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Ukraine  /ju?'kre?n/ (help·info) (Ukrainian ???????, transliterated Ukrayina, [ukr?'jin?]) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania, Moldova (including the breakaway Pridnestrovie) to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev (Kyiv) is both the capital and the largest city of Ukraine. The nation's modern history began with that of the East Slavs. From at least the 9th&_160;century, the territory of Ukraine was a center of the medieval Varangian-dominated East Slavic civilization, forming the state of Kievan Rus' which disintegrated in the 12th&_160;century. From the 14th&_160;century on, the territory of Ukraine was divided among a number of regional powers, and by the 19th&_160;century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire, with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. After a chaotic period of incessant warfare and several attempts at independence (1917–21) following World War I and the Russian Civil War, Ukraine emerged in 1922 as one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward shortly before and after World War II, and again in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the co-founding members of the United Nations.[4] Ukraine became independent again after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. This began a period of transition to a market economy, in which Ukraine was stricken with an eight year recession.[5] Since then, the economy has been experiencing a stable increase, with real GDP growth averaging eight&_160;percent annually. Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 oblasts (provinces), one autonomous republic (Crimea), and two cities with special status Kiev, its capital, 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 collapse of the USSR, Ukraine continues to maintain the second largest military in Europe, after that of Russia. The country is home to 46.2&_160;million people, 77.8&_160;percent of whom are ethnic Ukrainians, with sizable minorities of Russians, Belarusians and Romanians. The Ukrainian language is the only official language in Ukraine, while Russian is also widely spoken and is known to most Ukrainians as a second language. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which has heavily influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature and music. Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine dates back to at least 4500&_160;BC, when the Neolithic Cucuteni culture flourished in a wide area that covered parts of modern Ukraine including Trypillia and the entire Dnieper-Dniester region. During the Iron Age, the land was inhabited by Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians.[6] Between 700&_160;BC and 200&_160;BC it was part of the Scythian Kingdom, or Scythia. Later, colonies of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and the Byzantine Empire, such as Tyras, Olbia, and Hermonassa, were founded, beginning in the 6th&_160;century BC, on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea, and thrived well into the 6th&_160;century AD. In the 7th&_160;century AD, the territory of eastern Ukraine was the center of Old Great Bulgaria. At the end of the century, the majority of Bulgar tribes migrated in different directions and the land fell into the Khazars' hands.
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Travel to Odessa Ukraine and Have Some Fun!
by Dessa Kraine
Dec 15, 2008
When you are planning to travel to Odessa Ukraine on a trip, there are a few things that you will need to know before you go. First and foremost, Odessa Ukraine is an extremely fun and colorful city! For i...
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