Ukraine

Guide to UKRAINE

UKRAINE which official name is Ukraine or Ukraine, is a country from Europe located at the Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east. UKRAINE with 4,663 km sq km, limits with: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km; and is divided in 24 provinces . UKRAINE's capital is Kiev (Kyiv) , but UKRAINE 's most populated city is lvov with about 830,000 inhabitants.

History of UKRAINE

UKRAINE's government is republic; a Republic with a Executive government type, with President Viktor Yushchenko as head of state and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as head of government.

Other symbols of UKRAINE are Ukrainian anthem "Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy (Ukraine's glory has not perished) Ukrainian flag.Ukrainian flag is composed by two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky .

UKRAINE's history is quite long: Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006.

UKRAINEs geography

Guide to travel to UKRAINE

If you are thinking on traveling to UKRAINE, you will have to take in consideration some points like UKRAINE's currency, UKRAINE's weather, UKRAINE's national holiday and UKRAINE's transports.

The first thing you need to know for your travels abroad is country's currency. UKRAINE`s currency is called Hryvnia ( 0), which is divided in 100 kopiykas

UKRAINE's weather is characterized to be temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south. So be sure of choosing the proper date to travel to UKRAINE.

You can also consider to visit UKRAINE on it's national holiday to get in UKRAINE's culture. If you do so, UKRAINE's national holiday is called Independence Day, 24 August.

Also, if you like natural wonders, don't forget to visit the highest point of UKRAINE: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m. And try also to get to UKRAINE's lowest point: Black Sea 0 mBut if you prefer the city, you must visit UKRAINE's tallest structure: ( ).

Don't be afraid to take a flight to UKRAINE, with more than 499 airports and 4 airlines, you will get to UKRAINE without problems. Once there, you can choose the transport type that better fits your needs. UKRAINE has about22,473 of railways, and also2,253 of roadways, so is a good place for a car trip.

Ukrainian Culture

UKRAINE is known by Ukrainians as Ukrayina in the shortened way. Ukrainian, about 46,299,862 people, are composed by different ethnics: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census). And they also have different languages: Ukrainian.

Another relevant point nowadays it's UKRAINE's religion. Ukrainians are divided in Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.). So you can visit any of it's10 like Armenian Cathedral in Lviv .

But if want to know more about UKRAINE's culture, the best way is by reading the most famous Ukrainian novelists' books like Larisa Alexandrovna, (1971– ), Andrey Kurkov, (1961– ) .

Videos of Ukraine

See some viedos of Ukraine's places and tourism before choosing your vacations destination.

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