Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe with population equal to 46.6 million people (by the 1st of January 2007).

The majority of the country’s population is Ukrainian. This name (Ukrainians and also Rus, Ruthenians) began to spread at the end of the 16th century, and identifies one of the oldest European ethnic groups: the East Slavic branch of the Slavic group of Indo-European family of languages.

The Ukrainian population consists of the major ethnic group (who settled within current state boundaries or in neighboring areas of other states) and the Diaspora – those groups of Ukrainians that dispersed over the territories far from their original ones, separated geographically from the main group.

The majority of Ukrainians lives on their ethnic lands, i.e. the territories, on which the Ukrainian nation emerged. On these very territories the Ukrainian population has always been prevailing as compared to other ethnic groups (Table 1).

Table 1. Population size and the dispersal of Ukrainians in the world (1910–1989)

Years	Total		Russia and USSR (excluding Ukraine)		Europe		Ukraine (in current boundaries)		USA		Australia
	ths	%	ths	%	ths	%	ths	%	ths	%	ths	%
1910-1917	35 534,7	100	7 082,7	19,9	1 021,2	2,9	27 050,8	76,1	380,0	1,1
1926-1931	37 227,8	100	8 344,4	22,4	745,8	2,0	27 567,6	74,1	570,0	1,5
1939	35 616,6	100	4 524,7	12,7	876,1	2,5	29 606,8	83,1	609,0	1,7
1959	38 624,7	100	5 063,3	13,1	335,0	0,9	32 158,4	83,3	1 053,0	2,7	15,0
1979	44 077,2	100	5 858,3	13,3	490,0	1,1	36 488,9	82,8	1 220,0	2,8	20,0
1989	46 136,0	100	6 764,0	14,7	500,0	1,1	37 419,0	81,1	1 428,0	3,1	25,0

According to the first all-Ukrainian population census (2001) the number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Ukraine is equal to 37.5 mln, which makes 77.8% of the total size of the country’s population. Ethnic Ukrainians represent an absolute majority (more than 90%) in 13 out of 27 regions of Ukraine and an overwhelming majority (from 70 to 90%) in 7 regions. Only in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) their proportion is low, equal to 24.3%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ternopil’ Oblast’ is almost mono-ethnic and its proportion of Ukrainians is 97.8% of the Oblast’s population.

The Ukrainian Diaspora, which can be divided into eastern and western Diasporas, has been estimated at between 16 and 20 mln persons.

The western Diaspora, which has existed for more than a century, was formed in the course of several waves of emigration: the first one occurred in the end of the 19th century and lasted till the beginning of WWI; the second wave – between the First and Second World Wars, and the third wave – after WWII. After the Soviet Union fell apart the 4th wave of emigration occurred. Unlike the prior waves, the fourth wave consisted primarily of professionally trained workers and intelligentsia.

The eastward emigration began during Het’man times. Mass migration of Ukrainians to Russia occurred in the second half of the 19th century and continued throughout the reforms of Petro Stolypin. During Soviet time the eastward migration went on, due to the need in labor force for the development of virgin and fallow lands of Kazakhstan, Siberia and Altai. In addition to the emigration for economic reasons, the Soviet government resorted to deportation from the 1930s until the 1950s. The forth wave of both eastward and westward emigration was economically motivated and represented by a vast stream of Ukrainians moving primarily to the Russian Federation. Nowadays, there are from 7 to 8 millions of Ukrainians living abroad. They are mostly concentrated in the Russian Federation (2.9 mln), Canada (1.1 mln), the USA (about 1 mln) and Western Europe (up to 500 ths).

Russians are the largest ethnic minority in Ukraine. They represent about 17.3% of the country’s total population. The greatest number of Russians lives in the ARC. It is the only region of Ukraine where Russians are the majority (58.3%). There are also many Russian people in Luhans’k and Donets’k Oblast’s (up to 40% of the regional population).

