Ukraine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ukraine
Україна (Ukrainian)
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_with_Disputed_Land.png) Show globe.svg) Show map of Europe.svg) Topographic map of Ukraine withborders and cities Territory controlled by Ukraine (dark green)
Russian-occupied territories (light green) |
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| Capital and largest city
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Kyiv 49°N 32°E / 49°N 32°E |
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Ukrainian |
| Ethnic groups
(2001)
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| Religion
(2018)
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| Demonym(s) | Ukrainian |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| Volodymyr Zelenskyy | |
| Denys Shmyhal | |
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• Chairman of the
Verkhovna Rada |
Ruslan Stefanchuk |
| Legislature | Verkhovna Rada |
| Formation | |
| 882 | |
| 1199 | |
| 18 August 1649 | |
| 20 November 1917 | |
| 10 March 1919 | |
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• UN membership
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24 October 1945 |
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• Independence declared
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24 August 1991 |
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• Current constitution
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28 June 1996 |
| Area | |
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• Total
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603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi) (45th) |
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• Water (%)
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3.8 |
| Population | |
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• 2024 estimate
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 33,443,000 (36th) |
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• Density
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60.9/km2 (157.7/sq mi) (126th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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$655.583 billion (49th) |
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• Per capita
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$19,603 (102nd) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
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• Total
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$184.099 billion (58th) |
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• Per capita
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$5,504 (111st) |
| Gini (2020) | ▼ 25.6 low |
| HDI (2022) |  0.734high · 100th |
| Currency | Hryvnia (₴) (UAH) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
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• Summer (DST)
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UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Date format | dd.mm.yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +380 |
| ISO 3166 code | UA |
| Internet TLD |
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Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, romanized: Ukraïna) is a country in Eastern Europe. Russia is to the north-east of Ukraine, Belarus is to the north-west, Poland and Slovakia are to the west, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and self-proclaimed Transnistria are to the south-west and the Black Sea is to the south.
Ukraine is a republic. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ). It was a part of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991.
Contents
Official language
The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian (Ukrainian: українська мова, [ukrajin’s’ka mova]). In the 2001 census, about 29% of people in Ukraine said that they consider Russian to be their main language. These two East Slavic languages are similar in some ways but different in other ways.
Division of Ukraine
Ukraine is divided into 24 oblasts and one Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The largest cities of Ukraine
The largest cities in Ukraine are:
- Kyiv (from the late 9th century was the capital of Kyivan Rus; the capital of Ukraine since the restoration of the independent Ukrainian state in 1919)
- Kharkiv (was the capital of Ukraine in 1919—1934)
- Dnipro
- Odesa
- Zaporizhia
- Lviv
Name origin
The name "Ukraine" (u-krayina) has usually been interpreted as "edge" or "borderland", but this an alternative interpretation as "territory" has been proposed. Language specialists are still searching for evidence of the history of the meaning of the word.
It was first used in reference to a core part of the territory of Kyivan Rus in the 12th century. In English, the historical region was usually known as "the Ukraine". Since independence in 1991, adding "the" is no longer proper style for referring to the country.
History
Ancient times
Many different tribes lived on the territory of modern Ukraine since pre-historical times. Most historians believe that the Great Steppe at the North of the Black Sea was a homeland of all Indo-European and Indo-Iranian languages. Some believe it was also the birthplace of the whole European population. Wends, Goths, Huns, Sclaveni, Avars, and other tribes and tribal groups fought among themselves, joined unions, terminated, and assimilated each other.
By the middle of the 4th century AD, Antes joined other tribes and established a state under their rule. Their state fell under the pressure of Avars in 602 AD and their name was longer mentioned. Since the 7th century over 10 tribal groups joined under the name "Slavs" and made their own state named Rus. The chronicles mention three centers that formed this state: Kuyavia (Kyiv land with Kyiv itself), Slavia (Novgorod land), and Artania (exact location unknown).
