REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 3.0, November 2010

Ukrainian

At sessions of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names there have been presented several documents on the romanization of Ukrainian geographical names. The first scheme for romanizing Ukrainian names was adopted in Ukraine in 1993¹. Another system, adopted in 1996 by the Minister of Justice, was long used in Ukrainian maps and listings².

On January 27, 2010 the Ukrainian Government adopted new rules for the romanization of Ukrainian³. The rules will apply both to personal names and geographical names. The system is based on the previous system of 1996 with three differences: 1) character 30 (щ) is rendered shch (not sch); 2) characters 33 (ь) and 34 (’) are not romanized. The system is not fully reversible as certain character combinations may cause ambiguity and some characters are not differentiated in romanization.

Systems of romanization

The national system of romanization (2010) is as follows.

1	А а	a
2	Б б	b
3	В в	v
4	Г г	h, ghA
5	Ґ ґ	g
6	Д д	d
7	Е е	e
8	Є є	ie, yeB
9	Ж ж	zh
10	З з	z
11	И и	y
12	І і	i
13	Ї ї	i, yiB
14	Й й	i, yB
15	К к	k
16	Л л	l
17	М м	m
18	Н н	n
19	О о	o
20	П п	p
21	Р р	r
22	С с	s
23	Т т	t
24	У у	u
25	Ф ф	f
26	Х х	kh
27	Ц ц	ts
28	Ч ч	ch
29	Ш ш	sh
30	Щ щ	shch
31	Ю ю	iu, yuB
32	Я я	ia, yaB
33	Ь ь	(not romanized)
34	’	(not romanized)

• ^A gh is used in the romanization of зг (zgh).
• ^B The second variant is used at the beginning of a word.

Note. Cursive forms of some characters might be formed differently: Аа Бб Вв Гг Ґґ Дд Ее Єє Жж Зз Ии Іі Її Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч Шш Щщ Юю Яя Ьь ’.

The BGN/PCGN 1965 System gives, as a single block, different Roman equivalents to the following Ukrainian characters (the national equivalents are in parentheses):

г (h/gh)	h
є (ie/ye)	ye
ї (i/yi)	yi
й (i/y)	y
ю (iu/yu)	yu
я (ia/ya)	ya
ь (-)	’
’ (-)	”

References

1. Provisional Rules of Reproducing Letters of the Ukrainian Alphabet with Latin (English) Characters. UNGEGN, 17th Session. New York, 13-24 June 1995. WP No. 73.
2. Romanization of Ukrainian Geographical Names. UNGEGN, 18th Session. Geneva, 12-23 August 1996. WP No. 78.
3. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Resolution of January 27, 2010 No 55. On regulation of Romanization of the Ukrainian alphabet. Translated in the letter of Mr. Volodymyr Kulinich, Head of the State Service of Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre to the Convenor of the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems, May 7, 2010, No. 11/27/1-13.