 |
About Ukraine
Geographical location and People
Ukraine is an independent country in Eastern Europe. It
occupies an area of 603.7 sq. km. Ukraine extends from
west to east for 1300 km, and from north to south for
900 km.
In the north Ukraine borders on Belorus, Poland and Slovak
Republic, in the south-west - on Hungary, Romania and
Moldova. The total length of the state borders of Ukraine
is 7698 km. The geographical point, usually referred to
as the “geographical center of Europe” (equidistant from
the westernmost tip of Europe and the imaginary easternmost
line separating Europe from Asia) is situated in Ukraine,
not far from the town of Rakhiv, Zakarpatska Oblast. In
the south Ukraine is washed by the waters of the Black
Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv.
Natural scenery of Ukraine is picturesque. Recreational
landscapes occupy an area of 9.4 mln hectares (one hectare
is about 2.5 acres). Forests cover about 14% of Ukraine’s
territory. The longest mountain range in Ukraine is the
Carpathians stretching for 270 km; the highest mountain
is the Hoverla (2061 m). The Crimean Mountains are situated
in the southern part of the Crimea, the southernmost extension
of Ukraine (the highest mountain is 1545 m). Over 70,000
rivers flow through Ukraine. The major rivers are the
Dnipro (third longest in Europe), the Dniester, Southern
Buh, Siverskiy Donets, Prut, the mouth of the Danube is
situated in Ukraine. There are over 3000 natural lakes
and about 22,000 artificial water reservoirs in Ukraine,
as well as many sources of mineral water and medicinal
mud which are used to treat many diseases. Ukraine has
5 National Parks, 15 National Preserves and a lot of smaller
areas (dendrological parks, ancient urban and rural parks)
protected by the state. Among the biggest and most important
parks and preserves one could name Askania-Nova (Khersonska
Oblast): Shatskiy National Park (Volynska Oblast); Sofiyivka
(Cherkaska Oblast); Trostianetsk Hydropark (Chernihivska
Oblast). Many places of natural beauty can be found in
the Carpathians, the Crimea and Polissia.
Climate
Ukraine’s climate, is moderately continental; at the southern
coast of the Crimea it can be described as subtropical
of the Mediterranean type. Summers are mostly warm and
dry and winters are usually mild and west. The average
temperature in January is -7 Centigrade and in July +19
Centigrade.
Population
Ukraine’s population is 50.5 million, with about 80% of
them being ethnic Ukrainians. Among ethnic minorities
are Russians, Belorussians, Jews, Poles, Moldavians, Hungarians,
Romanians, Bulgarians, Tatars, Germans and others.
Administratively Ukraine is divided into 24 Oblasts and
the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. There are 447 towns
and 28,800 villages in Ukraine. Kyiv, the biggest city
in Ukraine, has a population of 2.6 mln; Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk,
Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Odesa all have a population of
over one million.
Religion
Most of the believers in Ukraine are Christians of several
denominations: Orthodox (of two kinds), Greco-Catholic
(of Ukrainian Catholic Rite and Byzantine Rite); Roman
Catholics; and Protestants. There are also Judaists, Muslims
(mostly among the Crimean Tatars) and representatives
of other confessions in Ukraine. Economy. Ukraine is an
industrial and agricultural country. It is rich in natural
resources: coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, and uranium,
to name just a few. Among better developed industries
are metallurgy, mining, power and fuel, machine-building,
food, and textile. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk,
Zaporizhia and Kryviy Rih are major industrial centers.
In most parts of Ukraine soil is suitable for growing
grain, potatoes, sugar beets, corn and other crops. The
area of the cropland in Ukraine is 32 mln hectares. Ukraine
has big sea ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
coasts which handle a considerable amount of trade with
foreign countries.
The State Emblem is a stylized trident. In the ancient
times of Kyivan-Rus - Ukraine it was the Grand Prince's
coat of arms. There exist many interpretations of the
significance of the trident but at least one thing is
clear: it is an ancient Ukrainian symbol of power. The
State Flag is blue and yellow. This is not an accidental
combination of colors - it goes back to the pre-Christian
times and symbolize Water and Fire, the two most important
natural elements in the life of man.
Culture and history
The culture and history of the Ukrainian people date back
many centuries. The roots of the Ukrainian nation go back
into the deep of centuries to the tribes of the Trypillye
culture, which played a big role in the formation of primitive
tribal communities on the territory of Ukraine and the
ancient forefathers of the Slavs.
