Geography of Ukraine

Ukraine is considered to be a large nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 603,500 km² (approx. 233,012 mi²). Continental shelf of Ukraine is approximately 79,142 km² (around 30,557 mi²). Ukraine is located in Europe. Europe is a continent whose borders date back to the period of antiquity. European countries include, but are not limited to, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Malta, and The Vatican. Ukraine has 7 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia. Ukraine is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of Ukraine is 175 m (574 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of Ukraine is 5618 kilometers (~2,169 miles). Ukraine has 8 unique land boundaries with neigbouring territories and it shares its land borders with 7 different countries. Ukraine has 1 non-contiguous section of land borders. This happens, when a country has a border with a neighbour, and this border is split by a border with another neighbour. Ukraine has 7 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Belarus, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Slovakia. The lengths of the land borders of Ukraine with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Belarus - 891 km (554 mi),
• Hungary - 103 km (64 mi),
• Moldova - 939 km (584 mi),
• Poland - 526 km (327 mi),
• Romania - 531 km (330 mi),
• Russia - 1576 km (979 mi),
• Slovakia - 97 km (60 mi).

Cities

The capital city of Ukraine is Kiev. The largest city in Ukraine is Kyiv.

Elevation

The average elevation range of Ukraine is 175 m (574 ft). The highest point of Ukraine is Hora Hoverla, with its official height being 2061 m (6,762 ft). The lowest point of Ukraine is Kuyalnik Estuary. It lies at -5 m (-16 ft), i.e. below the sea level. The elevation difference between the highest (Hora Hoverla) and lowest (Kuyalnik Estuary) points of Ukraine is 2066 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of Ukraine is 603,500 km² (approx. 233,012 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 147,318 km² (~56,880 mi²). The continental shelf of Ukraine is approximately 79,142 km² (around 30,557 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Ukraine is approximately 750,818 km² (~289,891 mi²). Ukraine is considered to be a large nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

105,000 km² of Ukraine's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 17% of all the land in the country. There are 324,791 km² of arable land in Ukraine, and it comprises 54% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in Ukraine are iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land.