Portal:Ukraine
The Ukraine Portal - Портал України
Ukraine Україна (Ukrainian) | |
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ISO 3166 code | UA |
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. It also borders Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa. Ukraine's official language is Ukrainian; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south.
During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional powers and was ultimately destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged in central Ukraine in the 17th century marked on maps as "Ukraine, land of the Cossacks", but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and ultimately absorbed by the Russian Empire. Ukrainian nationalism developed and, following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic was formed. The Bolsheviks consolidated control over much of the former empire and established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union when it was formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a human-made famine. The German occupation during World War II in Ukraine was devastating, with 7 million Ukrainian civilians killed, including most Ukrainian Jews.
Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved, and declared itself neutral. A new constitution was adopted in 1996. A series of mass demonstrations, known as the Euromaidan, led to the establishment of a new government in 2014 after a revolution. Russia then unilaterally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and pro-Russian unrest culminated in a war in the Donbas between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine has continued to seek closer ties with the United States, European Union, and NATO.
Ukraine is a unitary state and its system of government is a semi-presidential republic. A developing country, it is the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita and corruption remains a significant issue. However, due to its extensive fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the OSCE. It is in the process of joining the European Union and has applied to join NATO. (Full article...)
In the news
- 19 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russian missile strikes kill seven civilians in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including five in Synelnykove and two others in Dnipro. Several others are critically injured. (BBC News)
- A Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 is shot down in Russian airspace over Stavropol Krai after launching missiles at targets in Ukraine. A video shows the aircraft on fire crashing to the ground, confirming the loss. (BBC News)
- 18 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Germany arrests two German-Russian nationals for an alleged military sabotage plot on behalf of Russia to undermine military support for Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 17 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- April 2024 Chernihiv missile strike
- At least 18 people are killed and 60 others are injured in a Russian missile strike which damaged an eight-storey building in a densely populated area of Chernihiv. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- 16 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a new army draft law. (Reuters)
- 13 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The Russian Ministry of Defence claims that the village of Pervomaiske near Donetsk has been captured by Russian troops. (Barron's)
- 12 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that following the energy price shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Turkish government intervened to have the country's renewable energy subsidise coal and gas?
- ... that Yulia Tolopa, a single mother from Russia, has fought for Ukraine in the war in Donbas since she was 18 years old?
- ... that in the history of opera in Ukraine, Mykola Lysenko's historical Taras Bulba was the first grand opera, but not performed during his lifetime because he refused a performance in Russian?
- ... that Artem Datsyshyn, the National Opera of Ukraine's principal dancer in ballets such as Swan Lake and La Bayadère, is said to have danced with "romantic sublimity" and "psychological depth"?
- ... that Vladyslav Buialskyi, a 24-year-old bass-baritone from Berdiansk, sang the State Anthem of Ukraine on the night of his debut with the Metropolitan Opera?
- ... that Olga Onuch is believed to be the first professor of Ukrainian politics in the English-speaking world?
More did you know -
- ... that the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (pictured), known for the "Carol of the Bells", was nicknamed "Ukrainian Bach" in France?
- ... that although the secular music of Mykola Leontovych was well known in the twentieth century, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was little known because of a ban on sacred music in the Soviet Union?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... that journalist Savik Shuster who used to work for Russian TV channels now prefers to work for the Ukrainian TV because he felt the Russian Government was limiting his journalistic freedom?
Selected article -
Mykolaiv (Ukrainian: Миколаїв, IPA: [mɪkoˈlɑjiu̯] ⓘ; Russian: Николаев, romanized: Nikolayev) is a city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (district) and Mykolaiv Oblast (province). The city of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver bridge crossing of the Southern Bug river. This city is one of the main shipbuilding centers of the Black Sea. Aside from three shipyards within the city, there are a number of research centers specializing in shipbuilding such as the State Research and Design Shipbuilding Center, Zoria-Mashproekt and others. As of 2022, the city has a population of 470,011 (2022 estimate).[1] Mykolaiv holds the honorary title Hero City of Ukraine.
The city serves as a transportation hub for Ukraine, containing a sea port, commercial port, river port, highway, railway junction, and airport. (Full article...)In the news
- 19 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russian missile strikes kill seven civilians in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including five in Synelnykove and two others in Dnipro. Several others are critically injured. (BBC News)
- A Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 is shot down in Russian airspace over Stavropol Krai after launching missiles at targets in Ukraine. A video shows the aircraft on fire crashing to the ground, confirming the loss. (BBC News)
- 18 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Germany arrests two German-Russian nationals for an alleged military sabotage plot on behalf of Russia to undermine military support for Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 17 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- April 2024 Chernihiv missile strike
- At least 18 people are killed and 60 others are injured in a Russian missile strike which damaged an eight-storey building in a densely populated area of Chernihiv. (BBC News) (Reuters)
- 16 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a new army draft law. (Reuters)
- 13 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The Russian Ministry of Defence claims that the village of Pervomaiske near Donetsk has been captured by Russian troops. (Barron's)
- 12 April 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
Selected anniversaries for April
- April 16, 2000 — Ukraine's national referendum takes place on the issue of reformation the governing system of Ukraine.
- April 22, 2006 — Two homemade bombs exploded in different supermarkets in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
- April 26, 1986 — Reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded at 01:23 A.M.
- April 29, 1918 — Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic, a constitutional document, was approved by the Central Rada, but never announced.
- April 29, 1918 — The Holiday of Ukrainian Sea. On this day the main parts of Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol hoisted ukrainian flags.
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- ^ Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2022 [Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1, 2022] (PDF) (in Ukrainian and English). Kyiv: State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022.