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+{{about|the country}}
+{{pp-pc1}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
+{{pp-pc1}}{{pp-move-indef}}
+{{Infobox country
+|conventional_long_name =Ukraine
+|native_name = Україна
+|common_name = Ukraine
+|image_flag = Flag of Ukraine.svg
+|image_coat = Lesser Coat of Arms of Ukraine.svg
+|national_anthem = {{lang|uk-Latn|"[[Shche ne vmerla Ukraina]]"}}<br><small>"Ukraine has not yet perished"</small><br><center>[[File:Anthem of Ukraine instrumental.ogg]]</center>
+|image_map = Europe-Ukraine (disputed territory).svg
+|map_caption ={{unbulleted list|{{map caption |country={{nobold|Ukraine}} |location_color=green |region=Europe |region_color=green & dark grey}}|Disputed territory ({{small|light green}})}}
+|capital = [[Kiev]]
+|latd=50 |latm=27 |latNS=N |longd=30 |longm=30 |longEW=E
+|largest_city = capital
+|official_languages = [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]
+|regional_languages =
+ {{collapsible list
+  |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
+  |title = 18 languages<ref>{{cite web | url=http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5029-17 | title=Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy" (Current version — Revision from 01.02.2014) | publisher=Zakon2.rada.gov.ua | work=Document 5029-17, Article 7: Regional or minority languages Ukraine, Paragraph 2 | date=1 February 2014 | accessdate=30 April 2014}}</ref> |[[Armenian language|Armenian]] |[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] |[[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] |[[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]] |[[Gagauz language|Gagauz]] |[[German language|German]] |[[Greek language|Greek]] |[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] |[[Karaim language|Karaim]] |[[Krymchak language|Krymchak]] |[[Moldovan language|Moldovan]] |[[Polish language|Polish]] |[[Romani language|Romani]] |[[Romanian language|Romanian]] |[[Russian language|Russian]] |[[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] |[[Slovak language|Slovak]] |[[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]
+ }}
+|ethnic_groups =
+ {{unbulleted list
+  | 77.8% [[Ukrainians]]
+  | 17.3% [[Russians in Ukraine|Russians]]
+  | {{nowrap|4.9% others/unspecified}}
+ }}
+|ethnic_groups_year = 2001<ref name="Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census"/>
+|demonym = [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]
+|government_type = {{nowrap|[[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]]<br>[[constitutional republic]]}}
+|leader_title1 = [[President of Ukraine|President]]
+|leader_name1 = [[Petro Poroshenko]]
+|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|Prime Minister]]
+|leader_name2 = [[Arseniy Yatsenyuk]]
+|leader_title3 = [[Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada|Chairman of Parliament]]
+|leader_name3 = [[Volodymyr Groysman]]
+|legislature = [[Verkhovna Rada]]
+|sovereignty_type = [[History of Ukraine|Formation]]
+|established_event1 = [[Kievan Rus']]
+|established_date1 = 882
+|established_event2 = {{nowrap|[[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia|Kingdom of<br />Galicia–Volhynia]]}}
+|established_date2 = 1199
+|established_event3 = {{nowrap|[[Cossack Hetmanate|Zaporizhian Host]]}}
+|established_date3 = 17 August 1649
+|established_event4 = [[Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukrainian National Republic]]
+|established_date4 = 7 November 1917
+|established_event5 = [[West Ukrainian People's Republic|West Ukrainian National Republic]]
+|established_date5 = 1 November 1918
+|established_event6 = [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]
+|established_date6 = 10 March 1919
+|established_event7 = [[Carpatho-Ukraine]]
+|established_date7 = 8 October 1938
+|established_event8 = {{nowrap|[[Soviet annexation of Western Ukraine, 1939–1940|Soviet annexation<br />of Western Ukraine]]}}
+|established_date8 = 15 November 1939
+|established_event9 = {{nowrap|[[Declaration of Ukrainian Independence, 1941|Declaration of<br />Ukrainian Independence]]}}
+|established_date9 = 30 June 1941
+|established_event10 = {{nowrap|[[Declaration of Independence of Ukraine|Independence from<br />the Soviet Union]]}}
+|established_date10 = 24 August 1991<sup>a</sup>
+|area_rank = 46th
+|area_magnitude = 1 E11
+|area_km2 = 603,500<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=UKRAINE|title=UNdata - country profile - Ukraine|publisher=}}</ref>
+|area_sq_mi = or 233,013<!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
+|percent_water = 7
+|population_estimate = 44,291,413<ref name="pop">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html |title=People and Society: Ukraine |publisher=CIA World Factbook |accessdate=18 July 2014}}</ref>
+|population_estimate_year = 2014
+|population_estimate_rank = 32nd
+|population_census = 48,457,102<ref name="Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census"/>
+|population_census_year = 2001
+|population_density_km2 = 73.8
+|population_density_sq_mi = 191 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
+|population_density_rank = 115th
+|GDP_PPP_year = 2015
+|GDP_PPP = $353.3 billion<ref name=imf1>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2015&ey=2020&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=55&pr1.y=7&c=926&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a= |title= Report for Selected Countries and Subjects |work = World Economic Outlook Database, October 2014|publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |date = April 2015 |accessdate= 14 April 2014}}</ref> <!--Do not use CIA factbook as source!-->
+|GDP_PPP_rank =
+|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $8,277<ref name=imf1/> <!--Do not use CIA factbook as source!-->
+|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank =
+|GDP_nominal = $85.4 billion<ref name=imf1/> <!--Do not use CIA factbook as source!-->
+|GDP_nominal_rank =
+|GDP_nominal_year = 2015
+|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $2,001<ref name=imf1/> <!--Do not use CIA factbook as source!-->
+|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank =
+|Gini_year = 2010
+|Gini_change = <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
+|Gini = 25.6 <!--number only-->
+|Gini_ref = <ref name=WB1>{{cite web |url= http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI |title= Gini index |publisher=[[World Bank]] |accessdate= 26 March 2013}}</ref>
+|Gini_rank =
+|HDI_year = 2013 <!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
+|HDI_change = steady<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
+|HDI = 0.734 <!--number only-->
+|HDI_ref = <ref name=HDI>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-en.pdf |title=2014 Human Development Report |date=14 March 2013 |accessdate=27 July 2014 | pages=21–25}}</ref>
+|HDI_rank = 83rd
+|currency = [[Ukrainian hryvnia]]
+|currency_code = UAH
+|country_code = UKR
+|time_zone = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
+|utc_offset = +2<ref name="timechange">{{cite web |url=http://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/1273613-rishennya-radi-ukrayina-30-zhovtnya-perejde-na-zimovij-chas |title=Рішення Ради: Україна 30 жовтня перейде на зимовий час " Події " Україна " Кореспондент |publisher=Ua.korrespondent.net |accessdate=31 October 2011}}</ref>
+|time_zone_DST = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
+|utc_offset_DST = +3
+|drives_on = [[Right- and left-hand traffic|right]]
+|calling_code = [[Telephone numbers in Ukraine|+380]]
+|cctld = {{unbulleted list |[[.ua]] |[[.укр]]}}
+|footnote_a = An [[Ukrainian independence referendum, 1991|independence referendum]] was held on 1 December, after which Ukrainian independence was finalized on 26 December. The [[Constitution of Ukraine|current constitution]] was adopted on 28 June 1996.
+}}
+{{Contains Cyrillic text}}
+'''Ukraine''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Ukraine.ogg|juː|ˈ|k|r|eɪ|n}}; {{lang-uk|Україна}}, [[Romanization of Ukrainian|transliterated]]: {{lang|uk-Latn|''Ukrayina''}} (or {{lang|uk-Latn|''Ukraina''}}), {{IPA-uk|ukrɑˈjinɑ|}}) is a country in [[Eastern Europe]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html | title=The World Factbook – Ukraine | publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] | date=7 January 2014 | accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> It has an area of {{convert|603628|km²|0|abbr=on}}, making it the largest [[country]] entirely within [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite book|url= http://books.google.com/?id=owsHh0v-QT4C&pg=PA345&dq=second+largest+European+country+after+%22Russian+federation%22#v=onepage&q=second%20largest%20European%20country%20after%20%22Russian%20federation%22&f=false|title= Global Clinical Trials |authorlink=Richard Chin |author=Chin, Richard |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |year=2011 |isbn=0-12-381537-1 |page=345}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= http://books.google.com/?id=JXPK9Qp8Yu8C&pg=PT88&dq=Ukraine+second+largest+country+Europe+after+Russia#v=onepage&q=Ukraine%20second%20largest%20country%20Europe%20after%20Russia&f=false |title= Future of Google Earth |authorlink=Chandler Evans |author=Evans, Chandler |publisher=BookSurge |year=2008 |isbn= 1-4196-8903-7 |page=174}}</ref><ref name="UKRCONSUL">{{cite web |title= Basic facts about Ukraine |url= http://www.ukrconsul.org/BASIC_FACTS.htm |publisher=Ukrainian consul in NY |accessdate=10 November 2010}}</ref> Ukraine [[State Border of Ukraine|borders]] [[Russia]] to the east and northeast, [[Belarus]] to the northwest, [[Poland]] and [[Slovakia]] to the west, [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], and [[Moldova]] to the southwest, and the [[Black Sea]] and [[Sea of Azov]] to the south and southeast, respectively.
+
+The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. During the [[Middle Ages]], the area was a key center of [[List of Slavic cultures|East Slavic culture]], with the powerful state of [[Kievan Rus']] forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including [[Lithuania]], Poland, the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Austro-Hungary]], and Russia. A [[Cossack Hetmanate|Cossack republic]] emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but Ukraine's territories remained divided until they were consolidated into a [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet republic]] in the 20th century. It became [[Sovereign state|independent]] in 1991 following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].
+
+Ukraine has long been a global [[breadbasket]] because of its extensive, fertile farmlands, and it remains one of the world's largest [[Grain trade|grain exporters]].<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.blackseagrain.net/data/news/ukraine-becomes-worlds-third-biggest-grain-exporter-in-2011-minister |title=Ukraine becomes world's third biggest grain exporter in 2011 – minister |publisher=Black Sea Grain |date=20 January 2012 |accessdate=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/wtr13_e.htm |title=World Trade Report 2013|publisher=World Trade Organisation |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> The diversified [[economy of Ukraine]] includes a large [[heavy industry]] sector, particularly in aerospace and industrial equipment.
+
+Ukraine is a [[unitary state|unitary republic]] under a [[semi-presidential system]] with [[Separation of powers|separate powers]]: [[Legislature|legislative]], [[executive branch|executive]], and [[judicial]] branches. Its capital and largest city is [[Kiev]]. Ukraine maintains the second-largest [[Military of Ukraine|military]] in Europe, after that of Russia, when reserves and paramilitary personnel are taken into account.<ref>[[#IISS2010|IISS 2010]], pp. 195–197</ref> The country is home to 45.4 million people (including [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea|Crimea]]),<ref name="pop"/><ref>[http://countryeconomy.com/demography/population/ukraine country Economy] 2014 demographics</ref> 77.8% of whom are [[Ukrainians]] by ethnicity, followed by a sizable minority of [[Russians]] (17%) as well as [[Romanians]]/[[Moldovans]], [[Belarusians]], [[Crimean Tatars]], and [[Hungarians]]. [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] is the [[official language]] of Ukraine; its alphabet is [[Ukrainian alphabet|Cyrillic]]. The dominant religion in the country is [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]], which has strongly influenced [[Ukrainian architecture]], [[Ukrainian literature|literature]] and [[Music of Ukraine|music]].
+
+==Etymology==
+There are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the [[name of Ukraine|name ''Ukraine'']]. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means "borderland",<ref>{{cite news|author=Stay informed today and every day |url=http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/02/linguistic-divides |title=Linguistic divides: Johnson: Is there a single Ukraine? |publisher=Economist.com |date=5 February 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref> while more recently some linguistic studies claim a different meaning: "homeland" or "region, country".<ref>[http://litopys.org.ua/pivtorak/pivtorak.htm Походження українців, росіян, білорусів та їхніх мов] {{uk icon}}</ref> "The Ukraine" was once the usual form in English<ref name="merriam-webster">{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ukraine|title=Ukraine – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary|accessdate=4 May 2012}}</ref> but since the [[Declaration of Independence of Ukraine]], "the Ukraine" has become much less common in the [[English-speaking world]], and style-guides largely recommend not using the definite [[Article (grammar)|article]].<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ukraine-isnt-the-ukraine-and-why-that-matters-now-2013-12 Why Ukraine Isn't 'The Ukraine,' And Why That Matters Now], [[Business Insider]] (9 December 2013)</ref><ref name=UKrW812991TU>[http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/499102.shtml The "the" is gone], ''[[The Ukrainian Weekly]]'' (8 December 1991)</ref>
+
+==History==
+{{Main|History of Ukraine}}
+
+===Early history===
+[[File:Фрагменты Пекторали.jpg|right|thumb|Gold [[Scythia]]n pectoral, or neckpiece, from a royal [[kurgan]] in [[Ordzhonikidze, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Ordzhonikidze]], dated to the 4th century BC]]
+
+[[Neanderthal]] settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites (43,000–45,000 BC) which include a mammoth bone dwelling.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8963177/Neanderthals-built-homes-with-mammoth-bones.html |title=Neanderthals built homes with mammoth bones |work=[[Daily Telegraph]] |location= London |date=18 December 2011 |author= Gray, Richard |accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/g/molodova.htm|title=Molodova I and V (Ukraine)|author=K. Kris Hirst|work=About}}</ref> The territory is also considered to be the likely location for the human [[domestication of the horse]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120507154107.htm | title=Mystery of the domestication of the horse solved: Competing theories reconciled | publisher=www.sciencedaily (sourced from the University of Cambridge) | date=7 May 2012 | accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref><ref>Matossian ''Shaping World History'' p. 43</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://imh.org/index.php/legacy-of-the-horse-full-story/the-domestication-of-the-horse/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-did-domestication-occur |archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20130723111211/http://imh.org/index.php/legacy-of-the-horse-full-story/the-domestication-of-the-horse/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-did-domestication-occur |archivedate=23 July 2013 |title=What We Theorize – When and Where Did Domestication Occur |accessdate=12 December 2010 |work=International Museum of the Horse }}</ref><ref name="cbc.ca">{{cite news |title=Horsey-aeology, Binary Black Holes, Tracking Red Tides, Fish Re-evolution, Walk Like a Man, Fact or Fiction |url=http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/03/07/horsey-aeology-binary-black-holes-tracking-red-tides-fish-re-evolution-walk-like-a-man-fact-or-ficti/ |archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20141007100308/http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/03/07/horsey-aeology-binary-black-holes-tracking-red-tides-fish-re-evolution-walk-like-a-man-fact-or-ficti/ |archivedate=7 October 2014|work=Quirks and Quarks Podcast with Bob Macdonald |publisher= CBC Radio |date=7 March 2009|accessdate=18 September 2010}}</ref>
+
+Modern human settlement in Ukraine and its vicinity dates back to 32,000 BC, with evidence of the [[Gravettian culture]] in the [[Crimean Mountains]].<ref name=orig>{{cite news | url = http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020834 | title = The Oldest Anatomically Modern Humans from Far Southeast Europe: Direct Dating, Culture and Behavior | first1 = Sandrine | last1= Prat | first2= Stéphane C. | last2= Péan | first3= Laurent | last3= Crépin | first4 =Dorothée G. |last4= Drucker | first5 =Simon J. | last5= Puaud | first6 =Hélène | last6=Valladas | first7= Martina |last7 =Lázničková-Galetová | first8 =Johannes | last8 =van der Plicht | first9= Alexander | last9= Yanevich |date = 17 June 2011 | publisher = plosone | accessdate =21 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{cite news | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13846262 | title = Early human fossils unearthed in Ukraine | first = Jennifer | last = Carpenter |date = 20 June 2011 |publisher=BBC | accessdate =21 June 2011}}</ref> By 4,500 BC, the [[Neolithic]] [[Cucuteni-Trypillian culture|Cucuteni-Trypillian Culture]] flourished in a wide area that included parts of modern Ukraine including [[Trypillia]] and the entire [[Dnieper]]-[[Dniester]] region. During the [[Iron Age]], the land was inhabited by [[Cimmerians]], [[Scythians]], and [[Sarmatians]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066426|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20070930012558/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066426|archivedate=30 September 2007|title=Scythian|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref> Between 700&nbsp;BC and 200&nbsp;BC it was part of the Scythian Kingdom, or [[Scythia]].
+
+Later, colonies of [[Ancient Greece]], [[Ancient Rome]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]], such as [[Tyras]], [[Olbia, Ukraine|Olbia]] and [[Chersonesus]], were founded, beginning in the 6th&nbsp;century BC, on the northeastern shore of the [[Black Sea]], and thrived well into the 6th&nbsp;century AD. The [[Goths]] stayed in the area but came under the sway of the [[Huns]] from the 370s AD. In the 7th&nbsp;century AD, the territory of eastern Ukraine was the centre of [[Old Great Bulgaria]]. At the end of the century, the majority of Bulgar tribes migrated in different directions, and the [[Khazars]] took over much of the land.
+
+===Golden Age of Kiev===
+<!-- 800–1349 -->
+{{Main|Kievan Rus'}}
+[[File:Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132).jpg|thumbnail|left|Principalities of [[Kievan Rus']], 1054-1132]]
+[[File:Vasnetsov Bapt Vladimir.jpg|thumb|right|The baptism of the Grand Prince Vladimir led to the adoption of Christianity in [[Kievan Rus']].]]
+The Kievan Rus' was founded by the [[Rus' people]], who settled around [[Staraya Ladoga|Ladoga]] and [[Novgorod]], then gradually moved southward eventually reaching Kiev about 880. Kievan Rus' included the western part of modern Ukraine, and [[Belarus]]. The larger part was on the territory of the modern Russian Federation. According to the ''[[Primary Chronicle]]'' the Rus' elite initially consisted of [[Varangian]]s from [[Scandinavia]].