About 5% of the population consists of Western (Poles, Czech, Slovaks) and Southern Slavs (Bulgarians), the Romanian-speaking people (Moldavians and Romanians), Finno-Ugric people (Hungarians and Estonians), Turks (Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Azerbaijan and Gagauz minority). There are also separate ethnic communities of Jews, Armenians and Greeks in Ukraine. However, their number in Ukraine does not exceed 1% of the country’s total population. These ethnic minorities differ by region: 12% of the population of the ARC is Crimean Tatar; 1.6% of the Khmelnyts’k Oblast’ is Polish. In Zakarpattia Oblast’, 12.1% of the population is Hungarian, 1.1% is Roma, 2.6% is Romanian. In Chernivtsi Oblast’, 12.5% of the population is Romanian. Bulgarians live in Zaporizhzhia and Odesa Oblast’s (1.4 and 6.1% correspondingly). Moldavians represent 5% of Odesa Oblast’s population and over 7% of the Chernivtsi Oblast’s population.

The dynamic ethnic structure of Ukraine’s population, especially during the 20th century, is not significantly related to ethnic processes, but rather is a consequence of socio-political and other processes that took place in Europe, the Russian Empire and the USSR (Table 2).

Table 2. Ethnic structure of Ukraine’s population (in current boundaries), 1897–2001*

Ethnic groups	1897 - 1900	1921 - 1926	1959	1989	2001	2001 relatively to 1897–1900, %
Total population	100	100	100	100	100	164,1
Ukrainians	71,8	74,2	76,8	72,7	77,8	177,9
Russians	8,1	8,2	16,9	22,1	17,3	374,1
Jews	8,9	6,5	2,0	0,9	0,2	4,0
Poles	4,3	5,7	0,9	0,4	0,3	11,5
Germans	2,1	1,6	0,1	0,1	0,1	5,4
Moldavians and Romanians	1,4	1,2	0,8	0,9	0,8	97,7

* Showed are those ethnic groups, which exceeded 1% of total population according to the census of 1926

The all-Ukrainian population census (2001) reflected considerable changes in the ethnic structure of Ukrainian population during the last ten years. Compared to 1989, the proportion of Ukrainians increased by 5.1%. At the same time, due to assimilation and emigration, the proportion of Russians decreased by 4.8% and the number of Russians in Ukraine reached 8 334 ths persons. As a result of emigration, the number of Jews declined by a factor of five. Due to the repatriation of Crimean Tatars, their number increased to 248.2 ths persons.

The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian. Worldwide, Ukrainian is spoken by 45 mln people, which places it in the top ten languages in the world if ranked by the number of speakers. According to the All-Ukrainian population census (2001), Ukrainian is the mother tongue of 67.5% of the country’s population and Russian is the mother tongue of 30% of Ukraine’s population. More than 85% of Ukrainians consider Ukrainian to be their mother tongue (78% of urban and 97% of rural population), and about 95% of Russians and 92% of Crimean Tatars consider the language of their nationality to be their mother tongue, which testifies to positive ethno-national tendencies.

87.8% of Ukraine’s citizens speak Ukrainian. The highest percentage was registered in western (89–99%), northern (95–99%) and central (over 70%) Oblast’s.

Two-thirds of Ukraine’s population have good command of the Russian language.
In general, in most areas of Ukraine there is a tendency to preserve the language of ethnic communities while bi-or multi-lingual phenomenon is present.

Religion is playing an important role in spiritual life of Ukraine’s people. Orthodox Church of Eastern rite is the prevailing denomination in Ukraine, embracing about 55% of religious organizations. It includes three churches: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOCKP), Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (UOCMP) and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC).

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) was founded by the act of synod in Brest (1569). It lived through a hard phase of development and was closed in 1946. In 1989, after 40 years, it was legalized and restored its Institutions. The Roman Catholic Church is also in the process of re-establishment.

