Ukraine

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to achieve a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006. An early legislative election, brought on by a political crisis in the spring of 2007, saw Yuliya TYMOSHENKO, as head of an "Orange" coalition, installed as a new prime minister in December 2007. Viktor YANUKOVUYCH was elected president in a February 2010 run-off election that observers assessed as meeting most international standards. The following month, the Rada approved a vote of no-confidence prompting Yuliya TYMOSHENKO to resign from her post as prime minister.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Hryvnia (ISO code: UAH)
* Central bank discount rate: 10.25% (31 December 2009)
* Commercial banks lending rate: 19.6% (31 December 2009)
* Stock of money (M1): $24.7 billion (31 December 2009)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $41.5 billion (31 December 2009)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Ukraine: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	31 581	31 262	38 009	42 393	50 133	64 883	86 142	107 753	142 719	180 355
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ukraine: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	60.976	45.287	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ukraine: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	23.329	26.783	26.574	29.232	29.885	30.710	35.108	36.205 	34.320 	35.750
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ukraine: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.	25.171	26.872	27.615	28.995	29.714	32.984	36.045	36.794 	34.952 	37.239
Debt to revenue (years) 	2.614 	1.691 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Ukraine on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Ukraine
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries