Ukraine is the country with the second largest territory among the states of Europe, located in its eastern part.
General demographic and geographic characteristics
The population is about 43 million. Within the framework of our entire planet, this is the thirty-second place in terms of the number of inhabitants among all other states. Countries such as Moldova and Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, Poland, Belarus and Russia are its neighbors.
In its southern part, the territory is washed by the Black and Azov Seas. Basically, the area is flat and hilly in some places, and only five percent are mountains, the Carpathian (with the highest point of 2061 meters - Hoverla) and Crimean (the highest point - Roman-Kosh, 1545 meters).
Resource we alth in brief
Out of one hundred and twenty types of minerals that are known to man and he uses them, 97 are available here. Five percent of the world's reserves - exactly this amount of iron oreconcentrated in the lands of Ukraine. In addition, there are large deposits of coal, the world's largest deposits of sulfur, mercury ores (second place). A huge number of non-metallic minerals widely used in the construction industry. These are clay, limestone, tuffs, marble, bas alt, gypsum, chalk, marl. In terms of reserves of table s alt, graphite, kaolin, Ukraine is among the leading countries of the world and Europe in particular. And this is not the whole list of what the Ukrainian land is rich in.
Population concentration
Ukraine's 460 cities account for almost 69% of the population. The remaining 31% is accounted for by the population of urban-type settlements (urban-type settlements, the number is 885) and rural settlements, of which there are more than 28 thousand. In small villages, the main occupation is agriculture, which has all favorable conditions for development and high productivity. These are the climatic conditions and the quality of the soil (one third of the arable land in all of Europe is located in Ukraine). Only the attitude of some people towards agriculture is unfavorable.
The government pays little attention to this issue, the villagers do not have much support, therefore agriculture is partially developed on an industrial scale, in the sowing industry - cereals, corn. Animal husbandry is mainly at the level of providing for one's own family. In cities, there is a concentration on various types of industry.
Cities that are the largest by area
In terms of area among Ukrainian cities, Kyiv is in first place -the capital, and its territory is 870.5 km sq.
The following five cities have about 400 sq. km., these are Makeevka (Donetsk region), Gorlovka (Donetsk region), Krivoy Rog (Dnipropetrovsk region), Dnepropetrovsk itself and Donetsk. Their area is 425.7 km2, 422 km2, 410 km2, 405 km2. and 385 sq. km. respectively. Apart from Kyiv, the largest cities of Ukraine have such a large area due to highly developed industrial activities. So, in Makiivka there are about twenty factories and plants focused on heavy industry (ferrous metallurgy, coal mining, engineering) and food enterprises. Together with Donetsk, these two cities are the largest industrial hub in Ukraine. There are more than fifty different enterprises of the chemical, coal, food, machine-building and processing industries in Gorlovka. Krivoy Rog is the center of the most important raw material base of metallurgy. Dnepropetrovsk with its 200 enterprises in thirteen industries produces 4.5% of all industrial output in Ukraine. As for Kyiv, it is a center not only for industry, but also for other issues, such as politics, culture, science, transport, religion.
In the top ten, which is the largest cities of Ukraine in terms of area, are: in seventh place - Kharkiv (350 sq. km.), eighth place behind Zaporozhye (331 sq. km.), ninth - Lugansk (269 sq. km.), and concludes the top ten Nikolaev (253 km sq.).
Which cities have the mostresidents
Ukraine's largest cities in terms of population are once again led by Kyiv, with almost 2.9 million people, according to the latest data. The next, having half the value of the previous one, is Kharkov - 1.45 million people, then - Odessa (1.014 million), Dnepropetrovsk (987 thousand), and the capital of the self-proclaimed DPR - Donetsk - closes the top five - with the population 933 thousand people. The top ten, which is made up of the largest cities in Ukraine in terms of population, also includes:
- Zaporozhye (762 thousand).
- Lviv (729 thousand).
- Krivoy Rog (647 thousand).
- Nikolaev (494 thousand).
- Mariupol (455 thousand).
The number of large cities in Ukraine, and these are those in which 250-500 thousand people live (there are 16 of them), is approximately 5 million people, which is over 11% of the total number of inhabitants of the country.
In general, the ten largest cities of Ukraine are as follows.
| City | Population, million | City | Size of the territory, km sq. |
| 2, 9 | 870, 5 | ||
| Kharkov | 1, 43 | Makiivka | 425, 7 |
| Odessa | 1, 014 | Gorlovka | 422 |
| Dnepropetrovsk | 0, 987 | Krivoy Rog | 410 |
| Donetsk | 0, 933 | Dnepropetrovsk | 405 |
| Zaporozhye | 0, 762 | Donetsk | 385 |
| Lviv | 0, 729 | Kharkov | 350 |
| Krivoy Rog | 0, 647 | Zaporozhye | 331 |
| Nikolaev | 0, 494 | Lugansk | 269 |
| Mariupol | 0, 455 | Nikolaev | 253 |
Population of small towns
Places with the smallest population are the tragically famous Pripyat (now no one lives in this city due to its close proximity to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant) and Chernobyl, where about five hundred people live on a rotational basis. They are responsible for ensuring security in the area, for working at the facilities of the exclusion zone, and people who decide to return to their hometown, despite the risk and danger, also live here.
Followed by small towns, where the population reaches approximately two to five thousand people. This is:
- Berestechko and Ustilug in the Volyn region.
- Baturin in the Chernihiv region.
- Skalat in Ternopil region.
- Svyatogorsk in the Donetsk region.
Although, according to the legislation of Ukraine, it is possible to assign the status of a city to a village with a population of ten thousand or more. But in a country with such a rich history, there is room for exceptions on the basis of the historical significance of cities. Also, cities remain those settlements that previously had the number of inhabitants above the required minimum, but over time the number fell due to the death rate andmigration of residents to other cities and countries.
Ranking in the world
Ukraine is in second place in terms of mortality in the world. Only South Africa is ahead of her in this sad rating. At a time when the average death rate in the world is 8.6 per thousand population, in Ukraine it is actually twice as high - 15.72 (data for 2014). For comparison, in Iraq, where the political situation is unstable in places, tragic events with the use of weapons occur every now and then, the death rate is only 4.57. What lies at the heart of the population problems of the Ukrainian state?
Problems of high mortality
Mainly, this is ecology, or rather, the neglect of environmental standards. So, first of all, pollution of water resources. According to the level of water purification consumed by the inhabitants of Ukraine, the country is in 105th place out of 120. The standards used to determine the suitability for drinking water consumption were developed during the USSR. Since then, "a lot of water has flown under the bridge", many new, harmful substances have appeared that are not tracked by outdated standards.
The second major reason is the lack of recycling: only 10% is recycled, the rest is piled up and incinerated, partly a component of air pollution. For comparison: in Europe, up to 95% of waste is recycled. For example, aluminum cans that sell Coca-Cola or Sprite drinks. 99% goes to re-manufacturing, because aluminum is 100% recyclable, and at only a 5% costprimary production energy. And, of course, the problem of Chernobyl, which affected not only Ukrainian lands, but also neighboring countries of Western Europe, as well as regions of Russia closest to the border.
But if the consequences of the aforementioned catastrophe are already virtually unrepairable, then the rest of the problems can be solved, the main thing is to make an effort. The continuation of such an attitude towards the external environment will soon lead to a critical decrease in the population of Ukraine.