Table 3. The most numerous Christian Churches (2003)

Religious organizations	Number of religious organizations
	Communities	Monasteries	Congregations	Missions	Spiritual educational institutions/Sunday schools
UOCMP	10 040	142	33	4	15 / 3 245
UOCKP	3 186	32	9	23	16 / 881
UAOC	1 110	4	2	7	9 / 248
UGCC	3 292	88	2	11	13 / 907
RCC	840	75	3	34	7 / 504

Protestants (over 3 500 communities) are represented in Ukraine by 48 churches, denominations and movements. The proportion of protestant communities relative to the total number of religious organizations in Ukraine is 28%.

There are Muslims and Judaists in Ukraine as well. Non-traditional cults have also been spreading recently.

Demographic development. During the hard period of the first half of 20th century that was accompanied by wars, repressions, famines, and deportations, Ukraine lost about 16 mln of its population.

Only in 1959 did Ukraine’s population recover to its pre-war size (42.1 mln). However, while the total population continued to increase (Table 4), the dynamic of indicators of natural increase and migration increase had a tendency to decline. Thus, during the first post-war inter-census period (1959–1970), the population increased by 12.5%; during the second period (1970–1979) – by 5.4%, and during the third (1979–1989) – by only 3.7%.

Table 4. Total population according to censuses data (in current boundaries)

Year of census	1897*	1926*	1939*	1959	1970	1979	1989	2001
Population number (in mln)	28,4	37,8	40,5	41,9	47,1	49,8	51,7	48,5

*According to the calculations of the Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the NAS of Ukraine

During the 90s of the 20th century the dynamic of the population count changed sharply. As a result, the total population reached its maximum in 1993 (52.2 mln persons) and then decreased by 5.6 mln during the period of 1993–2007. This recent demographic development is characterized by unfavorable demographic tendencies. The analysis of earlier dynamics of demographic processes testifies to the fact that they are a matter of long standing. The birth rate, especially in the rural area began to decline in the second half of the 20th century; from the second half of the 70s it acquired the character of depopulation. This reached the national scale in the early 90s, when the positive effect of age composition was exhausted in every region.

The most destructive current demographic processes in Ukraine are fertility decline and mortality growth. Fertility covers mortality losses only by 50%, i.e. the population reproduces only half of itself. The average speed of total fertility rate decline for 1989–1999 is by one order higher than the same for 1959–1989: -5.2% and -0.54% respectively. Beginning in 1990, the total fertility rate fell below the level of replacement for both urban and rural populations. Taking into account fertility trends in Europe, there is no reason to expect fertility increase in Ukraine.

This crisis is becoming more acute, because, unlike the developed economies, where baby boom is accompanied by a considerable increase of life expectancy curbing depopulation, in Ukraine the life span shortens. According to the WHO data, in 2002 Ukraine lagged 10.9 years behind the European Union. The high premature mortality led to the loss of almost 11 years of life. There is also substantial difference in life span of males and females, which accounts for 11 years (Table 5).

Table 5. Average life expectancy at birth

1957 - 1962рр.		1970р.		1979р.		1989р.		1998 - 2002рр.
Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
66.1	72.7	66.3	74.5	64.5	73.9	66.1	75.2	62.1	73.6

Like other demographic processes in Ukraine, mortality reached its maximum in 1990s. Age-specific mortality rate increased almost in every age group of urban and rural population. The main components of demographic losses are high infant mortality and the mortality of employable males, whose mortality probability reaches 37%.

Burning is the age structure issue in Ukraine: the distortions of age structure aggravate the present day and future demographic problems. The number of people above the employable age in Ukraine (2005) is abnormally high (23.8%), the number of employable-age population is decreasing (59.9%) and the population of the younger group is critically small (16.3%). During the inter-census period of 1959–2001 the proportion of persons aged 60 years and older increased from 10.5 to 21.4%. The pattern of aging in urban population doesn’t match the one in rural population. According to the census of 2001 the proportion of people aged 60 years and older was equal to 19.1% in urban areas and to 26.1% – in rural localities.

