Ukraine - Government
Based on the etymolgy of Ukraine, it was 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). The Government system in this country is the semi-presidential republic type and the different Administrative divisions includes: 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), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol**, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr
National symbols
Tryzub (trident), sunflower; national colors: blue, yellow.
The flag
The National flag of Ukraine has two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow; although the colors date back to medieval heraldry, in modern times they are sometimes claimed to represent grain fields under a blue sky.
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The National Anthem
| Title | "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished) |
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| Lyric/music | Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI |
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note: music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003
More about the government of Ukraine
| Date of Independence | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus); 1199 (Principality (later Kingdom) of Ruthenia formed); 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate); 22 January 1918 (from Soviet Russia) |
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| National holiday | Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day |
| Legal system | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| International law organization participation | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
| 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 several times, last in 2019 |
| Citizenship | |
| 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 |
| Executive Branch | |
| Chief of state | President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019) |
| Head of government | Prime Minister Denys SHMYHAL (since 4 March 2020) |
| 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 | 2019: Volodymyr ZELENSKYY elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - 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%; percent of vote in the second round - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO 24.5%, other 2.3%; Denys SHMYHAL (independent) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 291-59 2014: Petro POROSHENKO elected president in first round; percent of vote - Petro POROSHENKO (independent) 54.5%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 12.9%, Oleh LYASHKO (Radical Party) 8.4%, other 24.2%; Volodymyr HROYSMAN (BPP) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 257-50 |
| 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 |
| 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%; Servant of the People 254, Opposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Svoboda 1, Self Reliance 1, United Centre 1, Bila Tserkva Together 1, 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 100 judges, organized into civil, criminal, commercial and administrative chambers, and a grand chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices); High Anti-Corruption Court (consists of 39 judges, including 12 in the Appeals Chamber) |
| Judge selection and term of office | Supreme Court judges recommended by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (a 16-member state body responsible for judicial candidate testing and assessment and judicial administration), submitted to the High Council of Justice, a 21-member independent body of judicial officials responsible for judicial self-governance and administration, and appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; High Anti-Corruption Court judges are selected by the same process as Supreme Court justices, with one addition – a majority of a combined High Qualification Commission of Judges and a 6-member Public Council of International Experts must vote in favor of potential judges in order to recommend their nomination to the High Council of Justice; this majority must include at least 3 members of the Public Council of International Experts; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the Congress of Judges, and by the Verkhovna Rada; judges serve 9-year nonrenewable terms
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| Subordinate courts | Courts of Appeal; district courts |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador Oksana MARKAROVA (since 7 July 2021) |
| Chancery | 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 |
| Telephone | [1] (202) 349-2963 |
| FAX | [1] (202) 333-0817 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en |
| Consulate(s) general | Chicago, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador Bridget A. BRINK (since 2 June 2022) |
| Embassy | 4 A. I. Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv |
| Mailing address | 5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 |
| Telephone | [380] (44) 521-5000 |
| FAX | [380] (44) 521-5544 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://ua.usembassy.gov/ |
| National heritage | |
| Total World Heritage Sites | 8 (7 cultural, 1 natural) |
| Selected World Heritage Site locales | Kyiv: Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (c); Lviv Historic Center (c); Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, Chernivtsi (c); Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese, Sevastopol (c); Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region (c); Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (n); Struve Geodetic Arc (c); The Historic Centre of Odesa (c) |
Key Political parties and their leaders in Ukraine
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International organization participation
All Important Facts about Ukraine
Want to know more about Ukraine? Check all different factbooks for Ukraine below.
