Ukraine

Ukraine lies in the Eastern Europe, bordered with Russian Federation, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova. On the South and South-east of the country, there are two seas: The Black Sea and The Sea of Azov.

The country is a former Soviet republic, declaring its independence in 1990. It is subdivided into 22 provinces, one autonomous republic, city of Sevastopol and the capital Kiev, which have a special legal status.

With its 603,268 square kilometres, Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, after the Russian Federation. Its territory is mostly flat, but there are the Carpathian Mountains to the West.

Thanks to the Carpathians and the sea shores, Ukraine is the 8th most visited European destination. Another important source of income is the information technology market, which tops all other Central and Eastern European countries. Although the country doesn't export its natural gas, 85 percent of the Russian gas is delivered to Western Europe across Ukraine.

The World Bank classifies Ukraine as a middle income state.