Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Sizing Up Ukraine ... Ukraine is a big deal in Europe — literally.

MAP IMAGE Credit: Mikkel Bigandt- Shutterstock.com

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.

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.

More on this topic

• Taking Stock of Ukraine’s Economy

• Russia’s Grip on Ukraine’s Energy Supply

• Ukraine and th

Taking Stock of Ukraine’s Economy ... Ukraine’s economy has been stuck in neutral since the end of the Cold War.

IMAGE The Ukrainian hryvnia (Credit: Sergieiev- Shutterstock.com)

Takeaways

• Ukraine is only the 12th-largest economy in Europe (as measured by PPP).

• Ukraine's economy is about one-ninth the size of Germany's $3.45 trillion economy, which is Europe's largest.

• With 45.6 million people, Ukraine's per capita GDP is just $8,670 — one of the lowest income levels in all of Europe.

1. With a GDP of $395 billion in 2012, Ukraine has only the 12th-largest economy in Europe (as measured in terms of purchasing power parity).

2. Ukraine’s economy is about one-ninth the size of Germany’s $3.45 trillion economy, which is Europe’s largest.

3. Ukraine has almost twice as much landmass as Germany, but only about 57% of Germany’s 80.4 million population.

4. With 45.6 million people, Ukraine’s per capita GDP is just $8,670 — one of the lowest income levels in all of Europe.

5. By comparison, the per capita GDP of the 18-country eurozone is $36,356 — while in the 28-country European Union it is $33,376.

6. Ukraine’s population is about seven million larger than Poland’s 38.5 million, but its economy is less than half the size of Poland’s ($821.4 billion).

7. In 1992, just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s economy (at $308.4 billion) was actually 50% larger than Poland’s ($218.8 billion).

8.This means that while Poland’s economy has nearly quadrupled in size since 1992, Ukraine’s has barely grown at all.

Source: World Bank, with additional analysis by The Globalist Research Center.

More on this topic

• Sizing Up Ukraine

• What Stock Markets Tell Us About Russia

• Ukraine and the Return of Geopolitics