+
+During the 10th and 11th&nbsp;centuries, it became the largest and most powerful state in Europe.<ref name=cia>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html|title=Ukraine|accessdate=24 December 2007|date=13 December 2007|work=[[CIA World Factbook]]}}</ref> It laid the foundation for the national identity of Ukrainians and Russians.<ref name="Columbia">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia|edition=6| year=2001–2007|article=Kievan Rus|url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/ki/KievanRu.html|accessdate=8 January 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722102058/http://www.bartleby.com/65/ki/KievanRu.html|archivedate=22 July 2008}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref> [[Kiev]], the capital of modern Ukraine, became the most important city of the Rus'.
+
+The Varangians later assimilated into the Slavic population and became part of the first Rus' dynasty, the [[Rurik dynasty|Rurik Dynasty]].<ref name="Columbia"/> Kievan Rus' was composed of several [[principality|principalities]] ruled by the interrelated Rurikid ''[[knyaz]]es'' ("princes"), who often fought each other for possession of Kiev.
+
+The Golden Age of Kievan Rus' began with the reign of [[Vladimir the Great]] (980–1015), who [[Christianization of Kievan Rus'|turned Rus' toward Byzantine Christianity]]. During the reign of his son, [[Yaroslav the Wise]] (1019–1054), Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural development and military power.<ref name="Columbia"/> The state soon fragmented as the relative importance of regional powers rose again. After a final resurgence under the rule of [[Vladimir II Monomakh]] (1113–1125) and his son [[Mstislav I of Kiev|Mstislav]] (1125–1132), Kievan Rus' finally disintegrated into separate principalities following Mstislav's death.
+
+The 13th century [[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongol invasion]] devastated Kievan Rus'. Kiev was totally [[Siege of Kiev (1240)|destroyed in 1240]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/4.PEAS/4.L/12.III.5.html|title=The Destruction of Kiev|accessdate=3 January 2008|work=University of Toronto's Research Repository}}</ref> On today's Ukrainian territory, the principalities of [[Principality of Halych|Halych]] and [[Volhynia|Volodymyr-Volynskyi]] arose, and were merged into the state of [[Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia|Galicia-Volhynia]].
+
+[[Daniel of Galicia|Danylo Romanovych]] (Daniel I of Galicia or Danylo Halytskyi) son of [[Roman the Great|Roman Mstyslavych]], re-united all of south-western Rus', including Volhynia, Galicia and Rus' ancient capital of Kiev. Danylo was crowned by the [[Pope|papal]] [[archbishop]] in [[Drohiczyn|Dorohychyn]] 1253 as the first [[Monarch|King]] of all Rus'. Under Danylo's reign, the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia was one of the most powerful states in east central Europe.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9362238/Daniel-Romanovich "Daniel Romanovich"].Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 23 August 2007</ref>
+
+=== Foreign domination ===
+<!-- 1349–1914 -->
+{{See also|Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Crimean Khanate|Ottoman Empire|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Russian Empire}}
+[[File:Rzeczpospolita2nar.png|thumb|left|In the centuries following the [[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongol invasion]], much of Ukraine was controlled by Lithuania (from the 14th&nbsp;century on) and since the [[Union of Lublin]] (1569) was included in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] as of 1619, seen in this outline.]]
+
+In the mid-14th&nbsp;century, upon the death of [[Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia]], king [[Casimir III of Poland]] initiated campaigns (1340–1366) to take Galicia-Volhynia. Meanwhile the heartland of Rus', including Kiev, became the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, ruled by [[Gediminas]] and his successors, after the [[Battle on the Irpen' River]]. Following the 1386 [[Union of Krewo]], a [[dynastic union]] between Poland and Lithuania, much of what became northern Ukraine was ruled by the increasingly Slavicised local Lithuanian nobles as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and by 1392 the so-called [[Galicia–Volhynia Wars]] ended. Polish colonisers of depopulated lands in northern and central Ukraine founded or refounded many towns. In 1430 [[Podolia]] was incorporated under the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland as [[Podolian Voivodeship]]. In 1441, in the southern Ukraine, especially Crimea and surrounding steppes, [[Genghisid]] prince [[Haci I Giray]] founded the Crimean Khanate.
+[[File:BChmielnicki.jpg|upright|right|thumb|[[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], "[[Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks|Hetman]] of Ukraine", established an independent Ukraine after the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising|uprising]] in 1648 against [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland]].]]
+[[File:Location of Cossack Hetmanate.png|thumb|right|The [[Cossack Hetmanate]] is considered as a direct ancestor of today's Ukraine.]]
+
+In 1569 the [[Union of Lublin]] established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and much Ukrainian territory was transferred from Lithuania to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, becoming Polish territory de jure. Under the demographic, cultural and political pressure of [[Polonisation]] begun already in the late 14th century, many landed gentry of Polish [[Ruthenia]] (another name for the land of Rus) converted to Catholicism and became indistinguishable from the [[Polish nobility]].<ref>Subtelny, pp. 92–93</ref> Deprived of native protectors among Rus nobility, the commoners (peasants and townspeople) began turning for protection to the emerging [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]], who by the 17th century became devoutly [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]]. The Cossacks did not shy from taking up arms against those they perceived as enemies, including the Polish state and its local representatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-28237|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20071011213405/http://britannica.com/eb/article-28237|archivedate=11 October 2007|title=Poland|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref>
+
+Formed from [[Golden Horde]] territory conquered after the [[Mongol invasion#European vassals|Mongol invasion]] the [[Crimean Khanate]] was one of the strongest powers in Eastern Europe until the 18th century; in 1571 it even [[Russo-Crimean War (1571)|captured and devastated Moscow]].<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Brian Glyn Williams]] |title=The Sultan’s Raiders: The Military Role of the Crimean Tatars in the Ottoman Empire |url=http://www.jamestown.org/uploads/media/Crimean_Tatar_-_complete_report_01.pdf |work=[[The Jamestown Foundation]]|year=2013|page=16}}</ref> The borderlands suffered annual [[Crimean-Nogai raids into East Slavic lands|Tatar invasions]]. From the beginning of the 16th century until the end of the 17th century, Crimean Tatar [[slave raiding]] bands<ref>[http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html Halil Inalcik. "Servile Labour in the Ottoman Empire"] in A. Ascher, B. K. Kiraly, and T. Halasi-Kun (eds), The Mutual Effects of the Islamic and Judeo-Christian Worlds: The East European Pattern, Brooklyn College, 1979, pp. 25–43.</ref> exported about 2 million slaves from Russia and Ukraine.<ref>Darjusz Kołodziejczyk, as reported by {{cite web |author=Mikhail Kizilov |title=Slaves, Money Lenders, and Prisoner Guards: The Jews and the Trade in Slaves and Captives in the Crimean Khanate |url=http://www.academia.edu/3706285/Slaves_Money_Lenders_and_Prisoner_Guards_The_Jews_and_the_Trade_in_Slaves_and_Captives_in_the_Crimean_Khanate |work=The Journal of Jewish Studies|year=2007|page=2}}</ref> According to [[Orest Subtelny]], "from 1450 to 1586, eighty-six [[Tatar invasions|Tatar raids]] were recorded, and from 1600 to 1647, seventy."<ref>Subtelny, Orest (1988). "''[http://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC&pg=PA106&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Ukraine: a history.]''". p 106</ref> In 1688, Tatars captured a record number of 60,000 Ukrainians.<ref>Junius P. Rodriguez (1997). "''[http://books.google.com/books?id=ATq5_6h2AT0C&pg=&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false The Historical encyclopedia of world slavery]''". ABC-CLIO. p. 659. ISBN 0-87436-885-5</ref> The Tatar raids took a heavy toll, discouraging settlement in more southerly regions where the soil was better and the growing season was longer.  The last remnant of the Crimean Khanate was finally conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mikhail Kizilov |title=Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea From the Perspective of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources |url=http://www.academia.edu/2971600/Slave_Trade_in_the_Early_Modern_Crimea_From_the_Perspective_of_Christian_Muslim_and_Jewish_Sources |work=Oxford University}}</ref> The [[Taurida Governorate]] was formed to govern this territory.
+
+In the mid-17th&nbsp;century, a Cossack military quasi-state, the [[Zaporozhian Host]], was formed by [[Dnieper Cossacks]] and by Ruthenian peasants who had fled Polish [[serfdom]].<ref name="zaporizhia">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\Z\A\ZaporizhiaThe.htm|title=Zaporizhia, The|accessdate=16 December 2007|author=Krupnytsky B. and Zhukovsky A.|work=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]}}</ref> Poland exercised little real control over this population, but found the Cossacks to be a useful opposing force to the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] and [[Crimean Khanate|Tatars]],<ref name=britcos/> and at times the two were allies in [[Ottoman wars in Europe|military campaigns]].<ref>"[http://www2.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~areastd/mediterranean/mw/pdf/18/10.pdf The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves]" (PDF). Eizo Matsuki, ''Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University.''</ref> However the continued harsh [[serf|enserfment]] of peasantry by Polish nobility and especially the suppression of the Orthodox Church alienated the Cossacks.<ref name=britcos>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20071011213409/http://britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine|archivedate=11 October 2007|title=Ukraine – The Cossacks|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref>
+
+The Cossacks sought representation in the Polish [[Sejm generalny|Sejm]], recognition of Orthodox traditions, and the gradual expansion of the [[Registered Cossacks|Cossack Registry]]. These were rejected by the Polish nobility, who dominated the Sejm.
+
+In 1648, [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] and [[Petro Doroshenko]] led the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising|largest of the Cossack uprisings]] against the Commonwealth and the Polish king [[John II Casimir]].<ref>Subtelny, pp. 123–124</ref>
+
+=== The Ruin ===
+{{main|The Ruin (Ukrainian history)}}
+[[File:Marten's Poltava.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Poltava]] in 1709, as depicted by [[Denis Martens the Younger]], 1726]]
+[[File:Kirill Razumovsky Tokke.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Kyrylo Rozumovskyi]], the last Hetman of left- and right-bank Ukraine 1750–1764 and the first person to declare Ukraine to be a sovereign state.]]
+
+In 1657–1686 came "[[The Ruin (Ukrainian history)|The Ruin]]", a devastating 30-year war amongst Russia, Poland, Turks and Cossacks for control of Ukraine, which occurred at about the same time as the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]] of Poland. Khmelnytsky, deserted by his Tatar allies, suffered a crushing [[Battle of Berestechko|defeat at Berestechko]], and turned to the Russian tsar for help. In 1654, Khmelnytsky signed the [[Treaty of Pereyaslav]], forming a military and political alliance with Russia that acknowledged loyalty to the tsar. The wars escalated in intensity with hundreds of thousands of deaths. Defeat came in 1686 as the "[[Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686|Eternal Peace]]" between Russia and Poland divided the Ukrainian lands between them.
+[[File:Pylyp-orlyk-constitution-1710.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The first page of the [[Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk|Bendery Constitution]]. This copy in Latin was probably penned by Hetman [[Pylyp Orlyk]]. The original is kept in the [[National Archives of Sweden]].]]
+
+In 1709, Cossack Hetman [[Ivan Mazepa]] (1639–1709) defected to [[Sweden]] against Russia in the [[Great Northern War]] (1700–1721). Eventually Peter recognized that to consolidate and modernize Russia's political and economic power it was necessary to do away with the [[Cossack Hetmanate|hetmanate]] and Ukrainian and Cossack aspirations to autonomy. Mazepa died in exile after fleeing from the [[Battle of Poltava]] (1709), where the Swedes and their Cossack allies suffered a catastrophic defeat.
+
+The [[Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk]] or Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhian Host was a 1710 constitutional document written by [[Hetman]] [[Pylyp Orlyk]], a [[Cossack]] of Ukraine, then within the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/63202/ "300th anniversary of first Ukrainian constitution written by Pylyp Orlyk being celebrated"], ''[[Kyiv Post]]'', (5 April 2010)</ref>
+
+It established a standard for the [[separation of power]]s in government between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches, well before the publication of [[Montesquieu]]'s [[The Spirit of the Laws|''Spirit of the Laws'']]. The Constitution limited the executive authority of the hetman, and established a democratically elected [[Cossack]] parliament called the General Council. Pylyp Orlyk's [[Constitution]] was unique for its historic period, and was one of the first state constitutions in Europe.
+
+The hetmanate was abolished in 1764; the [[Zaporizhian Sich|Zaporizhska Sich]] abolished in 1775, as Russia centralised control over its lands. As part of the [[Partitions of Poland|partitioning of Poland]] in 1772, 1793 and 1795, the Ukrainian lands west of the Dnieper were divided between Russia and Austria. From 1737 to 1834, expansion into the northern Black Sea littoral and the eastern [[Danube]] valley was a cornerstone of Russian foreign policy.
+
+Lithuanians and Poles controlled vast estates in Ukraine, and were a law unto themselves. Judicial rulings from [[Cracow]] were routinely flouted, while peasants were heavily taxed and practically tied to the land as [[serf]]s. Occasionally the landowners battled each other using armies of Ukrainian peasants. The Poles and Lithuanians were Roman Catholics and tried with some success to convert the Orthodox lesser nobility. In 1596, they set up the "Greek-Catholic" or [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Uniate Church]]; it dominates western Ukraine to this day. Religious differentiation left the Ukrainian Orthodox peasants leaderless, as they were reluctant to follow the Ukrainian nobles.<ref>Reid (2000) p 27–30</ref>
+
+Cossacks led an uprising, called [[Koliyivschyna|Koliivshchyna]], starting in the Ukrainian borderlands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1768. Ethnicity was one root cause of this revolt, which included Ukrainian [[Massacre of Uman|violence]] that killed tens of thousands of Poles and Jews. Religious warfare also broke out among Ukrainian groups. Increasing conflict between Uniate and Orthodox parishes along the newly reinforced Polish-Russian border on the Dnepr River in the time of [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] set the stage for the uprising. As Uniate religious practices had become more Latinized, Orthodoxy in this region drew even closer into dependence on the Russian Orthodox Church. Confessional tensions also reflected opposing Polish and Russian political allegiances.<ref>Barbara Skinner, "Borderlands of Faith: Reconsidering the Origins of a Ukrainian Tragedy." ''Slavic Review'' 2005 64(1): 88–116. Fulltext: in [http://www.jstor.org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/00376779/sp060001/06x0162f/0 Jstor]</ref>
+
+After the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire]] in 1783, [[New Russia]] was settled by Ukrainians and Russians.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30071/Ukraine-under-direct-imperial-Russian-rule Ukraine under direct imperial Russian rule]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica.''</ref> Despite promises in the Treaty of Pereyaslav, the Ukrainian elite and the Cossacks never received the freedoms and the autonomy they were expecting. However, within the Empire, Ukrainians rose to the highest Russian state and [[Russian Orthodox Church|church]] offices.{{Ref label|A|a|none}} At a later period, [[tsarist]]s established a policy of [[Russification]], suppressing the use of the Ukrainian language in print and in public.<ref name=censor>{{cite journal|last=Remy|first=Johannes|title=The Valuev Circular and Censorship of Ukrainian Publications in the Russian Empire (1863–1876): Intention and Practice|journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes|date=March–June 2007|volume=47|pages=87–110|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40871165|publisher=Canadian Association of Slavists}}</ref>
+
+===19th century, World War I and revolution===
+{{Main|Ukrainian War of Independence}}
+{{Further|Ukraine during World War I|Russian Civil War|Ukraine after the Russian Revolution}}
+[[File:1904 Map showing Ukraine region before unification.pdf|thumb|1904 map showing separate countries of Little Russia, South Russia and West Russia prior to unification into Ukraine.]][[File:Ukrainian State 1918.5-11.png|right|thumbnail|Ukraine in 1918]]
+In the 19th century, Ukraine was a rural area largely ignored by Russia and Austria. With growing urbanization and modernization, and a cultural trend toward [[romantic nationalism]], a Ukrainian [[intelligentsia]] committed to national rebirth and social justice emerged. The serf-turned-national-poet [[Taras Shevchenko]] (1814–1861) and the political theorist [[Mykhailo Drahomanov]] (1841–1895) led the growing nationalist movement.
+
+After Ukraine and Crimea became aligned with the Russian Empire in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)]], [[Catherine the Great]] and her immediate successors encouraged German immigration into Ukraine and especially [[Crimea Germans|into Crimea]], to thin the previously dominant Turk population and encourage more complete use of farmland.
+
+Beginning in the 19th century, there was a continuous migration from Ukraine to settle the distant areas of the Russian Empire. According to the 1897 census, there were 223,000 ethnic Ukrainians in [[Siberia]] and 102,000 in [[Central Asia]].<ref>Rainer Münz, Rainer Ohliger (2003). "''[http://books.google.com/books?id=xGV6gb0w914C&pg=&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Diasporas and ethnic migrants: German, Israel, and post-Soviet successor ]''". Routledge. p. 164. ISBN 0-7146-5232-6</ref> An additional 1.6 million emigrated to the east in the ten years after the opening of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] in 1906.<ref>Subtelny, Orest (2000). "''[http://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC&pg=&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Ukraine: a history.]''". University of Toronto Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0</ref>
+
+Nationalist and socialist parties developed in the late 19th century. Austrian [[Galicia (eastern Europe)|Galicia]], which enjoyed substantial political freedom under the relatively lenient rule of the [[Habsburgs]], became the center of the nationalist movement.
