Kiev is one of the planet's great extravaganzas of architecture and history, the "mother of all Russian towns," as the old saying has it (though it's no longer part of Russia, but of proudly independent Ukraine). And that new country has much else on its roster of sights and sites: vast steppes, wondrous forests, and history-drenched Odessa, Yalta, and Sevastopol, set grandly on the shores of the beauteous Black Sea.

• TOTAL AREA: 603,700 sq km

• LAND AREA: 603,700 sq km

• WATER AREA: 0 sq km

• POPULATION: 46,710,816

• RELIGIONS: Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38%

• LANGUAGES: Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Republic

• CAPITAL CITY: Kiev

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: hryvnia (UAH)

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC +2