The basin occupies 42 percent of the territory of the Ukrainian state and 36 percent of Ukrainian ethnic territory. The Dnieper flows south through the center of Ukraine and bisects its natural zones — forest, forest-steppe, and steppe — interconnecting them and connecting them with the Black Sea. Of the long-settled principal areas of Ukraine, only Galicia, western Volhynia, and Transcarpathia lie beyond the basin of the Dnieper.

Travel is easy from the Dnieper Basin to basins northwest of it — the Vistula River, the Neman River, and the Daugava River,  but difficult to other basins, such as the basins of the Dniester River, the Boh River, the Volga River, and the Don River. Easy communications between the Dnieper River, the Prypiat River, and the Buh River by means of the Vistula facilitated the expansion of Poland into Ukraine. The Dnieper's role as a unifying force and gateway to the sea was, however, weakened by a 70 km stretch of rapids in the steppe belt. In spite of this obstacle, the Dnieper was the main axis of the first Ukrainian state — Kyivan Rus'. The nucleus of a second state — the Zaporozhian Sich —arose on the Dnieper. The river is the artery of Ukraine, its main highway, and its source of hydroelectric power.

Physical geography. The Dnieper is a typical river of the plains, sloping gently and flowing slowly. The water level varies considerably, and the riverbed is unstable. There are many shallow parts, but relatively few turns. The Dnieper Rapids, which today are submerged, are a peculiar feature of the Dnieper. The river's general southerly flow can be broken up into several sections: from its source to Orsha (Vitsebsk oblast) the Dnieper flows southwest, then south to Kyiv, then southeast to Dnipropetrovske, then south for 90 km as far as Zaporizhia, and finally southwest to the estuary. Thus, the Dnieper forms a large open bow to the east, doubling the route from central Ukraine to the Black Sea (to 950 km, although Kyiv is only 450 km from the sea in a straight line).

The river can be divided into three sections: the upper Dnieper from the source to Kyiv (1,333 km, of which 255 km are within Ukraine); the middle, from Kyiv to Zaporizhia (536 km), including the above-mentioned stretch of rapids; and the lower, from Zaporizhia to the sea (331 km).