+
+Ukrainians entered [[World War I]] on the side of both the [[Central Powers]], under Austria, and the [[Triple Entente]], under Russia. 3.5 million Ukrainians fought with the [[Military history of Imperial Russia|Imperial Russian Army]], while 250,000 fought for the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Ukraine: A History|author=[[Orest Subtelny|Subtelny, Orest]]|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=2000|isbn=0-8020-8390-0|pages=340–344}}</ref> During the war, [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] authorities established the Ukrainian Legion to fight against the Russian Empire. This legion was the foundation of the [[Ukrainian Galician Army]] that fought against the Bolsheviks and Poles in the post-World War I period (1919–23). Those suspected of Russophile sentiments in Austria were treated harshly. Thousands were detained and placed in Austrian internment camps.<ref>{{cite web |last=Horbal |first=Bogdan |title=Talerhof |url=http://www.rusyn.org/histalerhof.html|accessdate=20 January 2008|publisher=The world academy of Rusyn culture}}</ref>
+
+World War I brought about the end of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. The [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] ended the Russia empire, led to the founding of the Soviet Union under the [[Bolshevik]]s, and subsequent [[civil war in Russia]]. A Ukrainian national movement for self-determination reemerged, with heavy Communist and Socialist influence. During 1917–20, several separate Ukrainian states briefly emerged: the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], the [[Ukrainian State|Hetmanate]], the [[Directorate of Ukraine|Directorate]] and the pro-Bolshevik [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (or Soviet Ukraine) successively established territories in the former Russian Empire; while the [[West Ukrainian People's Republic]] and the [[Hutsul Republic]] emerged briefly in the former Austro-Hungarian territory. This led to civil war, and an anarchist movement called the [[The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine|Black Army]] led by [[Nestor Makhno]], developed in Southern Ukraine during that war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\M\A\MakhnoNestor.htm |title=Makhno, Nestor|author=Cipko, Serge|accessdate=17 January 2008|work=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>
+
+Poland defeated Western Ukraine in the [[Polish-Ukrainian War]], but failed against the Bolsheviks in [[Kiev Offensive (1920)|an offensive against Kiev]]. According to the [[Peace of Riga]], western Ukraine was officially incorporated into Poland, which in turn recognised the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in March 1919. With establishment of the Soviet power, Ukraine lost half of its territory: the [[eastern Galicia]] was given to Poland, [[Pripyat marshes]] region – to Belarus, half of [[Sloboda Ukraine]] and northern fringes of [[Severia]] were passed to Russia, while on the left bank of [[Dniester]] River was created Moldavian autonomy. Ukraine became a founding member of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] or the Soviet Union in December 1922.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine|title=Interwar Soviet Ukraine|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref>
+
+===Western Ukraine, Carpathian Ruthenia and Bukovina===
+[[File:Huculy 1933, Verkhovyna district.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Hutsuls]], living in [[Verkhovyna]], c. 1930]]
+{{see also|Ruthenians and Ukrainians in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938)}}
+The war in Ukraine continued for another two years; by 1921, however, most of Ukraine had been taken over by the Soviet Union, while Galicia and Volhynia (West Ukraine) were incorporated into independent Poland. [[Bukovina]] was annexed by Romania and [[Carpathian Ruthenia]] was admitted to the [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovak Republic]] as an autonomy.
+
+A powerful underground Ukrainian nationalist movement arose in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s due to Polish national policies, which was led by the Ukrainian Military Organization and the [[Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists|Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN)]]. The movement attracted a militant following among students. Hostilities between Polish state authorities and the popular movement led to a substantial number of fatalities, and the autonomy which had been promised was never implemented. A number of Ukrainian parties, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, an active press, and a business sector existed in Poland. Economic conditions improved in the 1920s, but the region suffered from the Great Depression in the 1930s.
+
+=== Inter-war Soviet Ukraine ===
+[[File:Национальный состав населения городов УССР в 1925.gif|thumb|City population of Ukraine in 1925 (green Ukrainians, beige Russians and black Jews)]]
+{{see also|Ukrainian famine}}
+<!-- 1922–1939 -->
+The [[Russian Civil War]] devastated the whole [[Russian Empire]] including Ukraine. It left over 1.5 million people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless in the former Russian Empire territory. Soviet Ukraine also faced the [[Russian famine of 1921]] (primarily affecting the Russian [[Volga Region|Volga]]-[[Ural (region)|Ural]] region).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.volgagermans.net/norka/famine_1920s.html|title=The Famine of 1920-1924
+|work=The Norka - a German Colony in Russia|accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CF%5CA%5CFamineof1921hD73.htm|title=Famine of 1921–3|publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]|accessdate=3 March 2015}}</ref> During the 1920s,<ref>Subtelny, p. 380</ref> under the Ukrainisation policy pursued by the national Communist leadership of [[Mykola Skrypnyk]], Soviet leadership encouraged a national renaissance in the [[Culture of Ukraine|Ukrainian culture]] and [[Ukrainian language|language]]. [[Ukrainisation]] was part of the Soviet-wide policy of [[Korenisation]] (literally ''indigenisation'').<ref name=Britannica/> The Bolsheviks were also committed to [[universal health care]], education and social-security benefits, as well as the right to work and housing.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572241_2/communism.html|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kx6hBveb|archivedate=1 November 2009|title=Communism|accessdate=5 July 2008|work=MSN Encarta}}</ref> [[Women's rights]] were greatly increased through new laws.<ref>Cliff, pp. 138–39</ref> Most of these policies were sharply reversed by the early 1930s after [[Joseph Stalin]] became the ''de facto'' communist party leader.
+
+[[File:Khrushchev and Brezhnev.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Two future leaders of the [[Soviet Union]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (pre-war [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] chief in Ukraine) and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] (an engineer from [[Dniprodzerzhynsk]]) depicted together.]]
+
+Starting from the late 1920s, Ukraine was involved in [[Industrialization in the USSR|Soviet industrialisation]] and the republic's industrial output quadrupled during the 1930s.<ref name=Britannica/> The peasantry suffered from the [[Collectivisation in the USSR|programme of collectivisation]] of agriculture enforced by regular troops and [[Cheka|secret police]].<ref name=Britannica/> Those who resisted were [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|arrested and deported]] and agricultural productivity greatly declined. As members of the collective farms were not allowed to receive any grain until sometimes unrealistic quotas were met, millions starved to death in a [[Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union|famine]] known as [[Holodomor]] or "Great Famine".<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7111296.stm Ukraine remembers famine horror]". BBC News. 24 November 2007.</ref>
+
+[[File:DneproGES.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dnieper Hydroelectric Station]] under construction circa 1930.]]
+
+{{Ref label|C|c|1}} Scholars are divided as to whether this famine fits the definition of [[genocide]], but the [[Ukrainian parliament]] and other countries have declared it as such.{{Ref label|C|c|2}}
+The Communist leadership perceived famine as a means of class struggle and used starvation as a punishment tool to force peasants into collective farms.<ref>Michael Ellman, "The Role of Leadership Perceptions and of Intent in the Soviet Famine of 1931–1934." ''Europe-Asia Studies'' 2005 57(6): 823–841. {{ISSN|0966-8136}} Fulltext in [[Ebsco]]</ref>
+
+Largely the same groups were responsible for the mass killing operations during the civil war, collectivisation, and the [[Great Purge|Great Terror]]. These groups were associated with [[Yefim Yevdokimov]] (1891–1939) and operated in the Secret Operational Division within General State Political Administration ([[State Political Directorate|OGPU]]) in 1929–31.  Evdokimov transferred into Communist Party administration in 1934, when he became Party secretary for [[North Caucasus Krai]].  He appears to have continued advising Joseph Stalin and [[Nikolai Yezhov]] on security matters, and the latter relied on Evdokimov's former colleagues to carry out the mass killing operations that are known as the Great Terror in 1937–38.<ref>Stephen G. Wheatcroft, "Agency and Terror: Evdokimov and Mass Killing in Stalin's Great Terror." ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'' 2007 53(1): 20–43. {{ISSN|0004-9522}} Fulltext in [[Ebsco]]; Robert Conquest, ''The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet collectivization and the terror-famine'' (1986). Mark B. Tauger, "The 1932 Harvest and the Famine of 1933" ''Slavic Review'', Vol. 50, No. 1 (Spring, 1991), pp. 70–89, notes the harvest was unusually poor. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779(199121)50%3A1%3C70%3AT1HATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H online in JSTOR]; [[R. W. Davies]], [[Mark B. Tauger]], [[S. G. Wheatcroft]], "Stalin, Grain Stocks and the Famine of 1932–1933," ''Slavic Review,'' Vol. 54, No. 3 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 642–657 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779(199523)54%3A3%3C642%3ASGSATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7 online in JSTOR]; Michael Ellman. "Stalin and the Soviet famine of 1932–33 Revisited", ''Europe-Asia Studies'', Volume 59, Issue 4 June 2007, pages 663–93.</ref>
+
+On 13 January 2010, Kiev Appellate Court posthumously found Stalin, [[Lazar Kaganovich|Kaganovich]] and other Soviet Communist Party functionaries guilty of [[genocide]] against Ukrainians during the Holodomor famine.<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/content/Yushchenko_Praises_Guilty_Verdict_Against_Soviet_Leaders_For_Famine/1929566.html Yushchenko Praises Guilty Verdict Against Soviet Leaders For Famine], [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] (14 January 2010)</ref>
+
+=== World War II ===
+<!-- 1939–1945 -->
+{{See also|Eastern Front (World War II)|Reichskommissariat Ukraine|The Holocaust in Ukraine}}
+
+Following the [[Invasion of Poland]] in September 1939, [[Nazi Germany|German]] and [[Soviet Army|Soviet]] troops divided the territory of Poland. Thus, Eastern [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] and [[Volhynia]] with their Ukrainian population became reunited with the rest of Ukraine. For the first time in history, the nation was united.<ref>Wilson, p. 17</ref><ref>Subtelny, p. 487</ref>
+
+[[File:Kovpak partisanki.jpg|thumbnail|left|Ukrainian guerrillas in World War II, members of the [[Sydir Kovpak]] partisan detachment]]
+In 1940, [[Romania]] ceded [[Bessarabia]] and northern [[Bukovina]] in response to [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Soviet demands]]. The Ukrainian SSR incorporated northern and southern districts of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and the [[Hertsa region]]. But it ceded the western part of the [[Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] to the newly created [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. All these territorial gains were internationally recognised by the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Paris peace treaties of 1947]].
+
+[[Wehrmacht|German armies]] [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] on 22 June 1941, thereby initiating four straight years of incessant [[total war]]. The [[Axis Powers|Axis]] allies initially advanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the [[Red Army]]. In the encirclement [[Battle of Kiev (1941)|battle of Kiev]], the city was acclaimed as a "[[Hero City]]", because of its fierce [[Battle of Kiev (1941)|resistance]]. More than 600,000 Soviet soldiers (or one-quarter of the [[Soviet Western Front]]) were killed or [[Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs|taken captive]] there.<ref>Roberts, p. 102</ref><ref>Boshyk, p. 89</ref>
+
+[[File:Ruined Kiev in WWII.jpg|thumb|[[Kiev]] suffered significant damage during [[Eastern Front (World War II)|World War II]], and was occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] from 19 September 1941 until 6 November 1943.]]
+Although the majority of Ukrainians fought alongside the Red Army and [[Soviet partisans|Soviet resistance]],<ref name="worldwars">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\W\O\Worldwars.htm|title=World wars|accessdate=20 December 2007|work=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref> in Western Ukraine an independent [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] movement arose (UPA, 1942). Primarily it was created as forces of [[President of Ukraine (in exile)|Ukrainian Government in exile]]<ref>Subtelny, Orest (1988). "''[http://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC&pg=PA106&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Ukraine: a history.]''". p 410</ref> but soon it fell under the influence of nationalist underground ([[Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists]], OUN) which had developed in [[Second Polish Republic|interwar Poland]] as a radical reaction to [[History of the Ukrainian minority in Poland#Policies of Józef Piłsudski and the "Volhynia Experiment"|Polish policies towards the Ukrainian minority]]. Both supported the goal of an [[Declaration of Ukrainian Independence, 1941|independent Ukrainian state]] on the territory with Ukrainian ethnic majority. Although this brought conflict with Nazi Germany, at times the [[Andriy Melnyk|Melnyk]]-wing of OUN allied with the Nazi forces. Some UPA divisions also carried out the [[Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia|massacres of ethnic Poles]],<ref>[[Timothy Snyder]]. [http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev A fascist hero in democratic Kiev]. NewYork Reviev of Books. 24 February 2010</ref> which caused also relatively smaller Polish actions in response.<ref>Grzegorz Motyka. [http://www.zbrodniawolynska.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/5221/Antypolska_Akcja_OUN_UPA.pdf Polska reakcja na działania UPA – skala i przebieg akcji odwetowych].</ref> After the war UPA continued to fight the USSR till the 1950s. Using [[guerrilla war]] tactics, the insurgents targeted for assassination and terror those who they perceived as representing or cooperating with the Soviet state.<ref>Piotrowski pp. 352–54</ref><ref>Weiner pp. 127–237</ref>
+
+At the same time, the [[Ukrainian Liberation Army]], another nationalist movement, fought alongside the Nazis.
+
+In total, the number of ethnic Ukrainians who fought in the ranks of the Soviet Army is estimated from 4.5&nbsp;million<ref name="worldwars"/> to 7&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000020|title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation, p. 2|accessdate=16 December 2007|work=Peremoga.gov.ua|language=Ukrainian |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20050515091804/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000020 |archivedate = 15 May 2005}} {{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref>{{Ref label|D|d|1}} The [[Soviet Partisans|pro-Soviet partisan]] guerrilla resistance in Ukraine is estimated to number at 47,800 from the start of occupation to 500,000 at its peak in 1944; with about 50% being ethnic Ukrainians.<ref>Subtelny, p. 476</ref> Generally, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army's figures are not very reliable, with figures ranging anywhere from 15,000 to as many as 100,000 fighters.<ref>Magocsi, p. 635</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\U\K\UkrainianInsurgentArmy.htm|title=Ukrainian Insurgent Army|accessdate=20 December 2007|work=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>
+
+Most of the Ukrainian SSR was organised within the [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]], with the intention of exploiting its resources and eventual German settlement. Initially, some western Ukrainians, who had only joined the Soviet Union in 1939 under pressure, hailed the Germans as liberators. But brutal German rule in the occupied territories eventually turned its supporters against them. Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territories made little attempt to exploit dissatisfaction with Stalinist political and economic policies.<ref name=ww2>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30080/Bukovina-under-Romanian-rule#toc30082|title=Ukraine – World War II and its aftermath|accessdate=28 December 2007|work=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out [[Mass graves in the Soviet Union|genocidal policies]] against [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Jews]], [[OST-Arbeiter|deported millions of people to work in Germany]], and began a systematic depopulation of Ukraine (along with Poland) to prepare it for German colonisation.<ref name=ww2/> They blockaded the transport of food on the Kiev River.<ref>[[Karel C. Berkhoff|Karel Cornelis Berkhoff]]. ''Harvest of despair: life and death in Ukraine under Nazi rule'', Harvard University Press: April 2004. p. 164</ref>
+
+The vast majority of the fighting in World War II took place on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].<ref>Weinberg, p. 264</ref> It has been estimated that 93% of all German casualties took place there.<ref>Rozhnov, Konstantin, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4508901.stm "Who won World War II?"], BBC. Citing Russian historian [[Valentin Falin]]. Retrieved 5 July 2008.</ref> The total losses inflicted upon the Ukrainian population during the war are estimated [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|between 5 and 8 million]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?3450000000000000010|title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation, p. 1|accessdate=16 December 2007|work=Peremoga.gov.ua|language=Ukrainian |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20071025001902/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?3450000000000000010 |archivedate = 25 October 2007}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref><ref>Kulchytsky, Stalislav, ''"Demographic losses in Ukrainian in the twentieth century"'', [[Zerkalo Nedeli]], 2–8 October 2004. Available online [http://www.zn.ua/3000/3150/47913/ in Russian]{{Dead link|date=January 2014}} and [http://www.zn.ua/3000/3150/47913/ in Ukrainian]{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}. Retrieved 27 January 2008.</ref> including an estimated one and a half million Jews killed by the [[Einsatzgruppen]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Smale|first=Alison|title=Shedding Light on a Vast Toll of Jews Killed Away From the Death Camps|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/europe/a-light-on-a-vast-toll-of-jews-killed-away-from-the-death-camps.html?_r=1|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 January 2014}}</ref> sometimes with the help of local collaborators. Of the estimated 8.7&nbsp;million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis,<ref name="peremoga7">{{cite web|url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000070|title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation, p. 7|accessdate=16 December 2007|work=Peremoga.gov.ua|language=Ukrainian |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20050515100506/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000070 |archivedate = 15 May 2005}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref><ref>Overy, p. 518</ref><ref name="Krivosheev">Кривошеев Г. Ф., ''Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование'' (Krivosheev G. F., ''Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study'') {{ru icon}}</ref> 1.4&nbsp;million were ethnic [[Ukrainians]].<ref name="peremoga7"/><ref name="Krivosheev"/>{{Ref label|D|d|2}}{{Ref label|E|e|none}} [[Victory Day (Eastern Front)|Victory Day]] is celebrated as one of ten Ukrainian national holidays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.ua/mfa/en/publication/content/290.htm|archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20060420145124/http://www.mfa.gov.ua/mfa/en/publication/content/290.htm|archivedate=20 April 2006|title=Holidays |accessdate=24 August 2008|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine}}</ref>{{Clear}}
+
+===Post-World War II===
+[[File:Ukraine-growth.png|thumb|Ukrainian territorial evolution, 1918–1991]]
+[[File:Sergey Korolyov 140-190 for collage.jpg|thumb|left|170px|[[Sergey Korolyov]], a native of [[Zhytomyr]], the head [[Soviet space program|Soviet rocket engineer]] and designer during the [[Space Race]]]]
+{{Further|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)|History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)|History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)}}
+
+The republic was heavily damaged by the war, and it required significant efforts to recover. More than 700 cities and towns and 28,000 villages were destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine | archiveurl =//web.archive.org/web/20070929133150/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine|archivedate= 29 September 2007|title=Ukraine: World War II and its aftermath|accessdate=12 September 2007|work= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref> The situation was worsened by a [[famine]] in 1946–47, which was caused by a drought and the wartime destruction of infrastructure. The death toll of this famine varies, with even the lowest estimate in the tens of thousands.<ref>{{Citation | last = Кульчинский [Kulchytsky] | first = Станислав [Stanislav] | title = Демографические потери Украины в XX веке | trans_title = Demographic losses in Ukraine in the twentieth century | newspaper = Зеркало Недели [The Mirror of the Week] | date = 2–8 October 2004 | url = http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2004/0173/analit06.php | language = Russian | publisher = [Demoscope] | place = [[Russia|RU]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title =Демографические потери Украины в XX веке | trans_title = Demographic losses of Ukraine in the XX century | url = http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/514/47913/|publisher= Зеркало Недели |accessdate=8 January 2014|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060721091917/http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/514/47913/|archivedate=21 July 2006| language =Russian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|script-title=uk:Демографічні втрати України в хх столітті | trans_title = Demographic losses in Ukraine twentieth century |url= http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/514/47913/| publisher= Зеркало Недели| accessdate = 8 January 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313004842/http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/514/47913/ | archivedate = 13 March 2007|language= Ukrainian}}{{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref>
+In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the [[United Nations]] organization,<ref name = "un ukssr">{{cite web |url= http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/ukraine.shtml |title=Activities of the Member States – Ukraine |accessdate=17 January 2011 |publisher= United Nations}}</ref> part of a special agreement at the [[Yalta Conference]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm| title=United Nations | archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20030303022458/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm | archivedate= 3 March 2003 | publisher= U.S. Department of State| quote= Voting procedures and the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council were finalized at the [[Yalta Conference]] in 1945 when Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that the veto would not prevent discussions by the Security Council. Roosevelt agreed to General Assembly membership for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, which was never exercised, to seek two more votes for the United States. |accessdate= 22 September 2014}}</ref>
+
+Post-war [[ethnic cleansing]] occurred in the newly expanded Soviet Union. As of 1 January 1953, Ukrainians were second only to Russians among adult "[[Forced settlements in the Soviet Union|special deportees]]", comprising 20% of the total.<ref name="Malynovska">{{cite web | url =http://www.niisp.org.ua/defa~177.php | title =Migration and migration policy in Ukraine | first=Olena | last=Malynovska | date=14 June 2006}}</ref> In addition, over 450,000 ethnic [[History of Germans in Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union|Germans]] from Ukraine and more than 200,000 [[Crimean Tatars]] were victims of [[Population transfer in the Soviet Union|forced deportations]].<ref name="Malynovska"/>
+
+Following the death of [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] in 1953, [[Nikita Khrushchev]] became the new leader of the USSR. Having served as First Secretary of the [[Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine|Communist Party of Ukrainian SSR]] in 1938–49, Khrushchev was intimately familiar with the republic; after taking power union-wide, he began to emphasize the friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian nations. In 1954, the 300th anniversary of the [[Treaty of Pereyaslav]] was widely celebrated. [[Crimean Oblast|Crimea]] was [[1954 transfer of Crimea|transferred]] from the [[Russian SFSR]] to the [[Ukrainian SSR]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iccrimea.org/historical/crimeatransfer.html|title=The Transfer of Crimea to Ukraine|accessdate=25 March 2007|date=July 2005|work=International Committee for Crimea}}</ref>
+
+By 1950, the republic had fully surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080115052626/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine | archivedate=15 January 2008 | title=Ukraine – The last years of Stalin's rule|accessdate=28 December 2007|work=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)}}</ref> During the 1946–1950 [[Five-Year Plan (USSR)|five-year plan]], nearly 20% of the Soviet budget was invested in Soviet Ukraine, a 5% increase from prewar plans. As a result, the Ukrainian workforce rose 33.2% from 1940 to 1955 while industrial output grew 2.2 times in that same period.