Historians still argue about whether Kyiv was founded by Slavs themselves, or they just captured the Khazar fortress which was located on the bank of the Dnieper river, but since the 10th century, it became the capital of the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
Kyivan Rus
Kyivan Rus, is the medieval state of Eastern Slavs. Established by the Slavic with the help of the Varangian squads whose force was used to integrate separate tribes and their lands into one powerful state. Varangian princes, who ruled Rus from its first years were gradually assimilated by natives, but the dynasty started by semy-legendary Ririk survived and continued to govern their separate principalities even after the collapse of Rus.
At an early stage of its existence Rus destroyed such powerful states as the Khazar Khaganate and Old Great Bulgaria. Rus princes successfully fought against the Byzantine Empire, whose emperors had to pay tribute to them. Rus' finally disintegrated into separate principalities.
In the reign of Volodymyr the Great (980-1015) the Kyivan State almost finished its expansion. It occupied the territory from Peipus, Ladoga and Onega lakes in the north to the River Don, Ros, Sula, Southern Bug in the south, from the Dniester, the Carpathians, the Neman, Western Dvina River in the west to the Volga and the Oka River in the east, its area became about 800,000 km2. Although some of his predecessors already accepted Christianity for themselves, Vladimir decided to convert the entire population of the state to the new religion. Partially with the help of Byzantine missionaries preachers, partly by the brutal violence, he finally made all Kyiv population to be baptized. For this action, the Ukrainian, and later the Russian Orthodox Churches canonized him under the name of Vladimir the Baptist.
During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, (1019–1054), Rus reached the zenith of its cultural development and military power. Rus raised the prestige of Eastern Slavs in Europe, improved the international significance of Kyiv. Rus influenced the political relations in all of Europe, Western Asia, and the Middle East. Kyivan princes supported the political, economic, dynastic relations with France, Sweden, England, Poland, Hungary, Norway, Byzantium.
The Rus state also ruled non-Slavic people (Finno-Ugric population of the North, Turkic of the East and South, Balts of the West, etc.). Those people gradually assimilated with the Slavs, and with each other, establishing a framework for the future emergence of three new Eastern-Slavic peoples.
The Kyivan State was an eastern outpost of European Christendom, it kept the movement of nomad hordes to the West, and reduced their onslaught against Byzantium and Central European countries.
After the death of Mstyslav Volodymyrovych (1132), Rus lost its political unity and finally was divided into 15 principalities and lands. Among them, Kyiv, Chernygiv, Volodymyr-Suzdal, Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk, and Halycian lands and principalities were most large and powerful.
Major political conditions of fragmentation were:
- The succession among the princes of Kyivan State was different: in some regions lands passed from father to son, in others from the older to the younger brother, etc.
- The political relationship between individual fiefdoms and private lands was weakened, and the better development of certain lands led to the formation of local separatism;
- In some regions the local aristocracy required a strong prince to rule, in order to protect their rights. On the other hand, while the feudal princes and boyars real power increased, and the power of the Grand Prince decreased, more and more nobles felt priority of their local interests above national ones;
- There was not created their own dynasty in the Kyiv principality, because all the princely families struggled with each other for possession of Kyiv ;
- Nomads dramatically intensified their expansion to Kyivan lands.
While Kyiv was the center of all social, economic, political, cultural, and ideological life in the country for a long time before, other centers have competed with it since the mid-12th century. There were old powers (Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk), as well as new ones...
Numerous princely feuds, large and small wars between different lords, were tearing Rus. However, the ancient Ukrainian state did not fall apart. It only changed the form of its government: The personal monarchy was replaced by the federal one, Rus came to be co-ruled by the group of the most influential and powerful princes. Historians call this way of governing "the collective suzerainty." The Principality of Kyiv remained a national center and the residence of bishops.
In 1206 the new powerful military-feudal Mongolian state headed by Genghis Khan started the war of conquest against his neighbors. In 1223 in the battle near the Kalka River, 25,000 Tatar-Mongols won a crushing victory over the squads of Southern Rus Princes, who were unable to come together even in the face of grave danger. Under the leadership of Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson, from 1237-1238, they conquered Riazan, Volodymir, Suzdal, and Yaroslavl lands.
