Ukraine (Listeni/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-krayn;
Ukrainian:
Україна, transliterated:
Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]) is a country in
Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the
Russian Federation to the east and northeast,
Belarus to the northwest,
Poland,
Slovakia and
Hungary to the west,
Romania and
Moldova to the southwest, and the
Black Sea and
Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within
Europe.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of
Kievan Rus was established by the
Varangians in the
9th century as the first historically recorded
East Slavic state. It emerged as a powerful nation in the
Middle Ages but disintegrated in the
12th century. By the middle of the
14th century, present Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers: the
Golden Horde, the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the
Kingdom of Poland, during the
15th century these lands came under the rule
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland,
Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (since 1569), and
Crimean Khanate. After After the
Partitions of Poland (1772--1795) and conquest of Crimean Khanate, Ukraine was divided between
Russia and
Austria, thus the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the
Russian Empire, with the rest under
Austrian (known as Austro-Hungarian since 1849) control.
A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with internationally recognized establishment of independent
Ukrainian People's Republic.
Independent Ukraine emerged from its own civil war. Then
Soviet aggression and the Ukrainian--Soviet War followed, which resulted in Soviet victory. Ukrainian People's Republic was occupied and a puppet state called
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was created. On
December 30, 1922 it became one of the founding republics of the
Soviet Union.
The Soviet government was hostile to
Ukrainian language and
Ukrainian culture; there were mass repressions of
Ukrainian poets, historians and linguists. Then there was a genocide of
Ukrainians: millions of people starved to death in 1932 and 1933 in the Holodomor. After the
1939 invasion of Poland by
Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, the
Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward. During
World War II the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army tried to reestablish
Ukrainian independence and fought against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. But in
1941 Ukraine was occupied by Nazi Germany, being liberated in
1944. In
1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the
United Nations. In 1954 it expanded to the south with the transfer of the
Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine became independent again when the Soviet Union dissolved in
1991. This dissolution started a period of transition to a market economy, in which Ukraine suffered an eight-year recession. Since then, however, the economy has experienced a high increase in
GDP growth. Ukraine was caught up in the worldwide economic crisis in 2008 and the economy plunged.
GDP fell 20% from spring 2008 to spring 2009, then leveled off as analysts compared the magnitude of the downturn to the worst years of economic depression during the early
1990s.
Throughout its history, Ukraine has been one of the powerhouses of world agriculture due to its fertile conditions.
The country, as of
2011, was the world's third-largest grain exporter[15] and is one of ten most attractive agricultural land acquisition regions.[16]
Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 oblasts (provinces), one autonomous republic (
Crimea), and two cities with special status:
Kiev, its capital and largest city, and
Sevastopol, which houses the
Russian Black Sea Fleet under a leasing agreement. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine continues to maintain the second-largest military in Europe, after that of Russia. The country is home to 46 million people, 77.8 percent of whom are ethnic Ukrainians, with sizable minorities of
Russians (17%),
Belarusians and
Romanians. Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine.
Russian is also widely spoken. The dominant religion in the country is
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which has strongly influenced
Ukrainian architecture, literature and music.
- published: 07 Oct 2013
- views: 2797