+
+Soviet Ukraine soon became a European leader in industrial production,<ref>Magocsi, p. 644</ref> and an important centre of the Soviet [[arms industry]] and high-tech research. Such an important role resulted in a major influence of the local elite. Many members of the Soviet leadership came from Ukraine, most notably [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. He later ousted Khrushchev and became the Soviet leader from 1964 to 1982. Many prominent Soviet sports players, scientists, and artists came from Ukraine.
+
+On 26 April 1986, a reactor in the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] exploded, resulting in the [[Chernobyl disaster]], the worst [[nuclear reactor]] accident in history.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n2_v33/ai_18795971 |title='Sombre anniversary' of worst nuclear disaster in history – Chernobyl: 10th anniversary | accessdate =16 December 2007|author=Remy, Johannes| year=1996 |publisher = Find articles | work=[[UN Chronicle]]}}</ref> This was the only accident to receive the highest possible rating of 7 by the [[International Nuclear Event Scale]], indicating a "major accident", until the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]] in March 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/publicationsandmedia/insight/insightsummer2011/fukushima-chernobyl-and-the-nuclear-event-scale/ | title='Fukushima, Chernobyl and the Nuclear Event Scale'}}</ref> At the time of the accident, 7 million people lived in the contaminated territories, including 2.2&nbsp;million in Ukraine.<ref name = Chernobyl.info>{{cite web | title = Geographical location and extent of radioactive contamination | url = http://www.chernobyl.info/index.php?navID=2 | work=Chernobyl.info|publisher=Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation| accessdate= 8 January 2014 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070630071332/http://www.chernobyl.info/index.php?navID=2#Sources | archivedate=30 June 2007}}</ref>
+
+After the accident, the new city of [[Slavutych]] was built outside the exclusion zone to house and support the employees of the plant, which was decommissioned in 2000. A report prepared by the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] and [[World Health Organization]] attributed 56 direct deaths to the accident and estimated that there may have been 4,000 extra cancer deaths.<ref name="iaea">{{cite web| title= IAEA Report|work= In Focus: Chernobyl|accessdate= 31 May 2008 | url = http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/}}</ref>
+
+=== Independence ===
+[[File:RIAN archive 848095 Signing the Agreement to eliminate the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.jpg|thumb|Ukrainian President [[Leonid Kravchuk]] and President of the Russian Federation [[Boris Yeltsin]] signed the [[Belavezha Accords]], [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolving the Soviet Union]], 8 December 1991]]
+On 16 July 1990, the new parliament adopted the [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm|title=Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine|accessdate=12 September 2007|date=16 July 1990|work=[[Verkhovna Rada|Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine]]}}</ref> This established the principles of the self-determination, democracy, independence, and the priority of Ukrainian law over Soviet law. A month earlier, a [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|similar declaration]] was adopted by the parliament of the [[Russian SFSR]]. This started a period of confrontation with the central Soviet authorities. In August 1991, a conservative faction among the Communist leaders of the Soviet Union [[Soviet coup attempt of 1991|attempted a coup]] to remove [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] and to restore the Communist party's power. After it failed, on 24 August 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted the [[Act of Independence of Ukraine|Act of Independence]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Rres_Declaration_Independence_rev12.htm|title=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Resolution On Declaration of Independence of Ukraine|accessdate=12 September 2007|date= 24 August 1991|work=[[Verkhovna Rada|Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine]]}}</ref>
+
+A [[Ukrainian independence referendum, 1991|referendum]] and the [[Ukrainian presidential election, 1991|first presidential elections]] took place on 1 December 1991. More than 90% of the electorate expressed their support for the Act of Independence, and they elected the chairman of the parliament, [[Leonid Kravchuk]] as the first [[President of Ukraine]]. At the [[Belavezha Accords|meeting in Brest]], Belarus on 8 December, followed by the [[Alma Ata]] meeting on 21 December, the leaders of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine formally dissolved the Soviet Union and formed the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS).<ref>{{cite news|title=Soviet Leaders Recall 'Inevitable' Breakup Of Soviet Union|url=http://rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/12/14b6b499-9eb2-4dee-b96c-784ec918969a.html|work=[[RadioFreeEurope]]|date=8 December 2006|accessdate=12 September 2007}}</ref>
+
+Ukraine was initially viewed as having favorable economic conditions in comparison to the other regions of the Soviet Union.<ref>Shen, p. 41</ref> However, the country experienced deeper economic slowdown than some of the other [[former Soviet Republics]]. During the recession, Ukraine lost 60% of its GDP from 1991 to 1999,<ref name=IMF>{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=1992&ey=2008&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=926&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=&pr1.x=41&pr1.y=2|title=Ukrainian GDP (PPP)|accessdate=10 March 2008|work=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2007|publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/june1998/ukraine.htm|archiveurl=http://wayback.archive.org/web/20000712025953/http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/june1998/ukraine.htm|archivedate=12 July 2000|title=Can Ukraine Avert a Financial Meltdown?|accessdate=16 December 2007|date=June 1998|work=[[World Bank]]}}</ref> and suffered five-digit inflation rates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2002/083102.htm|title=The IMF and Ukraine: What Really Happened|accessdate=16 December 2007|date=31 August 2002|last=Figliuoli|first=Lorenzo|last2=Lissovolik|first2=Bogdan |work=[[International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref> Dissatisfied with the economic conditions, as well as the amounts of crime and [[corruption in Ukraine]], Ukrainians protested and organized strikes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Aslund|first=Anders|date=Autumn 1995|title=Eurasia Letter: Ukraine's Turnaround|journal=[[Foreign Policy]] |issue=100|pages=125–143|publisher=JSTOR|doi=10.2307/1149308|volume=100|last2=Aslund|first2=Anders|jstor=1149308}}</ref>
+
+The Ukrainian economy stabilized by the end of the 1990s. A new currency, the [[Ukrainian hryvnia|hryvnia]], was introduced in 1996. After 2000, the country enjoyed steady [[Real GDP|real economic growth]] averaging about seven&nbsp;percent annually.<ref name="Macroindicators NBU">{{cite web |url= http://www.bank.gov.ua/ENGL/Macro/index.htm |title=Macroeconomic Indicators |publisher= [[National Bank of Ukraine]] |archiveurl= //web.archive.org/web/20071021232506/http://bank.gov.ua/Engl/Macro/index.htm |archivedate=21 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://devdata.worldbank.org/ict/ukr_ict.pdf|title=Ukraine. Country profile|accessdate=16 December 2007|work=[[World Bank]]|format=PDF}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref> A new [[Constitution of Ukraine]] was adopted under second President [[Leonid Kuchma]] in 1996, which turned Ukraine into a [[semi-presidential republic]] and established a stable political system. Kuchma was, however, criticised by opponents for corruption, [[electoral fraud]], discouraging free speech and concentrating too much power in his office.<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Wines|title=Leader's Party Seems to Slip In Ukraine|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EFD9143AF932A35757C0A9649C8B63|work=The New York Times|date=1 April 2002|accessdate=24 December 2007}}</ref> Ukraine also pursued full nuclear disarmament, giving up the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world and dismantling or removing all strategic bombers on its territory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/ukraine/nuclear/|title=Ukraine – Country Profiles – NTI|accessdate=2 August 2014}}</ref>
+
+=== Orange Revolution ===
+{{Main|Orange Revolution}}
+[[File:Joesjtsjenko Marion Kiev 2004.jpg|thumb|right|Protesters at [[Maidan Nezalezhnosti|Independence Square]] on the first day of the [[Orange Revolution]]]]
+
+In 2004, [[Viktor Yanukovych]], then Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the [[Ukrainian presidential election, 2004|presidential elections]], which had been largely rigged, as the [[Supreme Court of Ukraine]] later ruled.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skubi.net/ukraine/judgment-december-3.html|title=The Supreme Court findings|accessdate=7 July 2008|publisher=Supreme Court of Ukraine|date=3 December 2004|language=Ukrainian}}</ref> The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, [[Viktor Yushchenko]], who challenged the outcome. This resulted in the peaceful [[Orange Revolution]], bringing Viktor Yushchenko and [[Yulia Tymoshenko]] to power, while casting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30090/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080115052653/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30090/Ukraine|archivedate=15 January 2008|title=Ukraine-Independent Ukraine|accessdate=14 January 2008|work=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)}}</ref>
+
+Activists of the Orange Revolution were funded and trained in tactics of political organisation and [[nonviolent resistance]] by Western pollsters and professional consultants who were partly funded by Western government and non-government agencies but received most of their funding from domestic sources.{{refn|[[Pavol Demes]] and Joerg Forbrig estimate in 2006 that only [[United States dollar|US$]]130,000 out of a total of US$1.56 million in [[Pora]] came from donors outside Ukraine.<ref name=ORRNC/>|group=nb}}<ref name=ORRNC>[http://www.academia.edu/1098375/The_Colour_Revolutions_in_the_Former_Soviet_Republics_Successes_and_Failures The Colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics: Ukraine] by Nathaniel Copsey, [[Routledge]] Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series (page 30-44)</ref> According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', the foreign donors included the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] and [[United States Agency for International Development|USAID]] along with the [[National Democratic Institute for International Affairs]], the [[International Republican Institute]], the [[Non-governmental organisation|NGO]] [[Freedom House]] and [[George Soros|George Soros's]] [[Open Society Institute]].<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/nov/26/ukraine.usa US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev], [[The Guardian]] (26 November 2004)</ref> The [[National Endowment for Democracy]] has supported democracy-building efforts in Ukraine since 1988.<ref>Diuk, Nadia. "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34008-2004Dec3.html In Ukraine, Homegrown Freedom]." ''Washington Post'', 4 December 2004. URL Retrieved 12 September 2006</ref> Writings on [[Nonviolent resistance|nonviolent struggle]] by [[Gene Sharp]] contributed in forming the strategic basis of the student campaigns.<ref name=APOR291011>[http://www.academia.edu/1068864/Russia_the_US_the_Others_and_the_101_Things_to_Do_to_Win_a_Colour_Revolution_Reflections_on_Georgia_and_Ukraine Russia, the US, "the Others" and the "101 Things to Do to Win a (Colour)Revolution": Reflections on Georgia and Ukraine] by Abel Polese, [[Routledge]] (26 October 2011)</ref>
+
+Yanukovych returned to power in 2006 as Prime Minister in the [[Alliance of National Unity]],<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5242860.stm Ukraine comeback kid in new deal], [[BBC News]] (4 August 2006)</ref> until [[Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007|snap elections in September 2007]] made Tymoshenko Prime Minister again.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7149549.stm Tymoshenko picked for Ukraine PM], [[BBC News]] (18 December 2007)</ref> Amid the [[2008–09 Ukrainian financial crisis]] the Ukrainian economy plunged by 15%.<ref name=FT_2013>{{cite news|title=Lacklustre GDP data push Ukraine towards fresh IMF bailout|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/33d073e8-f9e9-11e2-b8ef-00144feabdc0.html|accessdate=3 March 2014|newspaper=Financial Times|date=31 July 2013|author=Roman Olearchyk|location=Kiev}}</ref> [[Russia–Ukraine gas disputes|Disputes with Russia]] briefly stopped all gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006 and again in 2009, leading to gas shortages in other countries.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7806870.stm Russia shuts off gas to Ukraine], [[BBC News]] (1 January 2009)</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7240462.stm Q&A: Russia-Ukraine gas row], [[BBC News]] (20 January 2009)</ref> [[Viktor Yanukovych]] was [[Ukrainian presidential election, 2010|elected President in 2010]] with 48% of votes.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8508276.stm Ukraine election: Yanukovych urges Tymoshenko to quit], [[BBC News]] (10 February 2010)In its final report on the election, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that the election "met most requirements" for fairness and that the election process was "transparent."<http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/ukraine/67844?download=true></ref>
+
+=== Euromaidan and 2014 revolution ===
+{{main|Euromaidan|2014 Ukrainian revolution}}
+{{Details3|[[Timeline of the Euromaidan]]|the ongoing protests}}
+[[File:SState flag of Ukraine carried by a protester to the heart of developing clashes in Kyiv, Ukraine. Events of February 18, 2014.jpg|thumb|[[Euromaidan]]. State flag of Ukraine carried by a protester to the heart of developing clashes in [[Kiev]]. Events of 18 February 2014]]
+
+The [[Euromaidan]] ({{lang-uk|Євромайдан}}, literally "Eurosquare") protests started in November 2013 after the president, [[Viktor Yanukovych]], began shying away from an association agreement that had been in the works with the [[European Union]] and instead chose to establish closer ties with the Russian Federation.<ref name=bbc20131217>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25182823 Stand-off in Ukraine over EU agreement], [[BBC News]] (17 December 2013)</ref><ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-ukraine-idUSBRE9BA04420131212 Kiev protesters gather, EU dangles aid promise], [[Reuters]] (12 December 2013)</ref> Some Ukrainians took to the streets to show their support for closer ties with Europe.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine Radicals Steer Violence as Nationalist Zeal Grows |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-11/ukraine-radicals-steer-violence-as-nationalist-zeal-grows.html |agency=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=11 February 2014}}</ref> Meanwhile, in the predominantly Russian-speaking east, a large portion of the population opposed the ''Euromaidan'' protests, instead supporting the Yanukovych government.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25198943 |title= Donetsk view: Ukraine 'other half' resents Kiev protests |author=Lina Kushch |publisher=BBC News|date=3 December 2013}}</ref> Over time, ''Euromaidan'' came to describe a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/world/europe/a-ukraine-city-spins-beyond-the-governments-reach.html?_r=0 | title=A Ukraine City Spins Beyond the Government’s Reach | work=The New York Times | date= 15 February 2014}}</ref> the scope of which evolved to include calls for the resignation of President Yanukovych and [[Second Azarov Government|his government]].<ref name=reuters20131212>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-ukraine-idUSBRE9BA04420131212 Kiev protesters gather, EU and Putin joust], [[Reuters]] (12 December 2013)</ref>
+
+Violence escalated after 16 January 2014 when the government accepted new [[Anti-protest laws in Ukraine|Anti-Protest Laws]]. Anti-government demonstrators occupied buildings in the centre of Kiev, including the Justice Ministry building, and riots left 98 dead with approximately fifteen thousand injured and 100 considered missing<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nbnews.com.ua/ua/news/113543/comments/|title=За добу в зіткненнях у Києві поранено 1,5 тисяч осіб, 100 зникли безвісти|author=Независимое бюро новостей|work=nbnews.com.ua}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moz.gov.ua/ua/portal/pre_20140222_a.html|title=�нформація про постраждалих у сутичках ... :: Новини :: Прес-релізи, новини та оголошення :: МОЗ України|publisher=|accessdate=25 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mvs.gov.ua/mvs/control/main/uk/publish/article/985411|title=МВС УКРАЇНИ|work=Міністерство внутрішніх справ України|accessdate=25 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/onovleniy-spisok-zagiblih-pid-chas-krivavih-podiy-v-kiyevi-335724.html|title="список загиблих під час кривавих подій в Києві"&nbsp;— tsn.ua|work=ТСН.ua}}</ref> from 18 to 20 February.<ref>{{cite web|author=Shaun Walker in Kiev and agencies |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/ukraine-protesters-occupy-justice-ministry-state-emergency |title=Ukraine threatens state of emergency after protesters occupy justice ministry |publisher=Theguardian.com |date=27 January 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Krasnolutska |first=Daryna |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-24/ukraine-warned-of-civil-war-by-eu-as-unrest-spreads-to-regions |title=Ukraine clashes resume in Kiev as foreign mediation urged |publisher=Businessweek.com |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref> Owing to violent protests on 22 February 2014, Members of Parliament found the president unable to fulfill his duties{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} and exercised "constitutional powers"{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} to set [[Ukrainian presidential election, 2014|an election]] for 25 May to select his replacement.<ref>{{cite web|last=Keating |first=Dave |url=http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2014/february/ukraine-sets-date-for-presidential-election/79813.aspx |title=Ukraine sets date for presidential election |publisher=Europeanvoice.com |date=25 February 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref> [[Petro Poroshenko]], running on a pro-European Union platform, won with over fifty percent of the vote, therefore not requiring a run-off election.<ref name="ReferenceA">''The New York Times'', "Dozens of Separatists Killed in Ukraine Army Attack", By SABRINA TAVERNISE and ANDREW ROTHMAY 27, 2014</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/world/europe/activists-say-election-of-a-president-is-just-a-start-in-repairing-ukraine.html?_r=0|title=Election of President Seen as a Beginning to Repairing Ukraine|agency=NYT|author=David M. Herszenhorn|date=24 May 2014|accessdate=12 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="RTVi 2014">RTVi, News-script for Broadcast of 25 May 2014, Ekaterina Andreeff.</ref> Upon his election, Poroshenko announced that his immediate priorities would be to take action in the civil unrest in Eastern Ukraine and mend ties with Russian Federation.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref name="RTVi 2014"/> Poroshenko was inaugurated as president on 7 June 2014, as previously announced by his spokeswoman Irina Friz in a low-key ceremony without a celebration on [[Kiev]]'s [[Maidan Nezalezhnosti]] square (the center of the [[Euromaidan]] protests<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ukraine-is-so-important-2014-1|author=Adam Taylor|title=Why Ukraine Is So Important|publisher=[[Business Insider]]|date=28 January 2014|accessdate=29 May 2014|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20140214135440/http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ukraine-is-so-important-2014-1|archivedate=14 February 2014}}</ref>) for the ceremony.<ref name="to Be Inaugurated June 7">{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140529-707812.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20140529234158/http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140529-707812.html |archivedate=29 May 2014 |title=Petro Poroshenko to Be Inaugurated as Ukraine President June 7|author=Lukas Alpert |publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=29 May 2014|accessdate=29 May 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/207670.html Rada decides to hold inauguration of Poroshenko on June 7 at 1000], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (3 June 2014)</ref> In October 2014, Ukrainians voted to keep Poroshenko in power.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/world/europe/ukraine-election.html|title = Ukrainian Voters Affirm Embrace of Europe and Reject Far Right; Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Petro Poroshenko Solidify Stances|last = Herszenhorn|first = David M.|date = 27 October 2014|work = [[The New York Times]]|access-date = 16 April 2015|via = }}</ref>