In 1240, they attacked Kyiv. The city was plundered and destroyed. According to the legend, the enemy saved governor Dimitri's life for his personal courage in the battle. Then Kamenetz, Iziaslav, Volodymyr, and Halych lost against invaders. Batu was able to attach most of Rus to his empire, the Golden Horde, which covered the whole territory from the Urals to the Black Sea,
After the fall of Kyivan State, the political, economic, and cultural center of Ukrainian lands was transferred to the Halycian-Volyn Land. In 1245 Prince Danylo of Halych had to admit his dependence on the Golden Horde. Hoping to get help from Catholic Europe in his struggle for independence, he also made a secret alliance with Poland, Hungary, Masovia, and the Teutonic Knights. In 1253 he received the crown from Pope Innocent IV and became a King of Rus. In 1259, due to the lack of military aid from the West, the king was forced to re-recognize the supremacy of the Horde. His successor, Lev I had to take part in the Tartar campaigns against Poland and Lithuania.
In 1308 the government moved to Danylo's grandchildren - Andrew and Lev II, who started the new struggle against the Golden Horde allied with the Teutonic knights and princes of Mazowia. However, after their death the last monarch Yuri II again had to claim himself as the Golden Horde vassal. He was murdered in 1340 and his death gave the rise to Poland and Lithuania (the neighbors who had a dynastic right for the throne of Rus) to start a war for the Halycian-Volyn heritage. In 1392 Galicia, with Belz and Chelm Lands were finally incorporated to the Kingdom of Poland and Volhynia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
At the end of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were divided between different states. Lithuania seized Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Volyn Lands. Poland ruled in Halycian and Podolian. Southern Ukraine was under the rule of the Crimean Khanate (formed in 1447) and the Eastern under the power of Muscovy. In 1569 Lithuania and Poland merged to the united state called Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita) to deal with neighbors, as a result, the central Ukrainian lands of Lithuania came under Polish control.
Etymology
Rus, or The Kyivan State, Latin: Ruthenia, Greek: Ρωσία; often misspelled as "Kievan State" or even "Kievan Rus", using Russian spelling of its capital Kyiv (Russian: Киев [ˈkiɛf]).
As for the origin and definition of the name "Rus", there is no consensus among researchers. Several versions exist:
- Normans (Vikings), tribes who called themselves Ruses, and founded a state among Slavs, which naturally was called 'Rus Land'. This theory originated in the 17th century and was called the 'Norman theory'. Its authors are German historians G. Bayer and G. Miller, their followers and associates are called 'Normanists';
- Ruses were a Slavic tribe that lived in the middle reaches of the Dnieper;
- Rusa - the Proto-Slavic language word which means 'river';
Ukrainian historians generally adhere to anti-Norman opinion, while not denying the contribution Varangians in the process of formation of the Rus state system. Russ, or The Rus Land in their opinion means:
- The name of the territory where Kyiv, Chernigov and Pereiaslav are located (Polans, Severians, Drevlians tribes);
- The name of the tribes who lived on the banks of the rivers Ros, Rosava, Rostavytsia, Roska, etc.
- The name of the Kyivan state itself since the 9th century.
Cossackian State
At the end of the 15th century, the groups of warriors who called themselves Cossacks appeared on the territory between the borders of Lithuania, Muscovy, and the Crimea, in the "wild steppes" of Zaporizhia. From the 16th century, the Sich became their military centre. Zaporizhian Cossacks participated in the wars on the side of the Commonwealth: the Livonian War (1558-1583), the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618), Khotyn war (1620-1621), and Smolensk war (1632-1634). Cossacks also organized their own campaigns in Moldavia, Muscovy, and Crimea, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria and in Asia Minor for looting. They willingly became mercenaries, particularly during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
Due to the legal and social oppression of the nobility Cossacks repeatedly revolted. The largest rebellions were raised under the guidance of Kosynskiy (1591-1593), Nalyvaiko (1594-1596), Zhmaylo (1625), Fedorovych (1630), Sulima (1635), Pavlyuk (1637), and Ostryanin (1638). Cossacks, again and again, defended the rights of the Ukrainian population in the Commonwealth who experienced religious and national oppression regularly.
