Ukraine

Ukraine - is the state in Eastern Europe. In the south it is washed by the Black and Azov Seas, in the east and northeast it  borders on Russia, in the north - on Belarus, in the west - on Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, in the south-west - on Romania and Moldova. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. In the western part of the country there are the Carpathian mountains and in the south - the Crimean mountains. The total area of Ukraine is 603.7 thousand km ². Ukraine is one of the biggest countries in Europe. Its population is 46029281 inhabitants (26th in the world).

Ukraine is divided into 24 regions and 2 municipalities (Kyiv and Sevastopol) and territorial autonomy - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The largest cities by population are: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Donetsk, Zaporozhzhia, Lviv, Krivyi Rih, Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Luhansk.

The form of government - unitary parliamentary-presidential republic.
The official language - Ukrainian.
Member of the UN since 1945 and a member of  the Council of Europe since 1995.
August 24, 1991 - was proclaimed as an independent state.
The territorial system: sovereign state.

Time of Kyiv.
On last Sunday of March time changing to Daylight Saving Time. On last Sunday of October clocks are moved to winter time.

The climate is temperate, primarily continental, on the southern coast of Crimea - a Subtropical Mediterranean. Average January temperatures range from -8 C in the northeast to +4-8 C in Crimea, corresponding in July - from +18 C to +24 C. Precipitation in the northwest down to 600-700 mm. a year in the southeast - up to 300 mm., in the Crimean Mountains - 1000-1200 mm., in the Carpathians - up to 1600 mm. mostly - in the autumn and winter.

Code of Ukraine 0038. Mobile operators - MTS, KYIVSTAR, Beeline, Life. To call from Ukraine you have to dial 00, then the country code, area code and phone number.
Emergency and need numbers: 101 - Fire 102 - Police 103 - Ambulance 109 - telephone information.

January 1-2 - New Year.
January 7 - Christmas.
March 8 - International Women's Day.
April-May - Easter.
1 May - Labour Day.
May 9 - Victory Day in Great Patriotic War.
June - Trinity.
June 28 - Day of Constitution of Ukraine.
August 24 - Independence Day of Ukraine.

Name of currency - hryvnia (UAH), small change - penny. 1 euro - 10 UAH, a U.S. dollar - 8,0 UAH (at 07.2010). Allowed free admission to 10 thousand USD, the importation of 10 thousand to 50 thousand USD (including payment documents in foreign currency and travelers checks) the necessary documents on the sources of currency (for residents) and an application for import of foreign currency stating the purpose of admission. Bringing more than 50 thousand USD is permitted only in non-cash form or in the form of payment documents in foreign currency. On the import of foreign currency in an amount exceeding 50 thousand USD, need a special permit from the National Bank of Ukraine. Ukrainian currency is imported only with the customs declarations for export of currency from Ukraine. You take out the currency of Ukraine (with the obligatory declaration) up to 10 thousand UAH (up to a thousand - on the condition of oral declaration), foreign currency - amounting to up to 6 thousand USD per person (up to a thousand - on the condition of oral declaration), travelers checks and other payment documents - the amount of not more than 5 thousand USD. You may export of previously imported foreign currency in the presence of customs declarations of import (the necessary relevant documents).

Business card of the country - Ukrainian borscht (over 100 species - Poltava, Volyn, Chernihiv, Galician, Lviv, rural or Dnipro, green, etc.). with donuts. Among meat products are widely used fried or stewed pork, beef and poultry. Popular dishes such as various chops (in Kyiv, Poltava, in Cossack, in Bukovina, etc..) roasts (home-style, in Crimea, in the steppe, etc.), meat balls (in Ukrainian, with rabbit, etc.) stuffed by tallow and garlic pork, braised by cabbage and bacon pork, stew with prunes mutton, goose with apples, chicken kruchenyky with mushroom stuffing, chicken stew with dumplings, barbecue, pork breast with beet "Shpundra", sichenyky, zavyvantsi, cabbage rolls, stuffed poultry. On the other dishes - varenyky with various fillings, Carpathian banosh, loaf and so on. Especially tasty is meat in pots, a variety of goulash and sausages, fried eggs with bacon and sausage, and zrazy with various fillings and braised meat with various vegetables. One of the favorite products of the national cuisine of Ukraine - is salo (tallow). In every region of Ukraine has its own "branded" local food.