+
+=== 2014 Crimean crisis ===
+{{main|2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|2014 Crimean crisis|International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis}}
+In the wake of the collapse of the [[Viktor Yanukovych|Yanukovych]] government and the resultant [[2014 Ukrainian revolution]] in February 2014, a [[2014 Crimean crisis|secession crisis]] began on Ukraine's [[Crimean Peninsula]] which has a significant number of [[Russophone]] people. Unmarked, armed Russian soldiers began being moved into Crimea on 28 February 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/140228/video-on-the-ground-crimea-ukraine-russia-tanks-armed-men | title=This is what it looked like when Russian military first rolled through Crimea (VIDEO) | publisher=GlobalPost | date=28 February 2014 | accessdate=28 May 2014}}</ref> On 1 March 2014, exiled Ukrainian President [[Viktor Yanukovych]] requested that Russia use military forces "to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order, stability and defending the people of Ukraine".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/ousted-ukrainian-president-asked-russian-troops-envoy-says-n43506 | title=Ousted Ukrainian President Asked For Russian Troops, Envoy Says | author=Reuters | date=3 March 2014 | publisher=NBC News | accessdate=21 March 2014 }}</ref> On the same day, Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] requested and received authorization from the Russian Parliament to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine and took control of the Crimean Peninsula by the next day.<ref name="BBCPutinDeploys">{{cite web|url= http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26400597|title=Putin to deploy Russian troops in Ukraine|publisher=BBC News|date=1 March 2014|accessdate=1 March 2014}}</ref><ref name=Radyuhin>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/russian-parliament-approves-use-of-force-in-crimea/article5739708.ece |title=Russian Parliament approves use of army in Ukraine|work=The Hindu|date=1 March 2014|first=Vladimir|last=Radyuhin|location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref name="walker-the-guardian-2014-descend">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Shaun |date=4 March 2014 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/04/ukraine-crisis-russian-troops-crimea-john-kerry-kiev |title=Russian takeover of Crimea will not descend into war, says Vladimir Putin |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=4 March 2014 }}</ref><ref name="bloomberg-news-2014-request">{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-04/russia-calls-ukraine-intervention-legal-citing-yanukovych-letter.html |title=Russia Stays in Ukraine as Putin Channels Yanukovych Request |first1=Sangwon |last1=Yoon |first2=Daryna |last2=Krasnolutska |first3=Kateryna |last3=Choursina |date=4 March 2014 |accessdate=5 March 2014 |newspaper=[[Bloomberg News]] }}</ref> In addition, [[NATO]] was perceived by most Russians as encroaching upon Russia's borders. This weighed heavily upon Moscow’s decision to take measures to secure its Black Sea port in Crimea.<ref>{{cite news|last=Magnay|first=Diana|date=1 May 2014|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/30/world/europe/russia-ukraine-cadet-school|title=Why NATO is such a thorn in Russia’s side|work=CNN News|accessdate=18 May 2014|quote=Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at his annual direct call with the Russian people that part of his reasoning for annexing Crimea was to protect Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea fleet, from ever falling into NATO's hands. ‘If we don't do anything, Ukraine will be drawn into NATO sometime in the future. We'll be told: This doesn't concern you, and NATO ships will dock in Sevastopol, the city of Russia's naval glory,’ he said.}}</ref>
+On 6 March 2014, the Crimean Parliament voted to "enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation" and later held a [[Crimean referendum, 2014|referendum]] asking the people of these regions whether they wanted to join Russia as a [[Federal subjects of the Russian Federation|federal subject]], or if they wanted to restore the [[Constitution of Crimea|1992 Crimean constitution]] and Crimea's status as a part of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26465962 |title=BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Crimea parliament asks to join Russia |publisher=Bbc.com |date=6 March 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref> Though passed with an overwhelming majority, the vote was not monitored by outside parties and the results are internationally contested; it is claimed to have been enforced by armed groups which intruded and enforced voting according to their demands.<ref>{{cite web|author=OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe |url=http://www.osce.org/cio/116313 |title=Chair says Crimean referendum in its current form is illegal and calls for alternative ways to address the Crimean issue |publisher=OSCE |date=11 March 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_Report_15April2014.doc|title = Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine|date = 15 April 2014|publisher = [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.businessinsider.co.id/un-hints-russia-may-have-rigged-crimea-vote-2014-4/#.U2CVCPl_v38|title = The UN’s Scathing Crimea Report Suggests Russia May Have Rigged Secession Vote|date = 11 April 2014|website = [[Business Insider]]|first = Harrison|last = Jacobs}}</ref> On 11 March, the Crimean parliament and [[Sevastopol]] [[Republic of Crimea#Separation from Ukraine|issued a letter of intent to declare independence from Ukraine as the Republic of Crimea]] and requested that they be admitted as constituents of the Russian Federation. On 16 March, they held the [[Crimean status referendum, 2014|Crimean referendum on that issue]]. The next day, 
+the U.S. and the European Union started [[International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis#First round of sanctions|sanctions against individuals who were ‘undermining democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine’ or were ‘undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine’]].
+
+On 18 March 2014, Russia and Crimea signed a [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation#Accession treaty and aftermath|treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol]] in the Russian Federation, though the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a non-binding statement to oppose [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation]] of the peninsula.<ref>"Backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, UN Assembly declares Crimea referendum invalid". UN News Centre. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.</ref>
+
+=== 2014-2015 unrest in southern and eastern Ukraine===
+{{Recentism|section|date=January 2015}}
+{{main|War in Donbass|2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine|International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis}}
+[[File:2014-03-09. Протесты в Донецке 022.jpg|thumb|Pro-Russian protesters in [[Donetsk]], 8 March 2014]]
+End of February 2014, [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|unrest also began]] in eight other eastern and southern [[Oblasts of Ukraine|oblasts (provinces)]] of Ukraine.<ref>"[http://www.thelocal.ch/20140723/red-cross-declares-civil-war-in-ukraine Red Cross officially declares Ukraine civil war]". ''[[The Local]]''. 23 July 2014.</ref> In several cities in the [[Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk]] regions armed men, declaring themselves as local militia, seized government buildings, police and special police stations in several cities of the regions, and held unrecognized [[Donbass status referendums, 2014|status referendums]].[[File:OSCE SMM monitoring the movement of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine (16705750566).jpg|thumbnail|left|[[OSCE]] SMM monitoring the movement of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine, 4 March 2015]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/world/europe/ukraine.html|title=Russia Keeps Its Distance After Ukraine Secession Referendums|work=The New York Times|date=12 May 2014}}</ref> Talks in [[Geneva]] between the EU, Russia, Ukraine and USA yielded a Joint Diplomatic Statement referred to as the [[History of Russia (1992–present)#Crimean Referendum and 2014 Geneva Pact|2014 Geneva Pact]]<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/world/europe/text-of-joint-diplomatic-statement-on-ukraine.html Text of Joint Diplomatic Statement on Ukraine, 17 April 2014, The New York Times], retrieved 30 April 2014</ref> in which the parties requested that all unlawful militias lay down the arms and vacate seized government buildings, and also establish a political dialogue that could lead to more autonomy for Ukraine's regions. When [[Petro Poroshenko]] won the presidential election held on 25 May 2014, he vowed to continue the military operations by the Ukrainian government forces to end the armed insurgency.<ref name=G26514P>{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/poroshenko-peace-donetsk-airport-air-strike-separatists|title=Poroshenko promises calm 'in hours' amid battle to control Donetsk airport|newspaper=''[[The Guardian]]''|date=26 May 2014|accessdate=29 May 2014|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20140526224633/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/poroshenko-peace-donetsk-airport-air-strike-separatists|archivedate=26 May 2014}}</ref> More than 4,700 people have been killed in the military campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Sitrep%2022%20-%20Ukraine%20-%2026%20December_FINAL.pdf|title=UKRAINE Situation report No.22 as of 26 December 2014|work=OCHA|date=26 December 2014|accessdate=19 January 2015}}</ref> According to the United Nations, 730,000 Ukrainian [[refugee]]s have fled to Russia since the beginning of 2014 and 117,000 have fled to other parts of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/uk-ukraine-crisis-migrants-idINKBN0G517P20140805 |title=About 730,000 have left Ukraine for Russia due to conflict – UNHCR |publisher=Reuters |date=5 August 2014}}</ref> As president-elect, Poroshenko promised to pursue the return of Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.<ref name=G26514P/>
+
+In August 2014, a bi-lateral commission of leading scholars from the United States and Russia issued the Boisto Agenda indicating a 24-step plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.<ref name="Uri Friedman 2014">Uri Friedman, "A 24-Step Plan," ''Atlantic'', 26 August 2014.</ref> The Boisto Agenda was organized into five imperative categories for addressing the crisis requiring stabilization identified as: (1) Elements of an Enduring, Verifiable Ceasefire; (2) Economic Relations; (3) Social and Cultural Issues; (4) Crimea; and, (5) International Status of Ukraine.<ref name="Uri Friedman 2014"/> In late 2014, Ukraine ratified the [[Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement]], which Poroshenko described as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards EU membership.<ref name="DW 16.09.2014"/> Poroshenko also set 2020 as target for [[Ukraine–European Union relations|EU membership application]].<ref name="Reuters Sep 25, 2014"/>
+
+In February 2015, after a summit hosted in Belarus, Poroshenko negotiated a ceasefire with the separatist troops. This included conditions such as the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the front line and decentralisation of rebel regions by the end of 2015. It also included conditions such as the Ukrainian control of the border with Russia in 2015 and the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Ukrainian territory. The ceasefire began at midnight on 15 February 2015. Participants in this ceasefire also agreed to attend regular meetings to ensure that the agreement is respected.<ref name="The Guardian Feb 12, 2015">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/12/ukraine-ceasefire-european-leaders-sceptical-peace-plan-will-work</ref>
+
+== Historical maps of states ==
+Several states have existed on the territory of present-day Ukraine since its foundation.  Most of these territories have been located within [[Eastern Europe]].  However, as depicted in the maps here, they have at times extended well into [[Eurasia]] and [[Southeastern Europe]].  At other times there has been no distinct Ukrainian state, its territories having been annexed by its more powerful neighbours.
+<center>
+<gallery>
+File:Slavic peoples 6th century historical map.jpg|Territory of [[Slavs|Slavic peoples]] (6th century).
+File:001 Kievan Rus' Kyivan Rus' Ukraine map 1220 1240.jpg|Historical map of Kievan Rus', last 20 years of the state (1220–1240).
+File:Kingdom of Galicia Volhynia Rus' Ukraine 1245 1349.jpg|The [[Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia]] or Kingdom of Halych-Volynia (1245–1349).
+File:Grand Duchy of Lithuania Rus and Samogitia 1434.jpg|Historical map of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], Rus' and Samogitia until 1434.
+File:Polish Lithuanian Ruthenian Commonwealth 1658 historical map.jpg|Proposed [[Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth]] or Commonwealth of Three Nations (1658).
+File:007 Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and Russian Empire 1751.jpg|Historical map of Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and territory of Zaporozhian Cossacks under rule of [[Russian Empire]] (1751).
+</gallery>
+</center>
+
+==Geography==
+{{Main|Geography of Ukraine}}
+
+At {{convert|603628|km2|sqmi}} and with a coastline of {{convert|2782|km|mi}}, Ukraine is the world's [[List of countries and outlying territories by area|46th-largest country]] (after [[South Sudan]], before [[Madagascar]]). It is the largest wholly European country and the [[Europe#Territories and regions|second largest country]] in Europe (after the European part of Russia, before [[metropolitan France]]).{{Ref label|I|i|none}}<ref name="cia"/> It lies between latitudes [[44th parallel north|44°]] and [[53rd parallel north|53° N]], and longitudes [[22nd meridian east|22°]] and [[41st meridian east|41° E]].
+
+The landscape of Ukraine consists mostly of fertile plains (or [[steppes]]) and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the [[Dnieper River|Dnieper]] ({{lang|uk-Latn|''Dnipro''}}), [[Seversky Donets]], [[Dniester]] and the [[Southern Bug|Southern Buh]] as they flow south into the [[Black Sea]] and the smaller [[Sea of Azov]]. To the southwest, the [[Danube Delta|delta]] of the [[Danube]] forms the border with Romania. Its various regions have diverse geographic features ranging from the highlands to the lowlands. The country's only mountains are the [[Carpathian Mountains]] in the west, of which the highest is the [[Hora Hoverla]] at {{convert|2061|m}}, and the [[Crimean Mountains]] on Crimea, in the extreme south along the coast.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30093/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080115052701/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30093/Ukraine|archivedate=15 January 2008|title=Ukraine – Relief|accessdate=27 December 2007|work=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)}}</ref> However Ukraine also has a number of highland regions such as the Volyn-Podillia Upland (in the west) and the Near-Dnipro Upland (on the right bank of Dnieper); to the east there are the south-western spurs of the Central Russian Uplands over which runs the border with Russian Federation. Near the Sea of Azov can be found the Donets Ridge and the Near Azov Upland. The [[snow melt]] from the mountains feeds the rivers, and natural changes in altitude form a sudden drop in elevation and create many opportunities to form [[waterfalls of Ukraine|waterfalls]].
+
+{{Gallery
+|title=
+|width=200 | height=210 | lines=4
+|align=center
+|File:ПОЗИТИВ...jpg|View of [[Ukrainian Carpathian mountains|Carpathian National Park]] from [[Hoverla]] at 2,061 metres (6,762 ft), the highest mountain in Ukraine.
+|File:Vorozheska Zak-153.jpg|Lake Vorozheske
+|File:Карпатский 05.jpg|View of [[Ukrainian Carpathian mountains|Carpathian National Park]].
+|File:Flag colors.jpg|Typical agricultural landscape of Ukraine, [[Kherson Oblast]]
+|File:Тиха бухта10.jpg|View of "Tykhaya Bay" near [[Koktebel]] on [[Crimean Peninsula|Crimea]]'s [[Black Sea]] coast
+|File:Widok na szczyt Aj-Petri ze statku 03.JPG| The [[Ai-Petri]]'s peak is {{convert|1234.2|m|ft}} above mean sea level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukrainian.su/kurortnyie-rayonyi-kryima/gora-ay-petri.html|title=Города и области Украины – Гора Ай-Петри [Cities and regions of Ukraine – Mount Ai-Petri&#93;|publisher=Ukrainian.su |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref>
+|file:Швидка квітнева вода.jpg| Balkhovitin, Zuivskyi regional landscape park, [[Donetsk Oblast]]
+}}
+
+Significant natural resources in Ukraine include iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulphur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber and an abundance of arable land. Despite this, the country faces a number of major environmental issues such as inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution and deforestation, as well as radiation contamination in the north-east from the [[Chernobyl disaster|1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]]. [[Hazardous Waste Recycling|Recycling toxic household waste]] is still in its infancy in Ukraine.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/118498/ Environment suffers from lack of recycling], [[Kyiv Post]] (9 December 2011)</ref>
+
+===Biodiversity===
+Ukraine is home to a very wide range of animals, fungi, micro-organisms and plants.
