The decision was announced by UEFA President Michel Platini at the City Hall in Cardiff, Wales on Wednesday.
The UEFA Executive Committee reached its verdict after examining the three bids on the final short list to stage the tournament. Poland/Ukraine beat off competition from Croatia/Hungary and Italy.
Both Poland and Ukraine will stage matches in four venues apiece at the 2012 finals. The projected Polish venues are Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw, with Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev and Lvov the host cities in Ukraine. Neither country has previously hosted a major finals tournament although both have strong footballing traditions.
