Demographic Situation in Ukraine in the Transition Period

Ukraine belongs to the group of the largest countries of Europe in terms of land area (603.7 thousand kilometres) and size of population (50.1 million); 67.9% of the Ukrainian population lives in urban settlements. At the beginning of 1998, 2,346.5 thousand people lived in the territories polluted by radiation as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Ukraine is a multinational country. According to the last population census (1989), Ukrainians make up 72.7%, Russians — 22.1%, Jews — 0.9%, Belarus — 0.9%, and other nationalities — 3.4% (SSCU, 1999a).