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European Union vs. Ukraine

Geography

European UnionUkraine
LocationEurope between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the eastEastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east
Map referencesEuropeAsiaEurope
Areatotal: 4,236,351 sq km

rank by area (sq km):
1. France (includes five overseas regions) 643,801
2. Spain 505,370
3. Sweden 450,295
4. Germany 357,022
5. Finland 338,145
6. Poland 312,685
7. Italy 301,340
8. Romania 238,391
9. Greece 131,957
10. Bulgaria 110,879
11. Hungary 93,028
12. Portugal 92,090
13. Austria 83,871
14. Czechia 78,867
15. Ireland 70,273
16. Lithuania 65,300
17. Latvia 64,589
18. Croatia 56,594
19. Slovakia 49,035
20. Estonia 45,228
21. Denmark 43,094
22. Netherlands 41,543
23. Belgium 30,528
24. Slovenia 20,273
25. Cyprus 9,251
26. Luxembourg 2,586
27. Malta 316
total: 603,550 sq km

land: 579,330 sq km

water: 24,220 sq km

note: approximately 43,133 sq km, or about 7.1% of Ukraine's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Crimea and about one-third of both Luhans'k and Donets'k oblasts
Area - comparativeless than one-half the size of the USalmost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundariestotal: 13,770 km

border countries (19): Albania 212 km, Andorra 118 km, Belarus 1176 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina 956 km, Holy See 3 km, Liechtenstein 34 km, Macedonia 396 km, Moldova 683 km, Monaco 6 km, Montenegro 19 km, Norway 2375 km, Russia 2435 km, San Marino 37 km, Serbia 1353 km, Switzerland 1729 km, Turkey 415 km, United Kingdom 499 km, Ukraine 1324 km; note - the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement (2020) commits the United Kingdom (UK) to maintain an open border in Ireland, so the border between Northern Ireland (UK) and the Republic of Ireland is only de jure and is not a hard border; the de facto border is the Irish Sea between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain

note: data for European continent only
total: 5,581 km

border countries (7): Belarus 1111 km, Hungary 128 km, Moldova 1202 km, Poland 498 km, Romania 601 km, Russia 1944 km, Slovakia 97 km
Coastline53,563.9 km2,782 km
Climatecold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the southtemperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south
Terrainfairly flat along Baltic and Atlantic coasts; mountainous in the central and southern areasmostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula
Elevation extremeshighest point: Mont Blanc, France 4,810 m

lowest point: Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

lowest point: Black Sea 0 m

mean elevation: 175 m
Natural resourcesiron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fishiron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land
Irrigated land154,539.82 sq km (2011 est.)21,670 sq km (2012)
Natural hazardsflooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Balticoccasional floods; occasional droughts
Environment - current issuesvarious forms of air, soil, and water pollution; see individual country entriesair and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant
Environment - international agreementsparty to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 2006

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic- Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Total renewable water resources2,057.76 cubic meters (2011)175.28 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Population distributionpopulation distribution varies considerably from country to country, but tends to follow a pattern of coastal and river settlement, with urban agglomerations forming large hubs facilitating large scale housing, industry, and commerce; the area in and around the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg (known collectively as Benelux), is the most densely populated area in the EUdensest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

Source: CIA Factbook