange Revolution have faded, no thanks to a slowing economy and rising prices. Yushchenko struggled to form a working government after the March 2006 general elections in which no party won a majority. After four months of wrangling, he agreed to back his arch rival ViktorYanukovych for prime minister.

Ukrainian is the sole official state language. A member of the eastern Slav languages and similar to Russian, it was discouraged for centuries by Tsarist and Soviet authorities. It is still widely spoken in western and central Ukraine, although Russian is spoken by virtually everyone. Russian is the main language spoken in Kyiv, eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The present Government uses every opportunity to promote the revival of Ukrainian, particularly in schools. There are 12 million ethnic Russians in Ukraine, 500,000 Jews and more than 250,000 Crimean Tatars.

There are about 35 million Ukrainian Orthodox faithful, although the church is divided into a traditional pro-Moscow and a breakaway pro-Kyiv faction. 5 million Eastern-rite (Uniate) Catholics, subservient to Rome, are concentrated in western Ukraine and it is now several years since a Stalin-era ban on their church was lifted. There are also Protestant and Muslim minorities. Mass emigration has reduced the numbers of Jews, concentrated in Kyiv, Lviv and Odessa.

Ukrainian people are warm and particularly friendly to visitors. It is not at all uncommon for Ukrainians to invite strangers into their own homes. People on the street are friendly despite the rigours of post-Soviet life. Formal attire is rarely required, though people dress smartly for the theatre. Visitors should avoid ostentatious displays of wealth in public places.

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