But our population has been steadily declining from over 52 million in 1993 to just under 44 million now within 30 years. The main reasons for such a decline are the mortality excess over birth rate and emigration.
We are a highly urbanized nation. 70% of our people live in cities and towns. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Donetsk and Odesa each house over a million residents. The majority of our rural population settled in Prykarpattia, Galicia and Podillia.
The ten largest Ukrainian cities:
1. Kyiv
2. Kharkiv
3. Odesa
4. Dnipro
5. Donetsk
6. Zaporizhzhia
7. Lviv
8. Kryvyi Rih
9. Mykolayiv
10. Mariupol
The average Ukrainian is relatively young: a man is 37 years old, and a woman is 43 acordingly. Their life expectancy is gradually increasing to 72 years on average, claiming 150th place globally. Men expect to live up to 68 years, women up to 77.
Ukrainian ladies not only live longer but also marry a little earlier than men. The average bride is 25; her average groom is 27 at their first wedding. So, what about their future kids? Well, it depends on where the young family lives. From West to East, the number of children in our families declines, the birth rate in rural areas is slightly higher. Our largest families live in Rivne, Zakarpattia and Volyn. The smallest families reside in Kyiv and Sevastopol. Due to the availability of sex education and affordable contraceptives, the number of abortions has sharply fallen since independence.
Sadly, Ukraine’s freedom from the USSR and its Association with the EU doesn’t fit well with our neighbour — Russia. In 2014, the Russian Federation, violating the norms and principles of international law and bilateral and multilateral agreements, annexed Crimea and Sevastopol and occupied certain Donetsk and Luhansk regional territories. As a result, more than 800,000 internal refugees from Donbas and Crimea left the conflict regions.
Ukraine is a multinational state. However, ethnic Ukrainian make up the vast majority of our country’s population. Almost 80% identified themselves as Ukrainians during the first census carried out in 2001. Most Ukrainians live on their ethnic lands, outnumbering other ethnic groups. Besides, we make up the absolute majority (over 90%) in 13 out of 27 regions and the vast majority (70-90%) in 7 areas. These are the Donbas and Odesa regions only where 60% of residents identify themselves as Ukrainians. In comparison, the Ternopil region is almost monoethnic, with 97.8% of its population being Ukrainians.
Ukraine has postponed its next census for several years now. But it will be curious to see its results. Forced internal migration with the displacement of students and workers abroad will undoubtedly affect the country’s demographic composition.