+
+====Animals====
+{{See also|List of fish in Ukraine|List of fish of the Black Sea}}
+{{multiple image
+   | align = right
+
+   | image1 = Spermophilus suslicus2.JPG
+   | width1 = 184
+   | caption1 = The [[speckled ground squirrel]] is a native of the east Ukrainian steppes
+   | alt1 = speckled ground squirrel
+
+  | image2 = Бусол на о. Світязь.jpg
+   | width2 = 185
+   | caption2 = [[White stork]]s are native to south-western and north-western Ukraine
+   | alt2 = White storks danube
+
+}}
+Ukraine is divided into two main zoological areas. One of these areas, in the west of the country, is made up of the borderlands of Europe, where there are species typical of mixed forests, the other is located in eastern Ukraine, where steppe-dwelling species thrive. In the forested areas of the country it is not uncommon to find lynxes, wolves, wild boar and martens, as well as many other similar species; this is especially true of the [[Carpathian Mountains]], where a large number of predatory mammals make their home, as well as a contingent of brown bears. Around Ukraine's lakes and rivers beavers, otters and mink make their home, whilst within, carp, bream and catfish are the most commonly found species of fish. In the central and eastern parts of the country, rodents such as hamsters and gophers are found in large numbers.
+
+====Fungi====
+More than 6,600 [[species]] of [[Fungus|fungi]] (including [[lichen]]-forming species) have been recorded from Ukraine,<ref>D.W. Minter and Dudka, I.O. "Fungi of Ukraine – a preliminary checklist". CAB International, 1996</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/robigalia/eng/index.htm |title=Cybertruffle's Robigalia – Observations of fungi and their associated organisms |publisher=cybertruffle.org.uk |accessdate=13 July 2011}}</ref> but this number is far from complete. The true total number of fungal species occurring in Ukraine, including species not yet recorded, is likely to be far higher, given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have so far been discovered.<ref>Kirk, P.M., Cannon, P.F., Minter, D.W. and Stalpers, J. "Dictionary of the Fungi". Edn 10. CABI, 2008</ref> Although the amount of available information is still very small, a first effort has been made to estimate the number of fungal species endemic to Ukraine, and 2217 such species have been tentatively identified.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cybertruffle.org.uk/ukrafung/eng/endelist.htm |title=Fungi of Ukraine – potential endemics |publisher=cybertruffle.org.uk |accessdate=13 July 2011}}</ref>
+
+===Climate===
+{{Main|Climate of Ukraine}}
+
+Ukraine has a mostly [[temperate climate|temperate]] [[continental climate]], although the southern coast has a [[humid subtropical climate]].<ref>{{cite journal| last = Kottek | first = M.| first2=J.| last2=Grieser|first3= C.|last3= Beck|first4=B.|last4= Rudolf|first5=F.|last5= Rubel | title =World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated | journal =Meteorol. Z.| volume =15 | pages =259–263 | url =http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/pdf/kottek_et_al_2006_A4.pdf | doi =10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130 | accessdate = 15 February 2007 | year =2006 | issue = 3 }}</ref> [[precipitation (meteorology)|Precipitation]] is disproportionately distributed; it is highest in the west and north and lowest in the east and southeast. Western Ukraine receives around {{convert|1200|mm|in|1}} of precipitation annually, while Crimea receives around {{convert|400|mm|in|1}}. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland. Average annual temperatures range from {{convert|5.5|–|7|°C|°F|1}} in the north, to {{convert|11|–|13|°C|°F|1}} in the south.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30096/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080115052711/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30096/Ukraine|archivedate=15 January 2008|title=Ukraine – Climate|accessdate=27 December 2007|work=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)}}</ref>
+
+==Politics==
+[[File:Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007.jpg|right|thumb|In the modern era, Ukraine has become a much more democratic country<ref>[http://books.google.nl/books?id=Wp7VKL4p7kQC&pg=PA63&dq=vote+rigging+Ukraine&hl=nl&ei=phVxTqClNIGdOqDkmJMJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=vote%20rigging%20Ukraine&f=false Understanding Ukrainian Politics:Power, Politics, And Institutional Design] by [[Paul D'Anieri]], [[M.E. Sharpe]], 2006, ISBN 978-0-7656-1811-5 (p. 63)</ref><ref>[http://euobserver.com/?aid=29431 EU endorses Ukraine election result], [[euobserver]] (8 February 2010)</ref><ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803583.html International observers say Ukrainian election was free and fair], [[Washington Post]] (9 February 2010)</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59077/ European Parliament president greets Ukraine on conducting free and fair presidential election], [[Kyiv Post]] (9 February 2010)</ref>]]
+{{Main|Politics of Ukraine|Government of Ukraine|Elections in Ukraine}}
+{{Further|2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine|2014 Crimean crisis}}
+
+Ukraine is a republic under a mixed semi-parliamentary [[semi-presidential system]] with separate [[legislative branch|legislative]], [[executive branch|executive]], and [[judicial branch]]es.
+
+===The Constitution of Ukraine===
+{{Main|Constitution of Ukraine}}
+With the proclamation of its independence on 24 August 1991, and adoption of a constitution on 28 June 1996, Ukraine became a semi-presidential republic. However, in 2004, deputies introduced changes to the Constitution, which tipped the balance of power in favour of a [[parliamentary system]]. From 2004 to 2010, the legitimacy of the 2004 Constitutional amendments had official sanction, both with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and most major political parties.<ref name="1oct">{{cite web|author=Віталій Портников |url=http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/2174109.html |title=Vitaly Portnykov. "Comment on the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on elimination of political reform in 2004 for Radio Liberty asked Nicholas Onischuk, former Justice Minister&nbsp;... 25 February 2008 the Constitutional Court came to the conclusion that this bill can not be subject to constitutional control, but now we see that the Constitutional Court concluded that it can". 01.10.2010 |publisher=Radiosvoboda.org |accessdate=31 October 2011}}</ref> Despite this, on 30 September 2010 the Constitutional Court ruled that the amendments were null and void, forcing a return to the terms of the 1996 Constitution and again making Ukraine's political system more presidential in character.
+
+The ruling on the 2004 Constitutional amendments became a major topic of political discourse. Much of the concern was due to the fact that neither the Constitution of 1996 nor the Constitution of 2004 provided the ability to "undo the Constitution", as the decision of the Constitutional Court would have it, even though the 2004 constitution arguably has an exhaustive list of possible procedures for constitutional amendments (articles 154–159). In any case, the current Constitution could be modified by a vote in Parliament.<ref name="1oct"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/article/3o3zxoz9 |title=Address Tymoshenko to the people: "1 October 2010 – marks the end of Ukraine's democracy and beginning of dictatorship". This morning the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, defying all logic of constitutional law, arbitrarily announced a new constitutional order in Ukraine. The court illegally appropriated the rights held by the people and Verkhovna Rada. 1 October 2010 |publisher=Tymoshenko.ua |accessdate=31 October 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/2174129.html Sergey Grabovsky. "Judicial absurd or Kotlyarevsky laughs again"&nbsp;... It turns out that "stability of the constitutional order" – it will not change his voter or even parliament, and the decision of 18 judges. 01.10.2010.]{{clarify|date=October 2011}}</ref>
+
+On 21 February 2014 an agreement between President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders saw the country return to the 2004 Constitution. The historic agreement, brokered by the [[European Union]], followed protests that began in late November 2013 and culminated in a week of violent clashes in which scores of protesters were killed. In addition to returning the country to the 2004 Constitution, the deal provided for the formation of a coalition government, the calling of early elections, and the release of former Prime Minister [[Yulia Tymoshenko]] from prison.<ref name="Ukraine2014protests">{{cite web|title=President Yanukovych and Ukraine opposition sign early poll deal|url=http://www.europesun.com/index.php/sid/220190358/scat/88176adfdf246af5/ht/President-Yanukovych-and-Ukraine-opposition-sign-early-poll-deal|date=19 February 2014|publisher=''Europe Sun''}}</ref> A day after the agreement was reached the Ukraine parliament dismissed Yanukovych and installed its speaker [[Oleksandr Turchynov]] as interim president<ref name="UkrainePresidentReplaced">{{cite web|title=Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26312008|date=19 February 2014|publisher=''BBC News''}}</ref> and [[Arseniy Yatsenyuk]] as the [[Prime Minister of Ukraine]].<ref>"[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/04/who-governing-ukraine-olexander-turchynov Who exactly is governing Ukraine?]". ''The Guardian''. 4 March 2014.</ref>
+
+===The president, parliament and government===
+{{triple image|right||135|Pres-adm-ukraine-2008.jpg|120|Pechersk 28 09 13 077.jpg|121|<center>The session chamber of the [[Verkhovna Rada]], the Parliament of Ukraine</center>|<center>Home of the [[President of Ukraine]]</center>|<center>[[Cabinet of Ukraine]] building</center>}}
+The [[President of Ukraine|President]] is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal [[head of state]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article%3fart_id=235995&cat_id=32672 |title=General Articles about Ukraine |accessdate=24 December 2007|work=Government Portal}}</ref>
+Ukraine's legislative branch includes the 450-seat [[unicameral]] parliament, the [[Verkhovna Rada]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://portal.rada.gov.ua/|title=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine |accessdate=24 December 2007 |work=[[Verkhovna Rada|Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine]] Official Web-site}}</ref> The parliament is primarily responsible for the formation of the executive branch and the [[Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine|Cabinet of Ministers]], headed by the [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|Prime Minister]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Ukraine |title=Constitution of Ukraine |accessdate=24 December 2007|work=[[Wikisource]]}}</ref> However, the President still retains the authority to nominate the Ministers of the Foreign Affairs and of Defence for parliamentary approval, as well as the power to appoint the [[Prosecutor General of Ukraine|Prosecutor General]] and the head of the [[Security Service of Ukraine|Security Service]].
+
+Laws, acts of the parliament and the cabinet, presidential decrees, and acts of the [[Verkhovna Rada of Crimea|Crimean parliament]] may be abrogated by the [[Constitutional Court of Ukraine|Constitutional Court]], should they be found to violate the constitution. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The [[Supreme Court of Ukraine|Supreme Court]] is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction.
+Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. The heads of regional and district administrations are appointed by the President in accordance with the proposals of the Prime Minister. This system virtually requires an agreement between the President and the Prime Minister, and has in the past led to problems, such as when President Yushchenko exploited a perceived loophole by appointing so-called 'temporarily acting' officers, instead of actual governors or local leaders, thus evading the need to seek a compromise with the Prime Minister. This practice was controversial and was subject to Constitutional Court review.
+
+Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocs) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections.
+
+=== Courts and law enforcement ===
+{{Main|Judicial system of Ukraine|Law enforcement in Ukraine}}
+[[File:Pechersk 28 09 13 396.JPG|thumb|The [[Klov Palace|Klovsky Palace]] is home to the [[Supreme Court of Ukraine]].]]
+[[File:VVM 2007 foto 0284.JPG|thumb|Officers of the Highways' Police ''(ДАI)'' during a [[marathon]].]]
+The courts enjoy legal, financial and constitutional freedom guaranteed by Ukrainian law since 2002. Judges are largely well protected from dismissal (except in the instance of gross misconduct). Court justices are appointed by presidential decree for an initial period of five years, after which Ukraine's Supreme Council confirms their positions for life. Although there are still problems, the system is considered to have been much improved since Ukraine's independence in 1991. The Supreme Court is regarded as an independent and impartial body, and has on several occasions ruled against the Ukrainian government. The [[World Justice Project]] ranks Ukraine 66 out of 99 countries surveyed in its annual Rule of Law Index.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldjusticeproject.org/#/index/UKR|title=WJP Rule of Law Index Rankings|publisher=}}</ref>
+
+[[Prosecutor]]s in Ukraine have greater powers than in most European countries, and according to the [[European Commission for Democracy through Law]] 'the role and functions of the Prosecutor's Office is not in accordance with [[Council of Europe]] standards".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/62548/ Prosecutors fail to solve biggest criminal cases], [[Kyiv Post]] (25 March 2010)</ref> The criminal judicial system maintains an average [[conviction rate]] of over 99%,<ref>{{uk icon}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/03/8/6985181/ Українські суди майже не виносять виправдувальних вироків ''Ukrainian courts almost can not stand the acquittals''], [[Ukrayinska Pravda]] (8 March 2013)</ref> equal to the conviction rate of the [[Soviet Union]], with<ref name=Moskal>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/62565/ Moskal: 'Rotten to the core'], Kyiv Post (25 March 2010)</ref> suspects often being incarcerated for long periods before trial.<ref name=rotten>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/62564/ Jackpot], Kyiv Post, 25 March 2010</ref> On 24 March 2010, President Yanukovych formed an expert group to make recommendations how to "clean up the current mess and adopt a law on court organization".<ref name=rotten/> One day later, he stated "We can no longer disgrace our country with such a court system."<ref name=rotten/> The criminal judicial system and the prison system of Ukraine remain quite punitive.
+
+Since 1 January 2010 it has been permissible to hold court proceedings in Russian by mutual consent of the parties. Citizens unable to speak [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] or Russian may use their native language or the services of a translator.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/118997/ "Constitutional Court rules Russian, other languages can be used in Ukrainian courts]". ''[[Kyiv Post]]''. 15 December 2011.<br>{{uk icon}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/06/23/4045262/ "З подачі "Регіонів" Рада дозволила російську у судах]". ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]''. 23 June 2009.<br>[http://novynar.com.ua/politics/126686]{{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ua.for-ua.com/ukraine/2010/07/29/113049.html|title=Російська мова стала офіційною в українських судах|work=for-ua.com}}</ref> Previously all court proceedings had to be held in Ukrainian.
+
+Law enforcement agencies in Ukraine are organised under the authority of the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine|Ministry of Internal Affairs]]. They consist primarily of the national police force ''([[Militsiya|Мiлiцiя]])'' and various specialised units and agencies such as the [[State Border Guard Service of Ukraine|State Border Guard]] and the [[Ukrainian Sea Guard|Coast Guard]] services. Law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, faced criticism for their heavy handling of the 2004 [[Orange Revolution]]. Many thousands of police officers were stationed throughout the capital, primarily to dissuade protesters from challenging the state's authority but also to provide a quick reaction force in case of need; most officers were armed.<ref name=NYTSBU>C. J. Chivers, [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0913FF395C0C748DDDA80894DD404482 BACK CHANNELS: A Crackdown Averted; How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 17 January 2005.</ref> Bloodshed was only avoided when Lt. Gen. [[Sergei Popkov]] heeded his colleagues' calls to withdraw.
+
+The Ministry of Internal Affairs is also responsible for the maintenance of the [[Security Service of Ukraine|State Security Service]]; Ukraine's domestic intelligence agency, which has on occasion been accused of acting like a [[secret police]] force serving to protect the country's political elite from media criticism. On the other hand however, it is widely accepted that members of the service provided vital information about government plans to the leaders of the Orange Revolution to prevent the collapse of the movement.
+
+=== Foreign relations ===
+{{Main|Foreign relations of Ukraine|International membership of Ukraine|Ukraine–European Union relations}}
+[[File:Asia-Europe (ASEM) Summit meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, October 2014.jpg|thumb|[[Vladimir Putin]] in Milan with President of Ukraine [[Petro Poroshenko]], Federal Chancellor of Germany [[Angela Merkel]], October 2014]]
+In 1999–2001, Ukraine served as a non-permanent member of the [[UN Security Council]]. Historically, Soviet Ukraine joined the United Nations in 1945 as one of the original members following a Western compromise with the Soviet Union, which had asked for seats for all 15 of its union republics. Ukraine has consistently supported peaceful, negotiated settlements to disputes. It has participated in the quadripartite talks on the conflict in Moldova and promoted a peaceful resolution to conflict in the post-Soviet state of Georgia. Ukraine also has made a substantial contribution to UN [[peacekeeping]] operations since 1992.
+
+Ukraine currently considers Euro-Atlantic integration its primary foreign policy objective,<ref name="result of Russia">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/241388.html Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic integration – Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic integration – Poroshenko], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (23 December 2014)<br>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/241359.html Ukraine abolishes its non-aligned status – law], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (23 December 2014)<br>[http://www.euronews.com/2014/12/23/ukraine-s-complicated-path-to-nato-membership/ Ukraine’s complicated path to NATO membership], [[Euronews]] (23 December 2014)<br>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/world/europe/ukraine-parliament-nato-vote.html?_r=1 Ukraine Takes Step Toward Joining NATO], [[New York Times]] (23 December 2014)<br>http://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-ends-nonaligned-status-earning-quick-rebuke-from-russia-1419339226 Ukraine Ends ‘Nonaligned’ Status, Earning Quick Rebuke From Russia, [[The Wall Street journal]] (23 December 2014)</ref> but in practice it has always balanced its relationship with the European Union and the United States with strong ties to Russia. The [[European Union]]'s Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Ukraine went into force on 1 March 1998. The European Union (EU) has encouraged Ukraine to implement the PCA fully before discussions begin on an association agreement. The EU Common Strategy toward Ukraine, issued at the EU Summit in December 1999 in [[Helsinki]], recognizes Ukraine's long-term aspirations but does not discuss association. On 31 January 1992, Ukraine joined the then-Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the [[Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe]] (OSCE), and on 10 March 1992, it became a member of the [[North Atlantic Cooperation Council]]. [[Ukraine–NATO relations]] are close and the country has declared interest in eventual membership.<ref name="result of Russia"/> This was removed from the government's foreign policy agenda upon election of [[Viktor Yanukovych]] to the presidency, in 2010.<ref name="result of Russia"/> But after February 2014's [[2014 Ukrainian revolution|Yanukovych ouster]] and the (denied by Russia) following Russian military intervention in Ukraine Ukraine renewed its drive for NATO membership.<ref name="result of Russia"/> Ukraine is the most active member of the [[Partnership for Peace]] (PfP). All major political parties in Ukraine support full eventual integration into the European Union. The Association Agreement with the EU was expected to be signed and put into effect by the end of 2011, but the process was suspended by 2012 due to the political developments of that time.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/116043/ | title=Teixeira: Ukraine's EU integration suspended, association agreement unlikely to be signed | publisher=[[Interfax]] | date=31 August 2012 | accessdate=6 September 2012}}</ref>
+
+Ukraine long had close ties with all its neighbours, but [[Russia–Ukraine relations]] became difficult in 2014 by the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of Crimea]], energy dependence and payment disputes.
