Most of the country’s territory is located in the southwestern part of the East European Plain. These are steppes and low plateaus, rising on average 175 meters above sea level. The physical map of Ukraine, detailed and accessible, names the following main hills:
- Volynskaya
- Donetsk ridge
- Ovruch ridge
- Podolskaya
- Priazovskaya
- Pridneprovskaya
- Tovtry
And also lowlands:
- Polesskaya
- Dnieper
- Black Sea
The mountains
Mountainous regions occupy only 5% of the territory of Ukraine. These are, first of all, the Eastern Carpathians, which are part of the Carpathian mountain system. The highest point of Ukraine is Mount Hoverla (2061 m).
On Russian maps after 2014, the Carpathians are designated as the only mountainous region of the country. Until that time, the physical map of Ukraine in Russian included the Crimean Peninsula and the Crimean Mountains stretching in its south and southeast (the main peak is Roman-Kosh, 1545 m). On modern Ukrainian and other foreign maps, Crimea is still designated as a region of Ukraine.
Rivers
The fertile plains of the country are crossed by 160 rivers over 100 kilometers long. Almost all of them (with the exception of the Western Bug) flow to the south, flowing into the Black and Azov seas. In the southwest, the Danube Delta forms the border with Romania.
The largest rivers in Ukraine:
- Dnipro (1121 km)
- Dniester (925 km)
- Pivdenny Buh (806 km)
- Northern Donets (700 km)
- Goryn ‘(577 km)
- Desna (575)
- Ingulets (549 km)
Seas and largest lakes
In the south, Ukraine has access to the Black and Azov Seas, which are the inland seas of the Atlantic Ocean. There are quite a lot of lakes in the country – about 20 thousand, 7 thousand have an area of more than 10 hectares. The largest of them are indicated on the detailed physical map of Ukraine:
- Yalpug (149 km²)
- Cahul (90 km²)
- Kugurlui (82 km²)
- Katlabug (68 km²)
All these lakes belong to the flood (estuary) type and are located in the lower reaches of the Danube in southwestern Ukraine (Odessa region).