For the conflict in the 1850s see Crimean War.
20th century
In 1917 an independent Ukrainian People's Republic was established. The Red Army captured it and made it into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Soviet Russia in the 1920s encouraged the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture. In the 1930s this policy changed to making the Ukrainians into Russians. There were mass repressions of Ukrainian poets, historians, and linguists. As in other parts of the Soviet Union millions of people starved to death in 1932 and 1933.
During the first years of World War II, Ukrainian nationalists collaborated with Nazis against Soviet Union hoping to reestablish Ukrainian independence or to get autonomy under the authority of Germany. Nationalists took part in mass murders of Jews, Roma people, and other victims of the Nazi regime. However, hopes of independence were ruined and Ukrainian nationalists created Ukrainian Insurgent Army which fought against Nazi Germany but against the Soviet Union (mainly Soviet partisans) for the most part. They failed to get independence. Most Ukrainians fought on the side of the Soviet Union and participated in the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany.
In 1986, the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded as a result of an improper test. The accident contaminated large portions of northern Ukraine and southern Belarus with uranium, plutonium, and radioactive isotopes. It was one of only two INES level 7 accidents (the worst level) in the history of nuclear power, the other being the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Under the second Soviet occupation repressions against Ukrainian nationalists continued and lasted till the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In the Soviet epoch, Ukraine was renamed to so-called a "Soviet Socialist Republic" incorporated into Soviet Union. Independence day — 24 August 1991
Modern independence
President elections: 1 December 1991, July 1994, October-November 1999, October-December 2004, January 2010
Parliament elections: March 1994, March 1998, March 2002, March 2006, September 2007 (prematurely), October 2012
Constitution of Ukraine was adopted by Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) 28 July 1996 with changes 8 December 2004.
The political demonstrations in autumn-winter 2004 after the Presidential elections gathered millions of people all over the country. On November 26, 2004, Victor Yuschenko lost the Ukrainian presidential election (Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner). However, Yuschenko and his followers argued that the election had been corrupted. They argued that the election results had been falsified by the Ukrainian government, in support of the opposing candidate Victor Yanukovych. They organized political demonstrations in autumn-winter 2004 that gathered millions of people all over the country. They called the demonstrations The Orange Revolution (Ukrainian: Помаранчева революція). Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was an important ally of Victor Yuschenko during the demonstrations. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ordered the second round of elections, which Yuschenko won.
Big pro-European Union protests called Euromaidan (Ukrainian: Євромайдан) began in November 2013 and made the President go away in February.
In March 2014, Russia occupied Crimea, made a pseudo-referendum which proclaimed Crimea independence and annexed it. Most countries did not recognize the referendum. The EU, OSCE, USA and Ukraine demanded that Crimea be returned. Several countries sought to use economic sanctions to punish Russia's leaders for this.
In April 2014 Ukraine military attacked people in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, which has many Russian-speaking people. This began a war to control Donbas. The military conflict with Russia shifted the government's policy towards the West. Shortly after Yanukovych fled Ukraine, the country signed the EU association agreement in June 2014, and its citizens were granted visa-free travel to the European Union three years later. In January 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was recognized as independent of Moscow, which reversed the 1686 decision of the patriarch of Constantinople and dealt a further blow to Moscow's influence in Ukraine. Finally, amid a full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine was granted candidate status to the European Union on 23 June 2022.
Government
The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal head of state. Ukraine's legislative branch includes the 450-seat unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The parliament is primarily responsible for the formation of the executive branch and the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by the prime minister. The president retains the authority to nominate the ministers of foreign affairs and of defence for parliamentary approval, as well as the power to appoint the prosecutor general and the head of the Security Service.
