Ex. II Read and translate the text. Ukraine is situated in South Eastern Europe on the crossroads of the ways from Asia to Europe

Ukraine is situated in South Eastern Europe on the crossroads of the ways from Asia to Europe. This position is very favourable for establishing contacts with other countries.

In the North it borders on Belorus, in the East and North East on Russia, in the South West its neighbours are Hungary, Romania and Moldova, in the West — Poland and Slovakia. In the South Ukraine is washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Its territory is 603, 700 square kilometres. By comparison, the areas of France and Spain are 551, 600 and 507, 600 square kilometres, respectively.

Ukraine occupies only 0, 45% of the planet’s dry land, but about 5% of the world’s mineral resources are concentrated here. There are large deposits of coal, iron ore, oil, gas. It is also rich in a variety of precious raw materials, such as phosphorite, graphite, native sulphur, apatite, rock salt etc.

Most of the territory is flat, so flatlands constitute 95%. Basic physical-geographical zones are: mixed forest (Polissya), forest-steppe and steppe. The mountains are in the West (the Carpathian Mnts) and in the South (the Crimean Mnts). They are not high. The highest peaks are Hoverla in the Carpathians (2, 061m) and Roman Kosh in the Crimean mountains (1, 545m). The main rivers are the Desna, the Buh, the Siversky Donets, the Tisza. They are one of the country’s sources of hydroelectric power. The longest river, the Dnieper, flows to 2200 km into the Black Sea. It divides Ukraine into Right-bank and Left-bank territories. The climate is mostly continental, akin to subtropical Ukraine into Right-bank and Left-bank territories. The climate is mostly on the South Crimean Coast.

Due to the favorable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural area. It grows wheat, maize, buckwheat and other corn, vegetables, all kinds of fruit, melons and berries.

Ukraine is one of the world’s main center of sugar production. It produces sugar both for own needs and for export. The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, color metals, oil, gas, mineral salts. It has developed varied industries, concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv and others. It produces planes and ships, lorries and buses, motorcars and locomotives, computers and electronic equipment, precision instruments and agricultural machines, TV and radio sets, chemicals, textiles and various consumer goods. Odessa, Mikolayv, Sevastopol, Kherson and Kerch are main ports of Ukraine.

Ukraine is the first in Europe in iron ore extraction, production of steel, mineral fertilizers, sugar, and grain; the second in coal mining, and the third in producing concrete, electric energy and various equipment. In the south the country has access to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov which are connected with the ocean.