ABSTRACT
An independent east European republic, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until proclaiming its independence in August 1991. It shares borders with Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania and Mol dova. Some 603,700 square kilometres (233,028 square miles) in size, it had a 1992 population of approximately 54 million, of which 73.6 per cent were ethnic Ukrainians, 21.1 per cent were Russians, 1.3 per cent were Jews; others included Belarussians, Moldovans, Hungarians, Germans, Tartars, Poles and Greeks. Its capital is Kiev with a population of 2.5 million. The dominant religion is Christianity although in the 1990s there was a revival of Islam in the Crimea.
