Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv (also spelled Kiev).
How many states are in Ukraine?
Ukraine is divided into 24 administrative regions called oblasts, one autonomous republic (Crimea), and two cities with special status (Kyiv and Sevastopol). The oblasts are further divided into districts. The oblasts are: Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, and Chernihiv.
What is the history of Ukraine?
The history of Ukraine is a long and complex one, with the country having been inhabited for thousands of years. The first known human settlements in what is now Ukraine date back to the Paleolithic period. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Kyiv was the center of the Kyivan Rus, a state that was a precursor to modern-day Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. In the 13th century, Ukraine was invaded and annexed by the Mongols, and in the 14th and 15th centuries, it was absorbed into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the 16th century, much of Ukraine came under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was divided between Russia, Austria, and Poland. In 1917, Ukraine declared independence, but it was soon invaded and absorbed by the Soviet Union. Ukraine gained independence again in 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved. Since then, it has faced many challenges, including political instability, economic difficulties, and conflicts with Russia.
What about the population, economy, and facts of Ukraine?
The current population of Ukraine is 43,080,311 as of Saturday, December 31, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data. The country has a diverse mix of ethnicities, with Ukrainian being the dominant language. Russian, Romanian, Polish, and Hungarian are also spoken by minority groups in the country.
The economy of Ukraine is diverse, with a large agricultural sector and a significant industrial base. The country is a major producer of grain, sugar, and sunflower oil, and it also has a large steel and iron industry. However, the economy has faced many challenges in recent years, including political instability, corruption, and conflicts with Russia.
Some interesting facts about Ukraine include:
- Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, with a history that dates back more than 1,500 years.
- The Carpathian Mountains, which run through Ukraine, are home to the largest contiguous forest in Europe and are home to a number of threatened species, including the brown bear and the lynx.
- The Chornobyl disaster, which occurred in 1986, was one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, and it had a major impact on the environment and people of Ukraine.
- Ukraine is home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the ancient city of Kyiv, the 11th-century Monastery of the Caves, and the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans.
- Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe, after Russia.