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 and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, 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.
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 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, but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and 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. Ukraine is considered a middle power in global affairs, and the Ukrainian Armed Force is the fifth largest armed force in the world in terms of both active personnel as well as total number of personnel with the eighth largest defence budget in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets 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
- 26 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Battle of Kurakhove
- Russian forces enter the city of Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, with heavy fighting reportedly underway. (Al Arabiya)
- 22 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kursk offensive
- Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova states that 46 of one thousand Russian civilians who claimed to have been forcibly relocated by Ukraine into its territory have been returned, following extensive negotiations involving the Red Cross. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and 12 others are injured in a Russian drone attack on civilian infrastructure in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 21 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Dnipro strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia strikes Dnipro, Ukraine, with a projectile stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) model. This confirms earlier reports from the United States and other western officials, who said that Russia had used an IRBM after initial reports misidentified the missile as a RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. (Reuters) (CBS News) (BBC News)
- Hungary and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Hungary announces the deployment of a missile defense system on its border with Ukraine, saying that the threat of escalation with Russia is now "greater than ever". (Reuters)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Ukrainians Nadia Smyrnytska, Maria Kalyuzhnaya and Maria Kovalevska joined other prisoners in committing suicide to protest against the abuse of imprisoned women in Kara katorga?
- ... that when public radio stations aired Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the bass voice of Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live from Frankfurt and recorded from Auckland?
- ... that Ukrainian baritone Danylo Matviienko, who holds a master's degree in mathematics, appeared as Demetrius in Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Oper Frankfurt?
- ... that Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said that Ukrainians care less about her being transgender than Americans do?
- ... that during a German charity concert for Ukraine, Slovakian singer Judita Nagyová performed a solo in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?
- ... that Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016 and conducted them in thirty concerts across ten music festivals in 2022?
More did you know -
- ... that the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... 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?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
- ... that the neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv features a hundred-tonne glass dome over the chamber where the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convenes to enact legislation?
Selected article -
Donetsk (UK: /dɒnˈjɛtsk/ don-YETSK, US: /dən-/ dən-; Ukrainian: Донецьк [doˈnɛtsʲk] ; Russian: Донецк [dɐˈnʲetsk] ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capital of the Donetsk People's Republic. The population was estimated at 901,645 (2022 estimate)[1] in the city core, with over 2 million in the metropolitan area (2011). According to the 2001 census, Donetsk was the fifth-largest city in Ukraine.
Administratively, Donetsk has been the centre of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the larger economic and cultural Donets Basin (Donbas) region. Donetsk is adjacent to another major city, Makiivka, and along with other surrounding cities forms a major urban sprawl and conurbation in the region. Donetsk has been a major economic, industrial and scientific centre of Ukraine with a high concentration of heavy industries and a skilled workforce. The density of heavy industries (predominantly steel production, chemical industry, and coal mining) determined the city's challenging ecological situation. In 2012, a UN report ranked Donetsk among the world's fastest depopulating cities. (Full article...)
In the news
- 26 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Battle of Kurakhove
- Russian forces enter the city of Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, with heavy fighting reportedly underway. (Al Arabiya)
- 22 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- 2024 Kursk offensive
- Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova states that 46 of one thousand Russian civilians who claimed to have been forcibly relocated by Ukraine into its territory have been returned, following extensive negotiations involving the Red Cross. (Reuters)
- Two people are killed and 12 others are injured in a Russian drone attack on civilian infrastructure in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- 21 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Dnipro strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Russia strikes Dnipro, Ukraine, with a projectile stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) model. This confirms earlier reports from the United States and other western officials, who said that Russia had used an IRBM after initial reports misidentified the missile as a RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. (Reuters) (CBS News) (BBC News)
- Hungary and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Hungary announces the deployment of a missile defense system on its border with Ukraine, saying that the threat of escalation with Russia is now "greater than ever". (Reuters)
Selected anniversaries for November
- November 11—November 12, 1918 — Battle of Przemyśl was fought between Polish and Ukrainian forces.
- November 24, 2007 - the official day of remembrance for people who died as a result of Holodomor and political repression.
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Notes
- ^ 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.