Family traditions are relatively stable in Ukraine: about 90% of population lives in families. However, many socio-economic processes of the 90s rooted in the 1960s cause the spread of delayed marriages and childbirth, unwed maternity and social orphanage, dramatic drop of nuptiality and the increase of divorce rate. Consensual marriages (not registered officially) became very popular. The effect of marriage status crisis reveals itself in the grown number of single-parent families (19.3% in urban areas), of children born to unwed parents (34.1% of children born by women under 20 years were born out of wedlock), of childless families and families with one child.

Changes in population number are also caused by external migration. Economic, political, ethnic and social factors have been bringing forth migration for a long time.

After a short period of stabilization of migration balance during the last decade, the migration component in the number of population in Ukraine has notably increased. According to the data of State Statistical Office the reduction of population by one third during 1994–2002 was s result of emigration. A bulk of those who left Ukraine does not intend to return.

Internal migration, that had a big impact on a Ukraine’s regions population composition, was intensive during particular periods of Ukraine’s history. First of all it implied the transition of big numbers of rural residents to urban areas, especially to Donbas, the Dnipro River basin and the Black Sea littoral area. During the 1970s the average annual influx of rural residents to urban areas constituted about 300 ths persons in Ukraine. Beginning with 1990s the annual urbanization rate decreased. Today all domestic migration streams became Kyiv-oriented accounting for two thirds of all regional population losses due to out-migration.

A specific kind of migration that has taken place in Ukraine is the evacuation of population from the 30-kilometre zone in the aftermath of the Chernobyl’ NPP disaster on April 26, 1986. In the Exclusion Zone 71 rural and several urban settlements had been totally depopulated. This ecocatastrophe has significantly aggravated the demographic situation, and its consequences will have a durable impact on population number in Ukraine.

Distribution of population. Contemporary distribution of Ukraine’s population is determined by the peculiarities of its socio-economic development, its nature and climate, and also its historical traditions. According to the All-Ukrainian census (2001), the average density of population in the country is about 80 persons per km². The highest density is in Donets’k (183 persons per km²) and the lowest – in Chernihiv Oblast’ (39 persons per km²).

The network of settlements consists of 454 cities, 889 urban villages and 28 619 rural settlements (2001). The majority (67%) of Ukraine’s population lives in urban areas.

First city-states on the territory of Ukraine were founded by Greeks in the northern part of the Black Sea coastal area in the 7th century BC. These were ancient city-states: Tyras on the Dnister River, Olvia on the Buh River, Chersonese and Pantikapaion (later the center of the Bosporan Kingdom) etc. The populations of these cities consisted of Greeks and the local tribes of Scythians, Sarmatians and the Tauri.

The most ancient and still existing cities in Ukraine are Feodosia and Yevpatoria (6th c. BC), Kerch (4th c. BC), Sudak (2nd c. AC). Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr were founded in the 5th–9th centuries. Rus had 24 cities in 9th–10th centuries.

With the development of Kyivan Rus about 200 cities emerged in the 10th – 12th c.; they were mostly fortresses and centers of separate principalities: Bila Tserkva, Bohuslav, Vasyl’kiv, Vyshhorod, Hlukhiv, Kaniv, Korosten’, Korsun’, Nizhyn, Novhorod-Sivers’kyi, Ovruch, Pereiaslav, Putyvl’, Lubny, Poltava, Pryluky, Radomyshl’, Romny, Chornobyl’ etc. At the same time some of them (Kyiv, Chernihiv, Pereiaslav, Volodymyr-Volyns’kyi etc.) became major political and economic centers of Kyivan Rus. At the same time urban development was also gaining momentum in Halych-Volyn’ Principality: L’viv, Halych, Kremenets’, Mukachevo, Sambir and Khust had been founded and grew intensively in this period.

