What is the capital of Ukraine?
Country Name | Ukraine |
Full Country Name | none |
Local - Long | none |
Local - Short | Ukrayina |
Former Name | Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic |
Etymology- history of name | name derives from the Old East Slavic word "ukraina" meaning "borderland or march (militarized border region)" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus) |
Government Type | semi-presidential republic |
Capital Name | Kyiv (Kiev) note: pronounced KEE-EV |
Capital - geographic coordinate | 50 26 N, 30 31 E |
Capital Time Difference | UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Daylight Savings Time | +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Independence | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus), 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate) |
National Holiday | Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day |
Constitution |
history: several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996 amendments: proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one-third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended 2004, 2010, 2015 |
Who is the president of Ukraine?
Executive Branch: |
chief of state: President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019) head of government: Prime Minister Oleksiy HONCHARUK (since 29 August 2019) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, approved by the Verkhovna Rada elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 31 March and 21 April 2019 (next to be held in March 2024); prime minister selected by the Verkhovna Rada election results: first round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 30.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 15.6%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 13.4%, Yuriy BOYKO (Opposition Platform-For Life) 11.7%, 35 other candidates 29.1%; second round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 24.5%; Oleksiy HONCHARUK (Servant of the People) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 290-27 note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president |
Citizenship Criteria: |
citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
Legal System: | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
Legislative Branch: |
description: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: last held on 21 July 2019 (next to be held in July 2024) election results: percent of vote by party - Servant of the People 43.2%, Opposition Platform-For Life 13.1%, Batkivshchyna 8.2%, European Solidarity 8.1%, Voice 5.8%, other 21.6%; seats by party (preliminary) - Servant of the People 254, Oposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Samopomich 1, Svoboda 1, other parties 2, independent 46; note - voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 26 seats vacant; although this brings the total to 424 elected members (of 450 potential), article 83 of the constitution mandates that a parliamentary majority consists of 226 seats |
Judicial Branch: |
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 95 judges organized into civil, criminal, commercial, and administrative chambers, and a military panel); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges proposed by the Supreme Council of Justice or SCJ (a 20-member independent body of judicial officials and other appointees) and appointed by presidential decree; judges initially appointed for 5 years and, if approved by the SCJ, serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the SCU, and by the Verkhovna Rada; justices appointed for 9-year non-renewable terms subordinate courts: specialized high courts; Courts of Cassation; Courts of Appeal; regional, district, city, and town courts |
Regions or States: |
24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k (Dnipro), Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnyts'kyy), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment note 2: the United States does not recognize Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol |
Political Parties and Leaders: |
Batkivshchyna ("Fatherland") [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO] Bloc of Petro Poroshenko – Solidarnist or BPP [Vitaliy KLYCHKO] (formed from the merger of Solidarnist and UDAR) Narodnyy Front ("People's Front") or NF [Arseniy YATSENIUK] Opposition Bloc or OB [Yuriy BOYKO] Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO] Samopomich ("Self Reliance") [Andriy SADOVYY] Svoboda ("Freedom") [Oleh TYAHNYBOK] Ukrainian Association of Patriots or UKROP [Ihor KOLOMOYSKYY] Vidrozhennya ("Revival") [Vitaliy KHOMUTYNNIK] (parliamentary group) Volya Naroda (“People's Will”) or VN (Yaroslav MOSKALENKO) |
International Law Organization Participation: | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
International Organization Participation: | Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
Diplomatic Representation in the US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador Valeriy CHALYY (since 3 August 2015) chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 349-2920 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco |
Diplomatic Representation from US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador Marie YOVANOVITCH (since 29 August 2016) embassy: 4 Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv mailing address: 5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 521-5000 FAX: [380] (44) 521-5155 |