Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in <a href="/facts/Eastern_Europe/f5CDGzNA">Eastern Europe</a>. It is the <a href="/facts/List_of_European_countries_by_area/6jTfv2P5">second-largest country in Europe</a> after <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>, which <a href="/facts/Russia%25E2%2580%2593Ukraine_border/xq0a8p60">borders it</a> to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a> to the north; <a href="/facts/Poland/eXJ7fd0D">Poland</a> and <a href="/facts/Slovakia/gmJwpwM3">Slovakia</a> to the west; <a href="/facts/Hungary/YRedQLtI">Hungary</a>, <a href="/facts/Romania/yolzk5cN">Romania</a> and <a href="/facts/Moldova/qGBNGewt">Moldova</a> to the southwest; and the <a href="/facts/Black_Sea/M0rLKvge">Black Sea</a> and the <a href="/facts/Sea_of_Azov/ScLQDNuX">Sea of Azov</a> to the south and southeast. <a href="/facts/Kyiv/uVAMxK8R">Kyiv</a> is the nation's capital and <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_in_Ukraine/fKbKsAAD">largest city</a>, followed by <a href="/facts/Kharkiv/25Gd4znl">Kharkiv</a>, <a href="/facts/Dnipro/tbWRkq3g">Dnipro</a>, and <a href="/facts/Odesa/4Luy5oB3">Odesa</a>. Ukraine's <a href="/facts/Official_language/yCH2URym">official language</a> is <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_language/2zDw7rpD">Ukrainian</a>.
Humans have inhabited Ukraine since 32,000 BC. During the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a>, it was the site of <a href="/facts/Early_Slavs/SzKC53Jf">early Slavic</a> expansion and later became a key centre of <a href="/facts/East_Slavs/aNNxqGFq">East Slavic</a> culture under the state of <a href="/facts/Kievan_Rus%2527/oYbNWrwR">Kievan Rus'</a>, which emerged in the 9th century. Kievan Rus' became the largest and most powerful realm in Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, but gradually disintegrated into rival regional powers before being destroyed by the <a href="/facts/Mongol_invasion_of_Kievan_Rus%2527/J0qTpYyB">Mongols</a> in the 13th century. For the next 600 years the area was contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers including the <a href="/facts/Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania/9czbKcfs">Grand Duchy of Lithuania</a>, the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Poland/xwYbgG7x">Kingdom of Poland</a>, the <a href="/facts/Polish%25E2%2580%2593Lithuanian_Commonwealth/Tt0zAlQD">Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth</a>, the <a href="/facts/Austrian_Empire/AnAU9bdG">Austrian Empire</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Tsardom_of_Russia/m0scLsSq">Tsardom of Russia</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Cossack_Hetmanate/8dcBkN5B">Cossack Hetmanate</a> emerged in <a href="/facts/Central_Ukraine/5NEWS6FB">central Ukraine</a> in the 17th century but was partitioned between Russia and Poland before being absorbed by the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a> in the late 19th century. <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_nationalism/89Xcnhkc">Ukrainian nationalism</a> developed and, following the <a href="/facts/Russian_Revolution/kk1z6pnH">Russian Revolution</a> in 1917, the short-lived <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_People%2527s_Republic/mQqN2T4v">Ukrainian People's Republic</a> was formed. The <a href="/facts/Bolsheviks/UAHzalnN">Bolsheviks</a> <a href="/facts/Ukrainian%25E2%2580%2593Soviet_War/K219fxne">consolidated control</a> over much of the former empire and established the <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic/MAxGCkwN">Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic</a>, which became a <a href="/facts/Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union/slVCXCrh">constituent republic</a> of the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the <a href="/facts/Holodomor/2X2zls3r">Holodomor</a>, a <a href="/facts/Causes_of_the_Holodomor/pLgQFd5v">human-made famine</a>. During <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, Ukraine was <a href="/facts/Reichskommissariat_Ukraine/kzsdU5l5">occupied by Germany</a> and endured <a href="/facts/World_War_II_in_Ukraine/sM77RTtW">major battles and atrocities</a>, resulting in 7 million civilians killed, including <a href="/facts/The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine/3g2baY8v">most Ukrainian Jews</a>.
Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">Soviet Union dissolved</a> and declared itself <a href="/facts/Neutral_country/Ig022QPh">neutral</a>. A new <a href="/facts/Constitution_of_Ukraine/cbd9pdUI">constitution</a> was adopted in 1996 as the country transitioned to a free market liberal democracy amid <a href="/facts/Corruption_in_Ukraine/B5AalSbh">endemic corruption</a> and a legacy of state control. The <a href="/facts/Orange_Revolution/GN0dSABv">Orange Revolution</a> of 2004–2005 ushered electoral and constitutional reforms. Resurgent political crises prompted a series of mass demonstrations in 2014 known as the <a href="/facts/Euromaidan/m41YETnk">Euromaidan</a>, leading to <a href="/facts/Revolution_of_Dignity/p48oSXW9">a revolution</a>, at the end of which Russia unilaterally <a href="/facts/Russian_occupation_of_Crimea/kE7cHvoQ">occupied</a> and <a href="/facts/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation/8r8zGRyf">annexed</a> Ukraine's <a href="/facts/Crimea/GkM1qNVC">Crimean Peninsula</a>, and <a href="/facts/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine/maR0wq73">pro-Russian unrest</a> culminated in <a href="/facts/War_in_Donbas_(2014%25E2%2580%25932022)/h8WDdxa4">a war in Donbas</a> with Russian-backed separatists and Russia. Russia launched <a href="/facts/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/kE7cHvoQ">a full-scale invasion</a> of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine is a <a href="/facts/Unitary_state/HAxK1eMM">unitary state</a> and <a href="/facts/Government_of_Ukraine/JSqh949c">its system of government</a> is a <a href="/facts/Semi-presidential_republic/vncj96gR">semi-presidential republic</a>. Ukraine has a <a href="/facts/Transition_economy/udTGKCjg">transition economy</a> and has <a href="/facts/List_of_sovereign_states_in_Europe_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita/QfP8hWFn">the lowest nominal GDP per capita in Europe</a> as of 2024, with <a href="/facts/Corruption_in_Ukraine/B5AalSbh">corruption</a> being a significant issue. Due to <a href="/facts/Agriculture_in_Ukraine/vM8tpNvr">its extensive fertile land</a>, the country is an important exporter of <a href="/facts/Grain/C00uWDPs">grain</a>, with grain produce <a href="/facts/2022_Russian_theft_of_Ukrainian_grain/GTtsHvdA">reduced</a> since 2022 due to the Russian invasion, endangering global <a href="/facts/Food_security/cKrQd4E9">food security</a>. Ukraine is considered a <a href="/facts/Middle_power/ku44qNYY">middle power</a> in global affairs. <a href="/facts/Armed_Forces_of_Ukraine/APFAIPAc">Its military</a> is the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_paramilitary_personnel/bTvFzuQI">sixth largest in the world</a> with the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures/QJemgRxr">eighth largest defence budget</a>, and <a href="/facts/Unmanned_Systems_Forces/KTyncyJP">operates</a> one of the world's largest and most diverse <a href="/facts/Unmanned_combat_aerial_vehicle/eueGXJxK">drone fleets</a>. Ukraine is a founding member of the <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a> and a member of the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Europe/51I3TyDg">Council of Europe</a>, the <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Organization/p7hgb1lP">World Trade Organisation</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Organization_for_Security_and_Co-operation_in_Europe/Lo5lUrA6">OSCE</a>. It has been in the process of <a href="/facts/Accession_of_Ukraine_to_the_European_Union/2bWr0k4X">joining the European Union</a> and applied to join <a href="/facts/NATO/dCeTddMY">NATO</a> in 2022.

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Ukraine