Ethnicity: Ukrainian 73%, Russian 22%. Russians and Ukrainians are ethnically identical, the difference is purely linguistic.
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Capital: Kiev (Kyyiv)
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Legislature: The Supreme Council (Verkhovna
Rada) is a unicameral legislature. It has 450 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation from national party lists.
Electoral authority: The Ukrainian Central Election Commission controls national elections.
Freedom House rating:
Political Rights 4, Civil Liberties 4
Political history
"Ukraine" means "borderland" in the East Slavic languages, and Ukraine was for centuries the borderland between the Russian homelands and the Ottoman Empire to the south. As the Ottomans withdrew, Ukraine was absorbed into the Russian Empire. Although there are some
differences between the Russian and Ukrainian languages, only in the 19th century did a sense of a separate Ukrainian nationality emerge.
The collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918 enabled Ukrainian nationalists to seize power in Kiev and declare Ukrainian independence under German protection. But with the withdrawal of the Germans the Russian Bolsheviks emerged victorious in the ensuing civil war, and in 1921 Ukraine became a republic of the Soviet Union.
The Communist regime always suspected Ukraine of separatist tendencies, and the famines and purges of the Stalin era hit Ukraine particularly hard. Ukraine was occupied by the Germans from 1941 to 1945, but the Nazis saw Ukraine simply as a resource to be looted and did not allow Ukrainian nationalists to organise.
The decline of Soviet power in 1990 saw Ukrainian nationalism re-emerge, and Ukraine became independent with the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Unfortunately the Soviet-era boundaries included large areas which are almost entirely Russian within the Ukrainian state, a source of instability and discontent. Only in the west of the country does the majority of the population speak Ukrainian.
Ukraine has inherited many Soviet institutions and attitudes along with the decaying industries of the Donbass. Government has been authoritarian, corrupt and incompetent, economic reform has been slow, and vital issues such as land privatisation and the environment remain untackled. Since independence living standards and population have fallen.
Ukraine has a weak legislature and a weak party system. The best organised party is the
Communist Party of Ukraine, an unreconstructed Stalinist party which draws its strength from ethnic Russians and inefficient collective farm workers. Also on the left (which in the Ukrainian context means resistant to change) are the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the United Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian nationalist parties are grouped in the Our Ukraine coalition. The best-known group within this coalition is the nationalist movement Rukh (People's Movement of Ukraine). The For United Ukraine grouping is an alliance of supporters of the President. The Juliya Tymoshenko Election Block is an alliance of reformers.
President Leonid Kuchma's term expired in 2004, and the pro-Russian faction tried to instal Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as his successor. Allegations of vote
rigging in the second round in November led to a prolonged political crisis, dubbed the "Orange Revolution." A rerun of the election in December gave the reformist
candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, a majority. At legislative elections in March 2006, however, Yushchenko's party suffered heavy losses to the party of his former ally, Yulia Timoshenko.
The collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918 enabled Ukrainian nationalists to seize power in Kiev and declare Ukrainian independence under German protection. But with the withdrawal of the Germans the Russian Bolsheviks emerged victorious in the ensuing civil war, and in 1921 Ukraine became a republic of the Soviet Union.
The Communist regime always suspected Ukraine of separatist tendencies, and the famines and purges of the Stalin era hit Ukraine particularly hard. Ukraine was occupied by the Germans from 1941 to 1945, but the Nazis saw Ukraine simply as a resource to be looted and did not allow Ukrainian nationalists to organise.
The decline of Soviet power in 1990 saw Ukrainian nationalism re-emerge, and Ukraine became independent with the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Unfortunately the Soviet-era boundaries included large areas which are almost entirely Russian within the Ukrainian state, a source of instability and discontent. Only in the west of the country does the majority of the population speak Ukrainian.
Ukraine has inherited many Soviet institutions and attitudes along with the decaying industries of the Donbass. Government has been authoritarian, corrupt and incompetent, economic reform has been slow, and vital issues such as land privatisation and the environment remain untackled. Since independence living standards and population have fallen.
Ukraine has a weak legislature and a weak party system. The best organised party is the Communist Party of Ukraine, an unreconstructed Stalinist party which draws its strength from ethnic Russians and inefficient collective farm workers. Also on the left (which in the Ukrainian context means resistant to change) are the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the United Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian nationalist parties are grouped in the Our Ukraine coalition. The best-known group within this coalition is the nationalist movement Rukh (People's Movement of Ukraine). The For United Ukraine grouping is an alliance of supporters of the President. The Juliya Tymoshenko Election Block is an alliance of reformers.
President Leonid Kuchma's term expired in 2004, and the pro-Russian faction tried to instal Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as his successor. Allegations of vote rigging in the second round in November led to a prolonged political crisis, dubbed the "Orange Revolution." A rerun of the election in December gave the reformist candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, a majority. At legislative elections in March 2006, however, Yushchenko's party suffered heavy losses to the party of his former ally, Yulia Timoshenko.