+
+Ukraine is included in the European Union's [[European Neighbourhood Policy]] (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.
+
+===Administrative divisions===
+{{Main|Administrative divisions of Ukraine|Ukrainian historical regions}}
+The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects the country's status as a [[unitary state]] (as stated in the country's constitution) with unified legal and [[Local government|administrative]] regimes for each unit.
+
+Ukraine consists of 27 regions which are twenty-four [[oblast]]s (provinces) and one [[autonomous republic]] ({{lang|uk-Latn|''avtonomna respublika''}}), [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea|Crimea]]. Additionally, the cities of [[Kiev]], the capital, and [[Sevastopol]], both have a special legal status. The 24 oblasts and Crimea are subdivided into 490 {{lang|uk-Latn|''[[raion]]s''}} (districts) and city municipalities of regional significance, or second-level administrative units. The average area of a Ukrainian raion is {{convert|1200|km2|sqmi}}; the average population of a raion is 52,000 people.<ref name="oblasts">{{cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/a002|title=Regions of Ukraine and their divisions|accessdate=24 December 2007|work=[[Verkhovna Rada|Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine]] Official Web-site|language=Ukrainian}}</ref>
+
+[[Populated places in Ukraine]] are split into two categories: urban and rural. Urban populated places are split further into cities and [[urban-type settlement]]s (a Soviet administrative invention), while rural populated places consist of villages and settlements (a generally used term). All cities have certain degree of self-rule depending on their significance such as national significance (as in the case of Kiev and Sevastopol), regional significance (within each oblast or autonomous republic) or district significance (all the rest of cities). City's significance depends on several factors such as its population, socio-economic and historical importance, infrastructure and others.
+
+Following the [[2014 Crimean crisis]], [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea|Crimea]] and [[Sevastopol]] became [[de facto]] administrated by the Russian Federation, which [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|claims them]] as the [[Republic of Crimea]] and the [[Federal cities of Russia|federal city]] of [[Sevastopol]]. They are still recognised as being Ukrainian territory by the majority of the international community.
+{{Further|Political status of Crimea and Sevastopol|2014 Crimean crisis}}
+{{Oblasts of Ukraine|options=float:left; border:3px; max-width:460px;}}
+
+{| style="width:98%; background:none;"
+|-
+|
+{| style="width:98%; background:none;"
+|-
+|
+{| class="navbox" style="width:100%; background:none; border:1px; text-align:left; valign:top;"
+|-
+!colspan=6|<center>[[Oblasts of Ukraine|Oblasts]]</center>
+|-
+|
+*[[Cherkasy Oblast|Cherkasy]]
+*[[Chernihiv Oblast|Chernihiv]]
+*[[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernivtsi]]
+*[[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Dnipropetrovsk]]
+*[[Donetsk Oblast|Donetsk]]
+|
+*[[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]]
+*[[Kharkiv Oblast|Kharkiv]]
+*[[Kherson Oblast|Kherson]]
+*[[Khmelnytskyi Oblast|Khmelnytskyi]]
+*[[Kiev Oblast|Kiev]]
+|
+*[[Kirovohrad Oblast|Kirovohrad]]
+*[[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk]]
+*[[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]]
+*[[Mykolaiv Oblast|Mykolaiv]]
+*[[Odessa Oblast|Odessa]]
+|
+*[[Poltava Oblast|Poltava]]
+*[[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]]
+*[[Sumy Oblast|Sumy]]
+*[[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]]
+*[[Vinnytsia Oblast|Vinnytsia]]
+| valign="top"|
+*[[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]]
+*[[Zakarpattia Oblast|Zakarpattia]]
+*[[Zaporizhia Oblast|Zaporizhia]]
+*[[Zhytomyr Oblast|Zhytomyr]]
+|-
+!colspan=2|<center>'''[[Autonomous republic]]'''</center>
+!colspan=3|<center>'''[[Cities with special status]]'''</center>
+|-
+|colspan=2|
+*[[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]]
+| colspan="3" style="vertical-align:top;"|
+*[[Kiev|City of Kiev]]
+*[[Sevastopol|City of Sevastopol]]
+|}
+|}
+|-
+|
+|}
+
+===Armed forces===
+{{Main|Military of Ukraine}}
+After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a 780,000-man military force on its territory, equipped with the third-largest [[nuclear weapons and Ukraine|nuclear weapons arsenal]] in the world.<ref name=milgov/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/ukraine/index.html |title=Ukraine Special Weapons |accessdate=24 December 2007 |publisher= GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref> In May 1992, Ukraine signed the [[Lisbon Protocol]] in which the country agreed to give up all nuclear weapons to Russia for disposal and to join the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] as a non-nuclear weapon state. Ukraine ratified the treaty in 1994, and by 1996 the country became free of nuclear weapons.<ref name=milgov>{{cite web |url= http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=history&sub=history |title=The history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine |accessdate=5 July 2008|publisher= [[Ministry of Defence of Ukraine]]}}</ref>
+{{triple image|right|Ukrainian_BTR-80.jpg|135|Het'man Sahaidachnyi ide na chornomu mori 2012-07-17.jpg|135|Sukhoi Su-27UB Flanker-C 69 blue (11995121964).jpg|135|<center>[[BTR 80]] in [[Multi-National Force – Iraq]]</center>|<center>[[Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy (U130)]]</center>|<center>[[Sukhoi Su-27UB]] in [[Ukrainian Air Force|Ukrainian]] service</center>}}
+Ukraine took consistent steps toward reduction of conventional weapons. It signed the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]], which called for reduction of tanks, artillery, and armoured vehicles (army forces were reduced to 300,000). The country plans to convert the current [[conscript]]-based military into a professional [[volunteer military]].<ref name="wbook06">{{cite web |url= http://www.mil.gov.ua/files/white_book_eng2006.pdf |title=White Book 2006 |accessdate=24 December 2007 |publisher= Ministry of Defense of Ukraine}}{{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref>
+
+Ukraine has been playing an increasingly larger role in peacekeeping operations. On Friday 3 January 2014, the Ukrainian frigate ''Hetman Sagaidachniy'' joined the European Union’s counter piracy [[Operation Atalanta]] and will be part of the EU Naval Force off the coast of [[Somalia]] for two months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eunavfor.eu/ukrainian-navy-warship-hetman-sagaidachniy-joins-eu-naval-force-counter-piracy-operation-atalanta/ |title=Ukrainian Navy Warship Hetman Sagaidachniy Joins EU Naval Force Counter Piracy Operation Atalanta |publisher=Eunavfor.eu |date=6 January 2014 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> Ukrainian troops are deployed in [[Kosovo]] as part of the [[Polish-Ukrainian Peace Force Battalion|Ukrainian-Polish Battalion]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=peacekeeping&sub=kfor_kosovo |title=Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Kosovo, KFOR |accessdate=24 December 2007 |publisher= Ministry of Defense of Ukraine}}</ref> A Ukrainian unit was deployed in [[Lebanon]], as part of [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|UN Interim Force]] enforcing the mandated ceasefire agreement. There was also a maintenance and training battalion deployed in [[Sierra Leone]]. In 2003–05, a Ukrainian unit was deployed as part of the [[Multinational force in Iraq]] under Polish command. The total Ukrainian armed forces deployment around the world is 562 servicemen.<ref>
+{{cite web |url= http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?part=peacekeeping&lang=en |title= Peacekeeping |accessdate=2 May 2008 |publisher= Ministry of Defense of Ukraine}}</ref>
+
+Military units of other states participate in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly, including [[U.S. military]] forces.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/67094 "Parliament approves admission of military units of foreign states to Ukraine for exercises". ''Kyiv Post''. 18 May 2010]{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref>
+
+Following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm|title=Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine|accessdate=24 December 2007|work=[[Verkhovna Rada|Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine]] Official Web-site}}</ref> The country has had a limited military partnership with Russian Federation, other CIS countries and a [[Partnership for Peace|partnership with NATO]] since 1994. In the 2000s, the government was leaning towards NATO, and a deeper cooperation with the alliance was set by the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan signed in 2002. It was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future.<ref name="wbook06"/> Recently deposed [[Ukrainian President|President]] [[Viktor Yanukovych]] considered the current level of co-operation between [[Ukraine–NATO relations|Ukraine and NATO]] sufficient,<ref name=NATOTAK>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/63797/ NATO confirms readiness for Ukraine's joining organization], Kyiv Post (13 April 2010)</ref> and was against Ukraine joining NATO.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6062P320100107 "Yanukovich vows to keep Ukraine out of NATO]". [[Reuters]]. 7 January 2010.</ref> During the [[2008 Bucharest summit]], NATO declared that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, whenever it wants and when it would correspond to the criteria for the accession.<ref name=NATOTAK/>{{Clear}}
+
+==Economy==
+{{Main|Economy of Ukraine}}
+{{Update|section|date=October 2014}}
+[[File:Ukraine, Trends in the Human Development Index 1970-2010.png|thumb|Trends in the Human Development Index of Ukraine, 1970–2010]]
+In Soviet times, the economy of Ukraine was the second largest in the Soviet Union, being an important industrial and agricultural component of the country's [[planned economy]].<ref name=cia/> With the dissolution of the Soviet system, the country moved from a planned economy to a [[market economy]]. The transition process was difficult for the majority of the population which plunged into poverty.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/966616.stm |title=Child poverty soars in eastern Europe|publisher=BBC News |date=11 October 2000 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> Ukraine's economy contracted severely following the years after the Soviet dissolution. Day-to-day life for the average person living in Ukraine was a struggle. A significant number of citizens in rural Ukraine survived by growing their own food, often working two or more jobs and buying the basic necessities through the [[barter economy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine|title=Independent Ukraine|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)}}</ref>
+[[File:Будинок Київської контори Державного банку.JPG|thumb|left|The [[National Bank of Ukraine building|building]] of the [[National Bank of Ukraine]]]]
+[[File:Нічний вид на БЦ Парус2.jpg|thumbnail|left|Kiev is home to most of Ukraine's largest private businesses, such as [[Parus Business Centre]]]]
+[[File:An-225 Mriya.jpg|thumb|[[Antonov An-225 Mriya]] has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.]]
+In 1991, the government liberalised most prices to combat widespread product shortages, and was successful in overcoming the problem. At the same time, the government continued to subsidise state-run industries and agriculture by uncovered monetary emission. The loose monetary policies of the early 1990s pushed inflation to [[hyperinflation]]ary levels. For the year 1993, Ukraine holds the world record for inflation in one calendar year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Skolotiany|first=Yuriy|title=The past and the future of Ukrainian national currency|url=http://www.mw.ua/2000/2040/54367/|accessdate=8 January 2014|newspaper=[[Zerkalo nedeli]]|date=8 September 2006|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625041853/http://www.mw.ua/2000/2040/54367/|archivedate=25 June 2008}}</ref> Those living on fixed incomes suffered the most.<ref name=Britannica/> Prices stabilised only after the introduction of new currency, the [[Ukrainian hryvnia|hryvnia]], in 1996.
+
+The country was also slow in implementing structural reforms. Following independence, the government formed a legal framework for [[privatisation]]. However, widespread resistance to reforms within the government and from a significant part of the population soon stalled the reform efforts. A large number of state-owned enterprises were exempt from the privatisation process.
+
+In the meantime, by 1999, the GDP had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/docs/factbook/print/up.html|title=Ukraine |edition=2002 |accessdate=5 July 2008 |work=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}</ref> It recovered considerably in the following years, but as at 2014 had yet to reach the historical maximum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/ukraine/gdp#NY.GDP.MKTP.PP.KD|title=Ukraine – gdp|accessdate=15 July 2012|work=Index Mundi}}</ref> In the early 2000s, the economy showed strong export-based growth of 5 to 10%, with industrial production growing more than 10% per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/wofact2004/geos/up.html|title=CIA World Factbook – Ukraine. 2004 edition|accessdate=5 July 2008|work=CIA}}</ref> Ukraine was hit by the [[economic crisis of 2008]] and in November 2008, the IMF approved a stand-by loan of $16.5 billion for the country.<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/3243/ "Head of IMF's Resident Representative Office in Ukraine to change his job"]. [[Interfax|Interfax-Ukraine]]. Retrieved 17 December 2008.</ref>
+
+Ukraine's 2010 GDP ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]]), as calculated by the [[CIA]], is ranked [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|38th in the world]] and estimated at $305.2&nbsp;billion.<ref name=cia/> Its GDP per capita in 2010 according to the CIA was $6,700 (in PPP terms), ranked 107th in the world.<ref name=cia/> Nominal GDP (in U.S. dollars, calculated at market exchange rate) was $136&nbsp;billion, [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|ranked 53rd in the world]].<ref name=cia/> By July 2008 the average nominal salary in Ukraine reached 1,930&nbsp;hryvnias per month.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2008/gdn/reg_zp_m/reg_zpm08_u.htm|title=Average Wage Income in 2008 by Region|accessdate=5 July 2008|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine}}</ref> Despite remaining lower than in neighbouring central European countries, the salary income growth in 2008 stood at 36.8%<ref name=BohdanD/>
+
+[[File:Ukrainian salary map.png|thumb|Ukrainian administrative divisions by [[List of Ukrainian oblasts and territories by salary|monthly salary]]]]
+Ukraine produces nearly all types of transportation vehicles and [[National Space Agency of Ukraine|spacecraft]]. Antonov airplanes and [[KrAZ]] trucks are exported to many countries. The majority of Ukrainian exports are marketed to the [[European Union]] and [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2005/zd/zd_rik/zd_u/gs_u.html|title=Structure export and import, 2006|accessdate=5 July 2008|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine}}</ref> Since independence, Ukraine has maintained its own space agency, the [[National Space Agency of Ukraine]] (NSAU). Ukraine became an active participant in scientific space exploration and remote sensing missions. Between 1991 and 2007, Ukraine has launched six self made [[satellites]] and 101 [[launch vehicle]]s, and continues to design spacecraft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nkau.gov.ua/nsau/catalogNEW.nsf/mainE/731F5A089D942FA8C2256FBF002DFA78?OpenDocument&Lang=E|title=Statistics of Launches of Ukrainian LV|accessdate=24 December 2007|work=[[National Space Agency of Ukraine]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessukraine.com.ua/missile-defence-nato-ukraine-s|title=Missile defence, NATO: Ukraine's tough call|accessdate=5 July 2008|publisher=Business Ukraine |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20080325011150/http://www.businessukraine.com.ua/missile-defence-nato-ukraine-s |archivedate = 25 March 2008}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/ukraine/|title=Ukraine Special Weapons|accessdate=5 July 2008|work=The Nuclear Information Project}}</ref>
+
+The country imports most energy supplies, especially oil and natural gas and to a large extent depends on Russia as its energy supplier. While 25% of the natural gas in Ukraine comes from internal sources, about 35% comes from Russia and the remaining 40% from Central Asia through transit routes that Russia controls. At the same time, 85% of the Russian gas is delivered to [[Western Europe]] through Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pirani|first=Simon|url=http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NG21-UkrainesGasSector-SimonPirani-2007.pdf|title=Ukraine's Gas Sector|date=June 2007|accessdate=8 January 2014|format=PDF|publisher=[[Oxford Institute for Energy Studies]]|page=36}}</ref>
+
+Growing sectors of the Ukrainian economy include the information technology (IT) market, which topped all other [[Central Europe|Central]] and Eastern European countries in 2007, growing some 40&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/BallmerVisitsUkrainePR_21052008.mspx|title=Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Visits Ukraine|accessdate=28 July 2008|last=Ballmer|first=Steve|date=20 May 2008|publisher=[[Microsoft]]}}{{Failed verification|date=July 2014}}</ref> In 2013, Ukraine ranked fourth in the world in number of certified [[information technology|IT]] professionals after the [[United States]], [[India]] and [[Russia]].<ref name=ITUkrM2013>{{uk icon}} [http://www.unian.ua/news/562063-ukrajina-chetverta-v-sviti-za-kilkistyu-it-fahivtsiv.html Україна – четверта в світі за кількістю ІТ-фахівців ''Ukraine in fourth place in the world in the number of IT professionals''], [[UNIAN]] (27 March 2013)</ref>
+
+Ukraine's 2010 GDP, as calculated by the [[World Bank]], was around $136&nbsp;billion, 2011 GDP – around $163&nbsp;billion, 2012 – $176.6&nbsp;billion, 2013 – $177.4&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD/countries/UA?display=graph|title=GDP (current US$)|publisher=}}</ref> In 2014 and 2015, the Ukrainian currency was the world's worst performing currency, having dropped 80 percent of its value since April 2014 since the [[War in Donbass]] and the [[2014 Crimean crisis|annexation of Crimea]] by Russia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine sharply raises interest rates to 30 per cent |newspaper=Financial Times |date=4 March 2015 |accessdate=4 March 2015 |first=Roman |last=Olearchyk |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e6570d34-c1b0-11e4-8b74-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3TQRg3ehM}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://m.bbc.com/news/business-31721332|title=Ukraine raises interest rates to 30%|work=BBC News|date=3 March 2015|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>
+
+The [[World Bank]] classifies Ukraine as a middle-income state.<ref>{{cite web|title=What are Middle-Income Countries?|url=http://go.worldbank.org/BDZHSEY4J0|publisher=[[The World Bank Group]]|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> Significant issues include underdeveloped infrastructure and transportation, corruption and bureaucracy. The public will to fight against corrupt officials and business elites culminated in a strong wave of public demonstrations against the Victor Yanukovych’s regime in November 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Business Corruption in Ukraine|url=http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/europe-central-asia/ukraine/business-corruption-in-ukraine.aspx|publisher=Business Anti-Corruption Portal|accessdate=25 March 2014}}</ref> In 2007 the [[PFTS Ukraine Stock Exchange|Ukrainian stock market]] recorded the second highest growth in the world of 130&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{cite news|first=Olga|last=Pogarska|title=Ukraine macroeconomic situation – February 2008|url=http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-238714.html|publisher=UNIAN news agency|accessdate=29 February 2008}}</ref> According to the CIA, in 2006 the market capitalization of the Ukrainian stock market was $111.8&nbsp;billion.<ref name=cia/>
+
+Ukraine has managed to achieve certain progress in reducing absolute poverty, ensuring access to primary and secondary education, improving maternal health and reducing child mortality.
