Ukraine is situated in Central Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders on Belarus in the North, on the Russian Federation in the Northeast and East, on Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in the West, on Romania and Moldova in the Southwest and South.  
Ukraine’s territory is 603,7 thousand sq. km and is the second biggest European country after Russia. Ukraine includes twenty-four oblasts and Autonomous Republic of Crimea.  Since 1991 Ukraine became an independent state. Ukraine is a multi-national country. Its population is more than 46 million people. Ukrainians make 73% of the total population. 27 % of Ukrainian population are representatives of other nations and nationalities.

Ukrainian territory is covered with the dense net of big and small rivers which totals up to seventy three thousand. There are approximately 20 thous. lakes on its territory. The biggest rivers of Ukraine that belong to the Black Sea and Azov Sea basin are: the Danube, the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Prut, the Seversky Donets, the Prypyat’, the Desna, and others.  The biggest Ukrainian river, the Dnieper, flows throughout the country from the North down to South. The Dnieper is the third river in Europe as for its length and basin area.

In the South Ukraine is washed by the Black Sea and Azov Sea. On the sea Ukraine borders on Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia. The area of marine economic zone of Ukraine is more than 82 thousand sq. km. The biggest Black Sea ports are: Odesa, Illichivsk, Kherson, Sevastopol. The biggest Azov Sea ports are: Mariupol, Berdyansk, and Kerch. There are many firths on the Black Sea seashore. They are: the Dniester’s, Dnieper’s, Buh’s and others. The Black Sea is connected with the Azov Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean Sea. The location of the Black and Azov Seas, favourable climate conditions and sandy beaches make the Black and Azov seashores one of the most important and attractive resort places in Ukraine. 

The protection of the Black Sea and its basin is very important for Ukraine. Among the various basins of the World Oceans, the environmental degradation in the Black Sea is the most severe. It is nearly landlocked and the exchange of its water with the Mediterranean Sea is very limited. Permanent natural anoxia exists within 90% of its volume (547 000 km3), making the Black Sea the largest anoxic water body in the world. The Black Sea surface area (432 000 km2) is five times smaller than its basin (more than 2 mln km2) covering parts of Europe and Asia.

Ukraine faces serious environmental problems, which threaten the recovery of the local economy, particularly on the Black Sea coast and in rural areas, where economic growth depends vitally on environmental services and natural resources. The environmental problems can be categorized in the following main directions:

• eutrophication
• unsustainable use of natural resources
• human health risks
• unsustainable use of the coastal zones
• introduction of exotic species
• risks for environmental calamities