Flag and Emblem of Ukraine

There is a beautiful country Ukraine in the very heart of Europe. It joins East and West like a bridge and plays an important role in the lives of the both. Ukraine has deep historical multifaceted background, rich culture and traditions.

Ukraine is a country with wonderful nature and a rare flavour of traditions, a country of therapeutic soft microclimate, original folk art and deep Slavic culture.

The rich historical and cultural heritage, lakes, rivers, forests with wild berries and mushrooms, medicinal peat mud, mineral waters, fishing ... all these create the necessary prerequisites for the organization and functioning of cultural, educational, health-improving, sports, rural and other types of tourism!

Ukraine is a rather popular tourist destination among both local and the neighbouring countries residents. Beach and wellness holidays on the shores of the Black and Azov Seas, ecological and ski holidays in the Carpathians, an extensive historical heritage make trips to Ukraine unforgettable and amazing. Thanks to numerous mineral springs, wellness tours are possible to the  spa health resorts Morshina, Truskavets and Svalyava. Recently, thanks to the active development of the tourism sector - updating the hotel base, building new hotels and improving resort areas, the flow of guests to Ukraine has gradually been increasing, making travel around our country more and more comfortable and attractive.

Climate

The remoteness of Ukraine from the oceans, continental Eurasia and the predominantly flat landscape determine the country's climate as temperate continental, gradually changing from west to east. As continentality rises, summers become hotter and winters colder and there is less rainfall. Such comfortable climatic conditions give people the opportunity to enjoy a beach holiday at the Black Sea in the summer and go skiing in the ski resorts of the snowy Carpathians in winter.

The lowest average temperatures fall in January - February: -7, -8°C in the north-east of the country and in the mountainous regions. There is an increase in air temperature in March. The  highest average daily temperatures were recorded in July; +20, +25°С, and average monthly temperatures are +17, +19°С in the north and north-west, and +22, +30°С in the south of Ukraine. The distribution of precipitation on the territory of Ukraine is its decrease from the north and northwest to the south and southeast.

Wheat fields of Ukraine

Population

As of February 1, 2015, according to UKRSTAT, the population of Ukraine amounted to 42,741,248 permanent residents and 42,910,885 people of the current population.

Ukrainian girlCurrently, the majority of the country's population are Ukrainians. The second most numerous nation are Russians (their share exceeds 17.28% of the population). Relatively large ethnic groups of Ukraine's population are: Belarusians (0.57%), Moldavians (0.54%), Crimean Tatars (0.51%), Bulgarians (0.42%), Hungarians (0.32%), Romanians (0.31%), Poles (0.30%) and others. Average life expectancy for men is - 65 years old, for women - 74 years old.

 

Religion

The main religion in Ukraine is Christianity. The majority of believers are Christians, most of whom belong to Orthodox churches. The Catholic Church is represented by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and is mainly found in Galicia (Ternopil, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk Regions). In addition, there is Protestantism, Judaism and Islam I Ukraine.

Timezone

Time in Ukraine is defined as UTC+02:00 and in summer as UTC+03:00. Locally it is referred to as the Kyiv Time (Ukrainian: Київський час, Kyivskyi chas) and is part of the Eastern European Time. The change for the summer time take place in the last week of March at 03:00 when the time changes an hour ahead and the last week of October at 04:00 when the time changes an hour back; this way the clocks in Ukraine are 1 hour ahead of those in central Europe at all times. Almost 95% of its territory is located in the Eastern European Time Zone with exceptions of its western and eastern extremities. Small portion of Zakarpattia Oblast is located in the Central European Time Zone, while Luhansk Oblast, most of Donetsk Oblast, and part of Kharkiv Oblast are geographically located in the Further-eastern European Time Zone. However, the whole country officially observes Eastern European Time.

Daylight saving time is introduced annually in Ukraine: on the night of the last Sunday of March, the hour hand is moved one hour ahead. This makes it possible to make fuller use of the light part of the day and save energy. On the night of the last Sunday of October, they return the clock back an hour ago, restoring the time zone.

Transport

Almost all types of modern transport are developed in Ukraine, such as rail, motorway, sea, river, air.

The country's railway network is divided into six roads (directions): Donetsk, Lviv, Odessa, South, Southwest and Dnieper. The maximum speed of passenger trains is 160 km/h. The total length of the tracks is 22473 km.

From Ukraine you can easily get to almost any country of Central and Western Europe, and to the Baltic countries through the territory of Belarus.

Road transport significantly prevails over the other types. 23 international roads go across Ukraine. The total length of motorways is 169,491 km. The main motorways of the country are Kyiv – Lviv, Kyiv – Kharkiv, Kyiv – Brest, Dnipro – Nikopol, Kyiv – Odessa, Odessa – Mykolaiv – Kherson, Bila Tserkva – Vinnytsa – Khmelnytsky, Dnipro – Zaporozhzhia.

The largest river of Ukraine - the Dnieper, is navigable. Ukraine has access to two seas - the Azov and the Black. Sea transport carries cargo and passengers in the Black Sea-Azov basin.

Air transport is also developed, there are over 20 airports in Ukraine. Some cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv) have two airports each. The main air gate of the country is Boryspil Airport.