This ancient land remembers many civilizations. Cimmerians,
Scythians, Taurians, Sarmatians, Goths, Greek city-states
of the northern Black Sea coastal area and the Crimea
left a notable trace in the history of our country and
promoted the cultural enrichment of neighboring tribes,
with the Slavs among them. Numerous monuments discovered
during excavations testify to the existence of an alliance
of Slav tribes. One of them, known under the name of the
State of Antes (4th century BC), occupied a large territory
and has signs of a state structure in the form of democracy.
It is evident that the history of the Ukrainian nation
dates back to this time, the primitive Ukrainian civilization
and state.
The Slavs not only defended their lands from numerous
nomad tribes of Avars, Khazars, Pechenegs, and Polovtsi,
from Byzantine and Western Roman Empires, but they organized
successful campaigns against other lands themselves. More
than 1100 years ago a powerful Slav state, Kyivan Rus
(9th- beginning of the 13th centuries) was founded on
the expanses of Ukraine.
The main state political and cultural center of Kyivan
Rus was formed on the territory of present day Ukraine,
and the Slavic tribes, inhabiting its expanses, established
a political alliance and formed the Ukrainian nation.
Christianity was introduced during the reign of Volodymyr
the Great (988), and the capital city, Kyiv, became the
spiritual center for spreading Christianity to Eastern
Europe. Later, during the period of political disunity
of this powerful medieval European Monarchy, the Ukrainian
nation became the ethnical basis for the south-western
principalities, of which the Galicia-Volyn Principality
played the most important role (13th-14th centuries).
The conclusive stage of the formation of the Ukrainian
nation was the most difficult in its history: in the middle
of the 13th century it fell under the devastating Mongol-Tartar
yoke, and having liberated itself from the Mongol-Tartars,
fell under the power of the neighboring states of Lithuania
and Poland. In the south it bordered with Crimean Kaghnate,
which daily made devastating raids on the Ukrainian land.
The land was also threatened with Turkish enslavement.
Irrespective of this, the Ukrainian nation survived, preserved
its language and multiplied its culture, tirelessly fighting
for independence and building up its statehood in different
forms.
After a lengthy struggle, the Ukrainian nation again appears
on the European political map in the form of a Cossack
Republic, first the Zaporizhian Sich, and thenafter liberating
wars under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytskiy (1648-1654)
- the Zaporizhian Army.
The freedom-loving Ukrainian Cossacks not only demonstrated
their chivalry to the whole world, but also the ability
to found a state.
The Zaporizhian Sich remained a powerful stronghold over
the Dnipro River for 300 years - a free republic, a glorious
Cossackdom which withstood enemy attacks and waged an
unceasing struggle for the liberation of Ukraine and its
independence.
Centuries of Ukraine’s colonial existence followed the
short period of sovereignty. During the years of W.W.I
Ukrainian soldiers in the armies of the two empires, Russia
and Austria-Hungary, were forced to fight not only for
imperialist interests foreign to them, but against one
another. After the fall of the monarchy in 1917 and the
disintegration of Austria-Hungary the Ukrainian people
received a historic opportunity to found their own national
state.
Three governments replaced each other in Ukraine between
1917 and 1921, during the devastating Civil War of the
Ukrainian people. On January 22, 1918, the Ukrainian Tsentralna
Rada proclaimed independence, and although Soviet Russia
was one of the first countries to recognize Ukrainian
independence, units of Red Army soon afterwards attacked
Ukraine.
In January 1919, the Ukrainian People’s Republic ceremoniously
united with the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (which
was formed on the territory formerly under the Astro-Hungarian
Monarchy Empire) with Lviv as its capital.
But the alliance of Ukrainian lands was short-lived. Troops
of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic were defeated
by the Polish interventionists, who attacked Galicia,
and the troops of Soviet Russia seized Kyiv. Soviet power
was established in Ukraine in November 1921. And in 1922
Ukraine was officially included into the Soviet Union.
Historical destiny led the Ukrainian people through the
tragic period of Stalin dictatorship and repressions,
cruel Hitlerite occupation during W.W.II, and decades
of formal sovereignty of Ukraine within the Soviet Union.
On August 24, 1991 the Verkhovna Rada, of Ukraine adopted
a Declaration of Independence, and on December 1, 1991,
at a national referendum, the Ukrainian people voted for
sovereignty. A new independent democratic country, Ukraine,
appeared on the political map of the world.
|
 |