The cities founded during the period of Lithuanian rule (from the middle of the 14th till the end of the 15th c.) provided for defense and colonization of Ukrainian lands. The cities-castles spread down to the Black Sea coast; the fortresses were also built in the main cities of Halychyna, Volyn’, Zakarpattia (Transcarpathians) and Podillia. Urban development was hampered from the 15th to the first half of the 16th century when Crimean Tatars and Turks frequently invaded Ukraine. The trend reversed during the time of Het’manschyna, when cities became major centers of economic, cultural and religious life.

By the middle of the 17th c. there were thousands of cities and towns in Ukraine.

In Slobozhanschyna the first cities emerged beginning between the 17th and the 18th c. Kharkiv, Ohtyrka, Sumy and Izium became regimental cities.
Significant number of towns (about 150) was founded in the 18th and the 19th c., when land and industrial development began in southern and eastern parts of Ukraine. The rest of Ukrainian towns were founded during the period of industrialization in the 20th c.; 160 of them emerged after WWII. The largest contemporary cities (with the population over 500 ths) (Table 6) are multifunctional centers with political, cultural and administrative functions, have developed industry and the network of social infrastructure etc. 35% of all urban population live in such cities.

Table 6. Structure of urban network

Urban settlements	Number of settlements	Population
		до 3	3-5	6-10	11-20	21-50	51-100	101-500	501-1000	понад 1000
Urban villages	889	336	209	284	58	2	-	-	-	-
Cities	454	5	8	67	158	113	56	36	4	5

30% of urban population lives in cities with the number of inhabitants ranking from 101 to 500 ths. More than half of these towns are Oblast’ centers with the appropriate functions and other multifunctional, mainly industrial cities.

The towns with the population of 50–100 ths are as a rule the administrative centers of Raions, multifunctional industrial, transport, and recreational, etc. centers. The residents of such towns constitute 13.4% of Ukraine’s urban population.

The most numerous group of Ukrainian urban settlements are small towns with the population up to 50 ths. 21.7% of urban population resides in them. They play an important part in the formation of the settlement network and the development and distribution of productive forces. The majority of small towns (about 50%) are the administrative, managerial and cultural centers of local importance. About 25% of such cities are multifunctional cities with agrarian and industrial managerial functions.

In the contemporary structure of urban settlements there are also urban villages where 12% of total urban population reside. They are a kind of a transitional form from village to town. The biggest number of urban villages is concentrated in Donets’k and Luhans’k Oblast’s (about 30%). Around megalopolises and big cities urban villages represent the settlements of the “pendulum” migrants – people who commute to big cities daily.

These satellite accumulations have created a peculiar form of settlements – urban agglomerations, the limits of which are still not stable. Nearly 40% of Ukrainian population lives in such agglomerations. The largest of them are: Kyiv, Donets’k, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovs’k and Odesa. Population density in these cities is very high.

Present-day system of rural settlements includes villages with different populations (Table 7) and functional type. According to the 2001 All-Ukrainian census, the most numerous are the villages with up to 500 inhabitants (63.1% of total number); 35% of them have up to 100 inhabitants. The average number of population per village in Ukraine is 560.6 persons.

Regional differences in the distribution of rural population are determined by historical, natural and socio-economic conditions. In Polissia with its mosaic landscape structure, in the northeastern and eastern highly urbanized Oblast’s villages are the tiniest. The largest villages are found in Prykarpattia (Forecarpathians) and Zakarpattia (Transcarpathians).

The average density of rural settlements in Ukraine is about 47 settlements per 10 ths km². The highest village density is in Podillia and the lowest is in the southern Oblast’s of Ukraine.

Table 7. Structure of rural settlements network

Total number of rural settlements	Population
	до 25	26-50	51-100	101-200	201-500	501-1000	1001-2000	2001-3000	3001-5000	Above 5000
28 452	1 867	1 693	2 795	4 185	7 421	6 034	3 194	759	410	94

The functional typology of rural settlements in Ukraine does not vary as much as of the urban ones. The majority of them are agricultural settlements with possible additional functions: administrative (10 272 rural settlements are centers of village Radas), coordinative (for agricultural enterprises) etc.