Laws, acts of the parliament and the cabinet, presidential decrees, and acts of the Crimean parliament may be abrogated by the Constitutional Court, should they be found to violate the constitution. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. The heads of regional and district administrations are appointed by the president in accordance with the proposals of the prime minister.
Presidents of Ukraine
- Mykhaylo Hrushevsky (1917 — 1922)
- Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (1991—1994)
- Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (1994—2005)
- Victor Yushchenko (2005—2010)
- Victor Yanukovych (2010—2014)
- Oleksandr Turchynov (2014)
- Petro Poroshenko (2014–2019)
- Volodymyr Zelensky (acting, since 2019)
Geography
Ukraine is the second-largest European country, after Russia, and the largest country entirely in Europe. Lying between latitudes 44° and 53° N, and longitudes 22° and 41° E., it is mostly in the East European Plain. Ukraine covers an area of 603,550 square kilometres (233,030 sq mi), with a coastline of 2,782 kilometres (1,729 mi).
The landscape of Ukraine consists mostly of fertile steppes (plains with few trees) and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper (Dnipro), Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Bug as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest, the Danube Delta forms the border with Romania. Ukraine's regions have diverse geographic features, ranging from the highlands to the lowlands. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is Hoverla at 2,061 metres (6,762 ft), and the Crimean Mountains, in the extreme south along the coast.
Ukraine also has a number of highland regions such as the Volyn-Podillia Upland (in the west) and the Near-Dnipro Upland (on the right bank of the Dnieper). To the east there are the south-western spurs of the Central Russian Upland over which runs the border with Russia. Near the Sea of Azov are the Donets Ridge and the Near Azov Upland. The snow melt from the mountains feeds the rivers and their waterfalls.
Significant natural resources in Ukraine include lithium, natural gas, kaolin, timber and an abundance of arable land. Ukraine has many environmental issues. Some regions lack adequate supplies of potable water. Air and water pollution affects the country, as well as deforestation, and radiation contamination in the northeast from the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The environmental damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been described as an ecocide, the destruction of Kakhovka Dam, severe pollution and millions of tonnes of contaminated debris is estimated to cost over USD 50 billion to repair.
Climate
Ukraine is in the mid-latitudes, and generally has a continental climate, except for its southern coasts, which have cold semi-arid and humid subtropical climates. Average annual temperatures range from 5.5–7 °C (41.9–44.6 °F) in the north, to 11–13 °C (51.8–55.4 °F) in the south. Precipitation is highest in the west and north and lowest in the east and southeast. Western Ukraine, particularly in the Carpathian Mountains, receives around 120 centimetres (47.2 in) of precipitation annually, while Crimea and the coastal areas of the Black Sea receive around 40 centimetres (15.7 in).
Water availability from the major river basins is expected to decrease due to climate change, especially in summer. This poses risks to the agricultural sector. The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture are mostly felt in the south of the country, which has a steppe climate. In the north, some crops may be able to benefit from a longer growing season. The World Bank has stated that Ukraine is highly vulnerable to climate change.
Biodiversity
Ukraine contains six terrestrial ecoregions: Central European mixed forests, Crimean Submediterranean forest complex, East European forest steppe, Pannonian mixed forests, Carpathian montane conifer forests, and Pontic steppe. There is somewhat more coniferous than deciduous forest. The most densely forested area is Polisia in the northwest, with pine, oak, and birch. There are 45,000 species of animals (mostly invertebrates), with approximately 385 endangered species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Internationally important wetlands cover over 7,000 square kilometres (2,700 sq mi), with the Danube Delta being important for conservation.
Language
According to Ukraine's constitution, the state language is Ukrainian. Russian is widely spoken in the country, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine. Most native Ukrainian speakers know Russian as a second language. Russian was the de facto dominant language of the Soviet Union but Ukrainian also held official status in the republic, and in the schools of the Ukrainian SSR, learning Ukrainian was mandatory.
Religion
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Ukraine has the world's second-largest Eastern Orthodox population, after Russia.
