7 Facts: Sizing Up Ukraine
Ukraine is a big deal in Europe — literally.
September 6, 2014
1. Ranked by its landmass of 603,500 square kilometers (km2), Ukraine is the second-largest of Europe’s 43 countries.
2. The only country larger than Ukraine is its current nemesis, Russia. About 3.96 million km2 of Russia’s total landmass of 17.13 million km2 lie within Europe.
3. Ukraine is larger in size than France (547,030 sq. km) and Spain (505,992 sq. km), Europe’s third- and fourth-largest countries.
4. Western Ukraine was part of the Habsburg Empire until the end of World War I and is historically considered more Europe-leaning than the rest of the country.
5. With a size of 346,500 km2, Western Ukraine by is itself is nearly as large as Germany (357,114 km2), Europe’s 6th-largest country.
6. Eastern Ukraine was closely integrated into the industrial machinery of Stalin’s Soviet Union and still maintains close economic and cultural ties to Russia.
7. At 257,000 km2, Eastern Ukraine is about as large as the United Kingdom (242,900 km2), Europe’s 11th-largest country.
Data source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Calculations of the areas of Eastern and Western Ukraine by The Globalist Research Center.
Takeaways
Western Ukraine was part of the Habsburg Empire WW1 and is historically considered more European than the East.
At 257,000 km2, Eastern Ukraine is about as large as the United Kingdom (242,900 km2), Europe's 11th-largest country.
Eastern Ukraine was tied to the industrial economy of the USSR and has strong economic and cultural ties to Russia.