Ukrainian railroad

Cuisine

For many people, Ukrainian cuisine is firmly associated with a particular dish. What are they?

1. For all residents of Ukraine, as well as for all tourists, it is known that the main traditional dish or “delicacy” of Ukraine, so to speak, is lard and this is true. This product is revered and loved here. It is used in any form: fresh for frying, salty for eating, as a main dish and as a snack.

Ukrainian traditional cuisine2. Borsch. This is the soup dish and very special. It is considered to be difficult to cook, since it contains more than 20 ingredients, the main ones are cabbage, beetroot, potatoes and bone yushka (broth). Only a Ukrainian cook will be able to cook a real Ukrainian borsch, since it is not the main thing to know the number of components and the entire cooking process, the main skill is to "determine by eye" the broth richness, the readiness of fried vegetables and the thickness of the dish.

3. Bread in Ukrainian cuisine is very crucial. Usually loaves were kneaded from a mixture of wheat and rye flour. The dough was prepared on a special sourdough, and baked in a Ukrainian oven. Loaves turned rosy, fragrant, with a crisp. A product made of pure wheat flour was called a "palianytsia" (white bread) and it was considered a festive dish. On other days people used to bake barley bread, as well as dishes from unleavened dough, for example dumplings. They are served as a main course or as a side dish with meat. Speaking about bakery products, one cannot fail to mention the well-known garlic pampushki (rolls), without which it is impossible to imagine borsch. Shortcrust pastry or pies is are served for desert.

4. Last but not least on this list are dumplings. According to its manufacturing principle, the process resembles the cooking of Caucasian manti and Russian dumplings, with the difference that various vegetables and berries in any form are used as fillings. Most often in cafes and restaurants you can find dumplings with potatoes and onions in an onion fry with butter, dumplings with cottage cheese and sour cream, dumplings with cherries, etc. on the menu.

Attractions

Ukraine is a marvelous land, always hospitable and welcoming. Every corner of this vast land will happily reveal its beauty to tourists. In recent years, holidays in Ukraine have become increasingly popular, and this is not surprising at all - how many miracles this glorious land is fraught with! It seems that there is absolutely everything that may be of interest to the traveller. And that is true!

Sights of Ukraine can be found in every city. If you are planning a vacation in Ukraine, then you will have a unique opportunity to replenish your vivid impressions from viewing cultural and historical sights, to feel the history captured in architectural forms. The sights of Ukraine are rich in diverse, each region boasts its own cultural values ​​and unforgettable flavour.

The country is rich in natural, architectural monuments, reserves.

Castles and fortresses of Ukraine

Castles of UkraineThere are many historical sights in Ukraine, such as castles. Hundreds of tourists annually are actively interested in castle tourism. There are medieval palaces and fortresses, for example, the Old Castle in Kamenetz-Podilsk, Belgorod-Dniester Fortress, Olesky and dilapidated Nevitsky castles and many other unique architectural monuments.

Later, after the Middle Ages, more luxurious buildings began to be erected in Ukraine. Such structures include: Castle of Major General Popov in the Zaporozhzhia region.

Natural attractions of Ukraine

astonishing natural sights of Ukraine amaze the imagination, what only the so-called stone grave in Zaporozhzhia is worth. It is often called the “Ukrainian Stonehenge”, it is an ancient open-air sanctuary. Huge stone blocks up to 13 m high with cave paintings and ancient signs create a truly bewitching impression. Tourists believ  that the most popular natural places for recreation are located in Odessa, the Carpathians and on the Shatsky Lakes in the Volyn Region.

Natural sights of Ukraine amaze with their heavenly beauty. So, for example, in Transcarpathia there is an active volcano, but instead of lava and ashes, dirt erupts from it. Alpine Sinerivsky Lake impresses with its crystal clear water. In Transcarpathia there is a Valley of daffodils, and there is also a unique salty water lake Kunigunda, which appeared due to subsidence of the salt mine.

Features of private medicine

A key feature of non-governmental medical institutions in Ukraine is a commercial approach to treating patients which means all services are paid. At the same time, patients do not face a corruption component, which allows determining the cost of treatment even at the stage of drawing up a treatment procedure.

The key advantages of private clinics over state include:

  • Comfortable reception conditions mean the patient does not have to queue. It is enough for them to make an appointment by phone and to come to a specialist at the time appointed. This is especially important for people who feel unwell;
     
  • Good layout and modern design allow the patient to be in comfortable conditions during admission, diagnosis, manipulation, as well as during their stay in hospital;
     
  • Transparent system of payment for services in private clinics means there is no corruption, when in addition to the official cost of services and medicines, the patient must “bring” the doctor a present for his loyalty and consent to the treatment;
     
  • Modern equipment - thanks to the stable investment of private owners in their clinics, the latter are equipped with the most advanced diagnostic equipment, which makes it possible to identify pathologies even in the early stages of their development;
     
  • High qualification of doctors and medical staff provided by careful selection of staff and high salaries stimulate clinic specialists to perform their duties efficiently;

    Possibility to choose your doctor - the patient has the right to choose a doctor or change him to another during treatment.

Doctors perform the operation


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