In 2019, 82% of Ukrainians were Christians; out of which 72.7% declared themselves to be Eastern Orthodox, 8.8% Ukrainian Greek Catholics, 2.3% Protestants and 0.9% Latin Church Catholics. Other Christians comprised 2.3%. Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism were the religions of 0.2% of the population each. According to the KIIS study, roughly 58.3% of the Ukrainian Orthodox population were members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and 25.4% were members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Protestants are a growing community in Ukraine, who made up 1.9% of the population in 2016, but rose to 2.2% of the population in 2018.
Culture
Ukrainian customs are heavily influenced by Orthodox Christianity, the dominant religion in the country. Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a greater role in bringing up children, than in the West. The culture of Ukraine has also been influenced by its eastern and western neighbours, reflected in its architecture, music and art.
The Communist era had quite a strong effect on the art and writing of Ukraine. In 1932, Stalin made socialist realism state policy in the Soviet Union when he promulgated the decree "On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organisations". This greatly stifled creativity. During the 1980s glasnost (openness) was introduced and Soviet artists and writers again became free to express themselves as they wanted.
As of 2023[update], UNESCO inscribed 8 properties in Ukraine on the World Heritage List. Ukraine is also known for its decorative and folk traditions such as Petrykivka painting, Kosiv ceramics, and Cossack songs. Between February 2022 and March 2023, UNESCO verified the damage to 247 sites, including 107 religious sites, 89 buildings of artistic or historical interest, 19 monuments and 12 libraries. Since January 2023, the historic centre of Odesa has been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The tradition of the Easter eggs, known as pysanky, has long roots in Ukraine. These eggs were drawn on with wax to create a pattern; then, the dye was applied to give the eggs their pleasant colours, the dye did not affect the previously wax-coated parts of the egg. After the entire egg was dyed, the wax was removed leaving only the colourful pattern. This tradition is thousands of years old, and precedes the arrival of Christianity to Ukraine. In the city of Kolomyia near the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, the museum of Pysanka was built in 2000 and won a nomination as the monument of modern Ukraine in 2007, part of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine action.
Since 2012, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine has formed the National Inventory of Elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine, which consists of 103 items as of July 2024.
Cuisine
The traditional Ukrainian diet includes chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms. Ukrainians also tend to eat a lot of potatoes; grains; and fresh, boiled or pickled vegetables. Popular traditional dishes varenyky (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, sauerkraut, quark, cherries or berries), nalysnyky (pancakes with quark, poppy seeds, mushrooms, caviar or meat), kapusnyak (cabbage soup that usually consists of meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, millet, tomato paste, spices and fresh herbs), red borscht (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat) and holubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots, onion and minced meat). Among traditional baked goods are decorated korovais and paska Easter bread. Ukrainian specialties also include Chicken Kiev and Kyiv cake.
Ukrainians drink stewed fruit compote, juices, milk, ryazhanka, mineral water, tea and coffee, beer, wine and horilka.
Images for kids
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Gold Scythian pectoral, or neckpiece, from a royal kurgan in Pokrov, dated to the 4th century BC
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The baptism of the Grand Prince Vladimir led to the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus'.
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Principalities of Kievan Rus', 1054–1132
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Following the Mongol invasion, much of Ukraine was controlled by Lithuania (from the 14th century on) and after the Union of Lublin (1569) was included in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, illustrated here in 1619.
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Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman of Ukraine, established an independent Ukraine after the uprising in 1648 against Poland.
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The Cossack Hetmanate is considered as a direct ancestor of today's Ukraine.
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The Battle of Poltava in 1709, as depicted by Denis Martens the Younger, 1726
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The first page of the Bendery Constitution. This copy in Latin was probably penned by Hetman Pylyp Orlyk. The original is kept in the National Archives of Sweden.
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Kyrylo Rozumovskyi, the last Hetman of left- and right-bank Ukraine 1750–1764 and the first person to declare Ukraine to be a sovereign state.
