The highest population densities are found in the industrialized Donets Basin and Dnipro Bend regions and in the agriculturally productive forest-steppe belt. Fruits and vegetables are grown on the outskirts of cities, and cattle and pigs are raised throughout the country. Ukraine has rich reserves of iron ore, bituminous and an thracite coals, and manganese-bearing ores located in close proximity to each other. Ukraine also produces natural gas and petroleum, though reserves of these fuels were much depleted during the Soviet period. Besides its basic mining industries, Ukraine has ferrous-metals industries that produce iron and steel in large quantities.
Durable goods manufactured include mining and metallurgical equipment, automobiles, and tractors.
The chemical industry produces large amounts of sulphuric acid and mineral fertilizers. Ukraine's food-processing industries yield a wide spectrum of all kinds of food of good quality. Political system Ukraine's political system underwent rapid changes in the early 1990s after the country gained its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union in late 1991. The chief executive of Ukraine is the president, who is also chosen in free elections. Education Illiteracy was virtually eliminated in the first half of the twentieth century, and secondary education is compulsory.