Introduction
Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, translit. Ukrayina; Ukrainian pronunciation: [ukrɑˈjinɑ]), sometimes called the Ukraine, is a country in Eastern Europe. Excluding Crimea, Ukraine has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Kiev. Ukrainian is the official language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religions in the country are Eastern Orthodoxy and Greek Catholicism. Ukraine is currently in a territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world.
The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus' forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but its territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire, and finally merged fully into the Russian-dominated Soviet Union in the late 1940s as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991 Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as "The Ukraine", but most sources have since moved to drop "the" from the name of Ukraine in all uses.
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The Caspian expeditions of the Rus were military raids undertaken by the Rus between 864 and 1041 on the Caspian Sea shores. Initially, the Rus appeared in Saerkland in the 9th century traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves. The first small-scale raids took place in the late 9th and early 10th century. The Rus undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged Gorgan, the territory of present day Azerbaijan, and the adjacent areas, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by Khazar Muslims in the Volga Delta, and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on the middle Volga.
During their next expedition in 943, the Rus captured Barda, the capital of Arran, in the modern-day Azerbaijan. The Rus stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav, prince of Kiev, commanded the next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established the Rus's hold on the north-south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea taking place in 1041 by Ingvar the Far-Travelled.
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Zbarazh (Ukrainian: Збараж, Polish: Zbaraż, Yiddish: Zbarj) is a small city in the Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zbarazh Raion (district), and is located in the historic region of Galicia. The major attraction of the city is the Zbarazh Castle that played a key role during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the heroic defense of which eventually led to change of momentum and extinguishing the Cossack revolt.
Photo credit: plf16
Did you know...
Featured at Did you know section at the Wikipedia's Main Page
- ... 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 Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (pictured), known for the "Carol of the Bells", was nicknamed "Ukrainian Bach" in France?
- ... 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 the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that Ukrainian naturalist, lecturer, artist and author John Lhotsky was credited as the first discoverer of gold in New South Wales?
- ...that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
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Konstiantyn Trutovsky was a Ukrainian realist painter and graphic artist. His artistic heritage includes numerous genre screens on Ukrainian themes. Trutovsky was interested in ethnography and depicted colorful Ukrainian folk customs, not shying away from "a dash of good humour".
In the news
- Spring 2014 - after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, and the subsequent Russian military intervention in Ukraine, people are urging: Do not buy Russian goods!
Categories
WikiProjects and collaborations
Things you can do
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If you just came here for the first time, please read this and be bold... but timid.
- Articles needing major work, Be Bold!: a cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category, the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.
- To start: Moldavian speaking Ukrainians, Ukrainian speaking Moldavians, Miroslav Skochilyas, Smerichka, Roman Oleksiv, Metropolitan Oleksiy (Hromadsky), Political reform in Ukraine (2004)
- Stubs needing expansion:
- {{Ukraine-stub}} : Mayor of Kiev, Ukrainian Navy, Ukrainian rock, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Berkut (Ukraine), Sport in Ukraine, Supreme Court of Ukraine, Kiev Bank Union, Ukrzaliznytsia, Shevchenko National Prize
- {{Ukraine-hist-stub}} : Koliyivschyna, Elected Cossacks, Koshovyi Otaman, Ataman, 1st Ukrainian Front
- {{Ukraine-bio-stub}} : Pylyp Orlyk, Ivan Pidkova, Kyrylo Rozumovsky,
- {{Ukraine-geo-stub}} : Ros' River, Yayla Mountains, Yablonitsky Pass, Arcadia Beach, Poshtova Square
- {{East-Slavic-history-stub}} : Battle on the Irpen' River, List of early East Slavic states, Hypatian Codex
- {{Soviet-stub}} : Ukrainian SSR, Flag of the Ukrainian SSR, Coat of arms of the Ukrainian SSR
- Featured pictures: Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks (Commons), 1691 map of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Downtown Lviv (C), Nataliya Gotsiy
- Featured articles: St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Sviatoslav I of Kiev, Rus' Khaganate, Caspian expeditions of the Rus, House with Chimaeras
- Featured article candidate's status within reach: Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle
- Good articles: Andriyivskyy Descent, Rus'-Byzantine War (860), Kiev Offensive (1920), Onion dome, Oleg of Novgorod, Second Battle of Kharkov, Kiev Expedition (1018), Mezhyhirskyi Monastery, Ukraine, Battle of the Kalka River, Battle of Kostiuchnówka, Yulia Tymoshenko, Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle, Vorontsov Palace (Alupka), Zoloti Vorota
- Tetyana Yablonska photograph or painting?
- Proposed featured images;
- A picture of the ministry of defense building.
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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