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Eastern Europe & Eurasian Steppe
Ukraine
Heir to Kyivan Rus', Cossack Hetmanate, and a 20th-century of catastrophe and independence.
Overview
Kyiv was the mother-city of Eastern Slavdom. Ukraine spent centuries divided between Poland, the Ottomans and Russia before achieving lasting statehood in 1991.
Basic Information
CapitalKyiv
Population38 million
Area603,500 km²
CurrencyUkrainian hryvnia (UAH)
LanguagesUkrainian
RegionEastern Europe & Eurasian Steppe
History Timeline
- 882Kyivan Rus' consolidates
- 988Christianization under Vladimir
- 1648Khmelnytsky uprising creates the Cossack Hetmanate
- 1932 – 1933Holodomor famine
- 1991Independence from USSR
- 2022Full-scale Russian invasion
Ancient Peoples
- Scythians
- Sarmatians
- East Slavs
- Cossacks
Ancient Kingdoms
- Kyivan Rus'
- Galicia-Volhynia
- Cossack Hetmanate
Empires
- Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Russian Empire
- Soviet Union
Religions
- Ukrainian Orthodoxy
- Eastern Catholicism
Culture
Taras Shevchenko, embroidered vyshyvanka, Cossack traditions.
Language
Ukrainian is an East Slavic language written in Cyrillic.
Important Battles
- Battle of Poltava1709
Russian victory over Sweden and Cossacks
- Battle of Kyiv2022
Ukrainian defense of the capital
Historical Figures
Yaroslav the Wise
1019 – 1054
Kyivan grand prince
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
1648 – 1657
Cossack hetman
Volodymyr Zelensky
b. 1978
Wartime president
Archaeological Sites
- Chersonesus (Crimea)
- Trypillian settlements
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Kyiv Saint Sophia & Cave Monastery
- Chernivtsi University
- Historic Lviv
Dynasties
- Rurikid (Kyivan branch)
- Khmelnytsky
Colonial Period
Long subject to Poland, Russia and the USSR; never a colonizer.
Modern History
Parliamentary republic; EU candidate since 2022.