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Ukraine according to an old postal stamp from 1919 that was reprinted in 2008.
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Ukraine in 1918
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Hutsuls, living in Verkhovyna, c. 1930
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A map showing Ukraine's territory, circa 1930.
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Dnieper Hydroelectric Station under construction circa 1930.
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Two future leaders of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev (pre-war CPSU chief in Ukraine) and Leonid Brezhnev (an engineer from Kamianske) depicted together.
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Sergey Korolyov, a native of Zhytomyr, the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the Space Race
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Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk and President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin signed the Belavezha Accords, dissolving the Soviet Union, 8 December 1991
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Pro-EU demonstration in Kiev, 27 November 2013, during Euromaidan
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OSCE SMM monitoring the movement of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine, 4 March 2015
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In the modern era, Ukraine has become a much more democratic country
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Presidential administration building
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Cabinet of Ministers building
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Klovsky Palace, home to the Supreme Court of Ukraine
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National Police of Ukraine was formed on 3 July 2015, as part of the post-Euromaidan reforms.
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Commander of the Ukrainian contingent in Multi-National Force – Iraq, kisses his country's flag.
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Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy (U130)
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GNI per capita in 2016
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The National Bank of Ukraine building
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Antonov An-225 Mriya has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.
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Trends in the Human Development Index of Ukraine, 1970–2010
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A launch of Zenit-3SL rocket from the Sea Launch platform Ocean Odyssey
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The Kharkiv–Dnipropetrovsk motorway (M18)
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HRCS2 multiple unit. Rail transport is heavily utilised in Ukraine
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Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe
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Perovo Solar Park
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Crimea hosts many seaside resorts and historic sites
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Main ethnic groups of Ukrainian raions (2001)
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The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the main Christian cathedrals in Ukraine
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St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in Kiev
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The municipal children's hospital in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast
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The University of Kiev is one of Ukraine's most important educational institutions
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Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans building by Josef Hlávka, 1882, now Chernivtsi University.
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Results of the 2012 parliamentary election. Yanukovych's Party of Regions in blue. Batkivshchyna in purple.
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A collection of traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs – pysanky. The design motifs on pysanky date back to early Slavic cultures.
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Rushnyk, Ukrainian embroidery
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Traditional Ukrainian village architecture in Curitiba, Brazil, where a large Ukrainian diaspora is.
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Cossack Mamay playing a kobza
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Mykola Lysenko is widely considered to be the father of Ukrainian classical music
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Ukrainian dance hopak.
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Ukrainian footballer Andriy Shevchenko celebrates a goal against Sweden at Euro 2012
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Historical map of Kievan Rus', last 20 years of the state (1220–1240).
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The Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia or Kingdom of Halych-Volynia (1245–1349).
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Historical map of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia until 1434.
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Proposed Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth or Commonwealth of Three Nations (1658).
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Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and territory of Zaporozhian Cossacks under rule of Russian Empire (1751).
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View of Carpathian National Park
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awn on South Demerdji, Alushta, Crimea
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Typical agricultural landscape of Ukraine, Kherson Oblast
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Kinburn sandbar, Ochakiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast
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alkhovitin, Zuivskyi regional landscape park, Donetsk Oblast
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The Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernihiv dates to Kievan Rus. 1030.
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Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle – one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.
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St Andrew's Church in Kiev an example of Baroque.
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Lviv's Old Town; architecture there is much influenced by its history as part of Austria-Hungary and Poland.
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Vorontsov Palace, at the foot of the Crimean Mountains, an example of Gothic/Moorish Revival architecture.
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St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kiev, an example of Ukrainian Baroque.
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Example of early 20th century architecture in Lviv.
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Lviv. The Bernardine church in the style of Italian and Dutch mannerism
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Poltava museum, Ukrainian Modern architecture example. 1908.
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Central Department store in Kiev, Stalinist architecture example.
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Modern residential architecture in Kharkiv
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Schönborn Palace. 1895
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See also
In Spanish: Ucrania para niños