Social and economic development. One of the main indicators of this kind of development is the welfare. The total income of the population is rather low due to low standards of wages. Recently the share of wages and pensions in the structure of the population’s total income has grown. The share of wages was 42.7% in 2002 as compared to 35.1% in 1999. In recent years the growth of transfer payments (social and other benefits) is outstripping. The share of income in the form of social benefits, aids, pensions, scholarships, etc, almost equals the share of wages. The structure of total expenditures if still reflecting the low living standard: the major part of the expenditures accounts for foodstuff purchases. According to the 2000–2002 survey of living conditions in households, only 49% of them are provided with the minimum subsistence basket of durable consumption appliances (a refrigerator, colour TV, a washing machine and a vacuum cleaner); 4.2% of households are provided with the extended basket (including also a car and a video-recorder), and 1% of them possess the innovative basket (a PC, a video camera, satellite TV).

The employment rate as an economic basis of the population’s welfare has been on the increase since 1999. Beginning with 2003 the growth of employment volume owing to the expending of the self-employment sector is observed. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate (determined according to the International Labour Organization technique) remained high in 2003 and constituted 7.2% in 2005.

Gender inequality still affects Ukrainian labour market; there are still problems with youth’s employment and the employment of people with higher education. The employment of male population in 2003 constituted 60.3% as compared to 52.6% of female population’s employment, and the ratio of female to male average wages is 68.6%.

Educational level is traditionally high in Ukraine (Table 8). All the post-war censuses registered its continuous growth. According the 1st post-war census in 1959 the average term of studies in Ukraine constituted 5.05 years; the figure was 6.43 in 1970, 8.07 – in 1979, 9.34 – in 1989, and according to the 2001 All-Ukrainian census the population above 10 years of age studied 10.3 years. Present-day education level in Ukraine is one of the highest in the Central and Eastern Europe.

Table 8. The composition of population by education level (2003, %)

Completed high or basic education	High undergraduate or incomplete education	General secondary completed education	General secondary basic education	Primary general education	No primary education
13,7	17,7	34,9	16,0	14,2	3,5

There are gender peculiarities in the education level of Ukraine’s population: women have higher level of education. This is characteristic of all age groups up to 60-year-olds.

There’s substantial difference in the education level of urban and rural population. The percentage of persons above 10 years of age with higher education is twice higher in urban population (37.9 and 17.7 correspondingly).

Among the main constituent parts of living conditions are housing conditions and the state of housing maintenance. 17.2% of urban and 26.2% of rural housing was built before 1960s, 50.65% – during 1960–1980s, and only about 6% – after 1991. Average amount of dwelling space per resident is 14.4 m², however, according to survey data, more than half of the population is provided with 13.65 m², one third – with 7.5–13.65 m², and every 9th resident is provided with less than 7.5 m². Only 2% of households have dwellings, in which every resident is provided with more than 2 rooms; 82% of urban dwellings have less than 1 room per resident. Only 21.3% of urban population lives in comfortable conditions, and 3.4% of rural population – in houses with the minimal set of facilities.

The population’s health standard is dependent upon the impact of demographic and health-care situation of 1950–1960s, which in 1980s determined the above 15% rise of the general morbidity rate in grown-ups and the above 20% – in children. In 1990 this situation escalated into medical-demographic crisis. The main manifestations of this crisis in the period after 1990s are the growing rates of premature mortality and disability of the population, accelerated acquisition of chronic diseases, negative changes in the dynamics and structure of diseases, emergence and quick spread of new specific illnesses (AIDS, drug dependence) and a splash of the forgotten ones (tuberculosis and other infections).

The social structure of present-day Ukraine has been formed under the influence of the unresolved social problems of the past and the abrupt welfare level drop in the course of the recent years. Similarly to the previous years the allotments for social expenditures in the Summary Budget are considerably lower then the demands for the development of this sphere. The main indicators of social developments in present-day Ukraine do not exceed the levels, reached by Western European countries in 1950–1960s.