Ukraine (/juːˈkreɪn/; Ukrainian: Україна,
transliterated: Ukrayina,
[ukrɑˈjinɑ])
is a country in Eastern
Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km2
(233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within
Europe. Ukraine borders Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the
northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the
southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast,
respectively. The territory of Ukraine has been inhabited for at least 44,000
years, and is the prime candidate site for the domestication of the horse and
for the origins of the Indo-European language family.
In the Middle Ages, the area
became a key center of East Slavic culture, as epitomized by the powerful state
of Kievan Rus'. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory
of the present day Ukraine was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers,
including Lithuania, Poland, Austro-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic
emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but Ukraine remained
otherwise divided until its consolidation into a Soviet republic in the 20th
century, becoming an independent state only in 1991.
Ukraine has long been a global
breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands. In 2011, it was the
world's third-largest grain exporter with that year's harvest being much larger
than average. Ukraine is one of the ten most attractive agricultural land
acquisition regions. The country also has a well-developed manufacturing
sector, particularly in aerospace and industrial equipment.
Ukraine is a unitary republic
under a semi-presidential system with separate powers: legislative, executive,
and judicial branches. Its capital and largest city is Kiev. Since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine continues to maintain the
second-largest military in Europe, after that of Russian Federation, when
reserves and paramilitary personnel are taken into account. The country is home
to 45.4 million people (including Crimea), 77.8% of whom are Ukrainians by
ethnicity, and with a sizable minority of Russians (17%), as well as
Romanians/Moldovans, Belarusians, Crimean Tatars, and Hungarians. Ukrainian is
the official language of Ukraine; its alphabet is Cyrillic. Russian is also
still widely spoken. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodox
Christianity, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature
and music.
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