+The poverty rate according to the absolute criterion (share of the population whose daily consumption is below US$5.05 (PPP)) was reduced from 11.9 percent in 2000 to 2.3 percent in 2012, and the poverty rate according to the relative criterion (share of the population below the national poverty line) decreased at the same time from 71.2 percent to 24.0 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ua.undp.org/content/ukraine/en/home/countryinfo/|title=About Ukraine}}</ref>
+
+===Corporations===
+[[File:Sea Launch 01.jpg|thumb|right|A launch of [[Zenit-3SL]] rocket from the [[Sea Launch]] platform ''[[Ocean Odyssey]]'']]
+Ukraine has a very large heavy-industry base and is one of the largest refiners of metallurgical products in Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usndt.com.ua/industry.htm |title=Industry of Ukraine |publisher=Usndt.com.ua |accessdate=30 December 2010}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref> However, the country is also well known for its production of high-technological goods and transport products, such as [[Antonov]] aircraft and various private and commercial vehicles.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://en.rian.ru/business/20100720/159879889.html |title=Ilyushin Finance to buy 10 An-158 planes from Ukraine's Antonov |work=RIA Novosti |date=20 July 2010 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> The country's largest and most competitive firms are components of the [[PFTS index]], traded on the [[PFTS Ukraine Stock Exchange]].
+
+Well-known Ukrainian brands include [[Naftogaz Ukrainy]], [[AvtoZAZ]], [[PrivatBank]], [[Roshen]], [[Yuzhmash]], [[Nemiroff]], [[Motor Sich]], [[Khortytsa (company)|Khortytsa]], [[Kyivstar]] and [[Aerosvit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukraineanalysis.wordpress.com/01/05/2008/brand-%E2%80%9Cukraine%E2%80%9D-will-be-reloaded-in-2012 |title=Brand "Ukraine" will be reloaded in 2012 |publisher=Ukraineanalysis.wordpress.com |date=1 May 2008 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+Ukraine is regarded as a developing economy with high potential for future success, though such a development is thought likely only with new all-encompassing economic and legal reforms.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ascent-ag.ch/files/inside/ukraine/Growth%20Potential%20of%20the%20Ukrainian%20Economy%20-%20Derrer.pdf |title=Growth Potential of the Ukrainian Economy: Is the “"Miracle”" Meant to Last? | author=Michael Derrer | date=2004 | accessdate=18 October 2014}}</ref> Although [[Foreign Direct Investment]] in Ukraine remained relatively strong since [[Early 1990s recession|recession of the early 1990s]], the country has had trouble maintaining stable economic growth. Issues relating to current corporate governance in Ukraine were primarily linked to the large scale monopolisation of traditional heavy industries by wealthy individuals such as [[Rinat Akhmetov]], the enduring failure to broaden the nation's economic base and a lack of effective legal protection for investors and their products.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/89520/ |title=U.S. embassy: Ukraine could again be put on list of copyright violators |work=Kyiv Post |agency=Interfax-Ukraine |date=10 November 2010 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> Despite all this, Ukraine's economy was still expected to grow by around 3.5% in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_general/detail/55329/ |title=Ukraine's economic growth to resume in 2010, unemployment to be high |work=Kyiv Post |date=17 December 2009 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
+
+===Transport===
+{{Main|Transport in Ukraine|Ukrainian Railways}}
+[[File:M18 Valki Interchange (Parclo) Ukraine.jpg|left|thumb|The Kharkiv-Dnipropetrovsk motorway ([[M180 motorway|M18]])]]
+Most of the Ukrainian road system has not been upgraded since the Soviet era, and is now outdated. In total, Ukrainian paved roads stretch for {{convert|164732|km|mi}}.<ref name=cia/> The network of major routes, marked with the letter 'M' for 'International' ''([[Ukrainian Language|Ukrainian]]: Міжнародний''), extends nationwide and connects all the major cities of Ukraine as well as providing cross-border routes to the country's neighbours. Currently there are only two true motorway standard highways in Ukraine; a {{convert|175|km|0|abbr=off}} stretch of motorway from [[Kharkiv]] to [[Dnipropetrovsk]] and a section of the M03 which extends {{convert|18|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Kiev]] to [[Boryspil]], where the city's [[Boryspil Airport|international airport]] is located.{{citation needed|date=July 2013|reason=Statistics (which includes distances) need citations.}}
+
+[[File:Скоростной поезд "Хендай".jpg|thumb|[[HRCS2 multiple unit]]. [[Ukrainian Railways|Rail transport]] is heavily utilised in Ukraine]]
+Rail transport in Ukraine plays the role of connecting all major urban areas, port facilities and [[industry|industrial centres]] with neighbouring countries. The heaviest concentration of [[railway track]] is located in the [[Donbas]] region of Ukraine. Although the amount of [[freight]] transported by rail fell by 7.4% in 1995 in comparison with 1994, Ukraine is still one of the [[rail usage statistics by country|world's highest rail users]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps3997/9510uktn.htm|title=Transportation in Ukraine|accessdate=22 December 2007|work= U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref> The total amount of railroad track in Ukraine extends for {{convert|22473|km|mi}}, of which {{convert|9250|km|mi}} is electrified.<ref name=cia/> Currently the state has a monopoly on the provision of passenger rail transport, and all trains, other than those with cooperation of other foreign companies on international routes, are operated by its company '[[Ukrainian Railways|Ukrzaliznytsia]]'.
+
+The aviation section in Ukraine is developing very quickly, having recently established a visa-free programme for EU nationals and citizens of a number of other Western nations,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrconsul.org/visa/visa_drops.htm |title=Consulate General of Ukraine |publisher=Ukrconsul.org |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> the nation's aviation sector is handling a significantly increased number of travellers. Additionally, the granting of the [[Euro 2012]] football tournament to Poland and Ukraine as joint hosts prompted the government to invest huge amounts of money into transport infrastructure, and in particular airports.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1520657.html |title=Kharkiv airport gets new terminal on |publisher=UEFA |date=28 August 2010 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
+
+[[Boryspil International Airport|Kiev Boryspil]] is the county's largest international airport; it has three main passenger terminals and is the base for both of Ukraine's national airlines. Other large airports in the country include those in [[Kharkiv International Airport|Kharkiv]], [[Lviv International Airport|Lviv]] and [[Donetsk International Airport|Donetsk]] (all of which have recently constructed, modern terminals and aviation facilities; however, Donetsk's is non-operational and in fact, in ruins due to fighting there between the pro-separatists and the Ukrainian Army), whilst those in [[Dnipropetrovsk International Airport|Dnipropetrovsk]] and [[Odessa International Airport|Odessa]] have plans for terminal upgrades in the near future. Ukraine has a number of airlines, the largest of which are the nation's [[flag carrier]]s, [[Aerosvit]] and [[Ukraine International Airlines|UIA]]. [[Antonov Airlines]], a subsidiary of the Antonov Aerospace Design Bureau is the only operator of the world's largest fixed wing aircraft, the [[An-225]].
+
+International maritime travel is mainly provided through the [[Port of Odessa]], from where ferries sail regularly to [[Istanbul]], [[Varna]] and [[Haifa]]. The largest ferry company presently operating these routes is [[UkrFerry|Ukrferry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrferry.com/ |title=Судоходная компания Укрферри. Морские паромные перевозки на Черном Море между Украиной, Грузией, Турцией и Болгарией |publisher=Ukrferry.com |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
+
+===Energy===
+{{Main |Energy in Ukraine}}
+In 2014, Ukraine was ranked number 19 on the Emerging Market Energy Security Growth Prosperity Index, published by the [[think tank]] Bisignis Institute, which ranks emerging market countries using government corruption, GDP growth and oil reserve information.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.bisignis.org/press/bisignis-institute-releases-new-country-profiles-for-azerbaijan-and-ukraine | title=Bisignis Institute releases new country profiles for Azerbaijan and Ukraine | publisher=Bisignis Institute | date=6 January 2014 | accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+====Fuel resources====
+Ukraine produces and processes its own natural gas and [[petroleum]]. However, the majority of these commodities are imported. Eighty percent of Ukrainian natural gas supplies are imported, mainly by [[Russia]].<ref>[http://books.google.nl/books?id=peTAGTpBHnkC&pg=PA393&dq=Natural+gas+in+Ukraine&client=firefox-a&cd=8#v=onepage&q=Natural%20gas%20in%20Ukraine&f=false Ukraine at the Crossroads: Economic Reforms in International Perspective] by Axel Siedenberg (Editor), Lutz Hoffmann, [[Physica-Verlag Heidelberg]], 1999, ISBN 3790811890/ISBN 978-3790811896 (page 393)</ref>
+
+Natural gas is heavily utilised not only in energy production but also by [[steel industry|steel]] and [[chemical industry|chemical]] industries of the country, as well as by the [[district heating]] sector. In 2012, [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell]] started exploration drilling for [[shale gas]] in Ukraine—a project aimed at the nation's total gas supply independence.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
+
+Ukraine has sufficient [[coal]] reserves and increases its use in electricity generation.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
+
+====Power generation====
+[[File:Kernkraftwerk Saporischschja.JPG|thumbnail|[[Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant]]]]
+Ukraine has been a net [[Electricity market|energy exporting]] country, for example in 2011, 3.3% of electricity produced were exported,<ref name="mpe.kmu.gov.ua">[http://mpe.kmu.gov.ua/fuel/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=216923&cat_id=35081 Інформаційна довідка про основні показники розвитку галузей паливно-енергетичного комплексу України за грудень та 2011 рік]{{uk icon}}</ref> but also one of Europe's largest [[Electricity|energy]] consumers.<ref name=eia>{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Ukraine/Full.html|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080327092522/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Ukraine/Full.html|archivedate=27 March 2008|title=Ukraine|accessdate=22 December 2007|work=[[Energy Information Administration]] (EIA)|publisher=US government}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref> As of 2011, 47.6% of total electricity generation was from [[nuclear power]]<ref name="mpe.kmu.gov.ua"/> The largest [[nuclear power plant]] in Europe, the [[Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant]], is located in Ukraine. Most of the nuclear fuel has been coming from [[Russia]].{{when|date=June 2014}} In 2008 [[Westinghouse Electric Company]] won a five-year contract selling nuclear fuel to three Ukrainian reactors starting in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Westinghouse Wins Contract to Provide Fuel Supplies to Ukraine|url=http://us.vocuspr.com/Newsroom/Query.aspx?SiteName=Westinghouse&Entity=PRAsset&SF_PRAsset_PRAssetID_EQ=64647&XSL=PressRelease&Cache=|work=30 March 2008|publisher=Westinghouse Electric|accessdate=15 April 2014|format=press release}}</ref>
+Following [[Euromaidan]] then President [[Viktor Yanukovich]] introduced a ban on [[Rosatom]] nuclear fuel shipments to Europe via Ukraine, which was in effect from 28 January until 6 March 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russia says restarts nuclear fuel transit to Europe via Ukraine|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/ukraine-crisis-russia-nuclear-idUSL6N0M50B820140308|accessdate=15 April 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=8 March 2014}}</ref> After the Russian annexation of Crimea in April 2014, the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine [[Energoatom]] and Westinghouse extended the contract for fuel deliveries through 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=Westinghouse and Ukraine’s Energoatom Extend Long-term Nuclear Fuel Contract|url=http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/News_Room/PressReleases/pr20140411.shtm|work=11 April 2014|publisher=Westinghouse|accessdate=15 April 2014}}{{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref>
+
+[[Coal]] and [[natural gas|gas]]-fired [[thermal power station]]s and [[hydro power|hydroelectricity]] are the second and third largest kinds of power generation in the country.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}
+
+====Renewable energy use====
+[[File:Perovosolarstation.jpg|thumbnail|[[Perovo Solar Park]]]]
+<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Ohotnikovo1.jpg|left|thumb|[[Okhotnykovo Solar Park]] in the Crimea is the world's fourth largest solar plant]] -->
+The share of [[renewable energy|renewables]] within the total energy mix is still very small, but is growing fast. Total installed capacity of renewable energy installations more than doubled in 2011 and as of 2012 stands at 397&nbsp;MW.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ecoclubua.com/2012/01/vidnovlyuvana-enerhetyka-ukrajiny-2011/ |title=Відновлювана енергетика України стрімко зростає, але досі має мізерну частку &#124; Зелена Хвиля |publisher=Ecoclubua.com |date=29 July 2012 |accessdate=25 August 2012}}</ref> In 2011 several large [[solar energy|solar power stations]] were opened in Ukraine, among them Europe's largest solar park in Perovo, (Crimea).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/29-12-2011/europe-s-biggest-solar-park-completed-with-russian-bank-debt-1-.html | work=Bloomberg | first=Marc | last=Roca | title=Europe's Biggest Solar Park Completed With Russian Bank Debt | date=29 December 2011}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref> Ukrainian State Agency for Energy Efficiency and Conservation forecasts that combined installed capacity of wind and solar power plants in Ukraine could increase by another 600&nbsp;MW in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ukraine could boost alternative energy capacity by 600 MW in 2012|url=http://www.steelguru.com/russian_news/Ukraine_could_boost_alternative_energy_capacity_by_600_MW_in_2012/248084.html|publisher=SteelGuru|accessdate=8 January 2014|date=1 February 2012}}</ref> According to Macquarie Research, by 2016 Ukraine will construct and commission new solar power stations with a total capacity of 1.8 GW, almost equivalent to the capacity of two nuclear reactors.<ref>{{cite news |author=Katya Gorchinskaya |url= http://www.kyivpost.com/content/business/ukraine-to-triple-solar-power-capacity-in-2012.html?goback=.gde_2326359_member_141269257 |title=Small business bearing the brunt of corruption |work=Kyiv Post |date=12 June 1997 |accessdate=25 August 2012}}</ref>
+
+The Economic Bank for Reconstruction and Development estimates that Ukraine has great renewable energy potential: the technical potential for wind energy is estimated at 40 TWh/year, small hydropower stations at 8.3 TWh/year, biomass at 120 TWh/year, and solar energy at 50 TWh/year.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rachkevych|first=Mark|title=Ukraine only starting to harness potential of renewable energy|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/121743/|accessdate=8 January 2014|newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]]|date=2 February 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509200142/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/121743/|archivedate=9 May 2012}}</ref> In 2011, Ukraine's [[Ministry of Fuel and Energy (Ukraine)|Energy Ministry]] predicted that the installed capacity of generation from alternative and renewable energy sources would increase to 9% (about 6 GW) of the total electricity production in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/news/9_of_electricity_will_be_received_from_renewable_sources_in_2030?goback=.gde_2326359_member_103982024 |title=9% of electricity will be received from renewable sources in 2030|publisher=Ukrinform.ua |date=27 March 2012 |accessdate=25 August 2012}}</ref>
+
+===Internet===
+{{Main|Internet in Ukraine|Telecommunications in Ukraine}}
+Ukraine has a large and steadily growing [[Internet]] sector, mostly uninfluenced by the [[financial crisis of 2007–08]]; rapid growth is forecast for at least two more years.<ref>[http://ht.comments.ua/2012/04/09/332827/cherez-paru-let-uanet-zamedlit.html Ukraine's Internet growth rates will stabilize in 2 or 3 years] {{uk icon}}</ref>
+Internet penetration – 45% and 19.9 million users in December 2012.<ref>{{uk icon}} [http://racurs.ua/news/4526 Половина населення України має доступ в інтернет] {{uk icon}}</ref>
+Ukraine ranks 8th among the world's TOP-10 countries with the fastest [[Internet access]] speed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pandonetworks.com//company/news/pando-networks-releases-global-internet-speed-study |title=Pando Networks Releases Global Internet Speed Study |publisher=Pandonetworks.com |date=22 September 2011 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+===Tourism===
+{{Main|Tourism in Ukraine}}
+[[File:Ласточкино гнездо.jpg|right|thumb|[[Crimean Peninsula|Crimea]] hosts many seaside resorts and historic sites]]
+
+Ukraine occupies 8th place in Europe by the number of tourists visiting, according to the [[World Tourism Organisation]] [[World Tourism rankings|rankings]],<ref>[http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, volume 6]{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}, [[UNWTO]] (June 2008)</ref> due to its numerous tourist attractions: mountain ranges suitable for [[skiing]], hiking and fishing: the [[Black Sea]] coastline as a popular summer destination; [[nature reserve]]s of different [[ecosytem]]s; churches, [[castle]] ruins and other architectural and park landmarks; various [[outdoor]] activity points. [[Kiev]], [[Lviv]], [[Odessa]], [[Kamyanets-Podilskyi]] and [[Yalta]] are Ukraine's principal tourist centers each offering many historical landmarks as well as formidable [[hospitality]] infrastructure.
+
+The [[Seven Wonders of Ukraine]] and [[Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine]] are the selection of the most important landmarks of Ukraine, chosen by the general public through an internet-based vote.
+{{clear}}
+
+==Demographics==
+{{Bar box
+|width = 200px
+|float = right
+|title = <small>Composition of Ukraine by nationality</small>
+|titlebar = #ddd
+|bars =
+{{Bar percent|[[Ukrainians]]|#0057b8|77.8}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Russians]]|#0057b8|17.3}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Belarusians]]|#0057b8|1.2|0.6%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Moldovans]]|#0057b8|1.2|0.5%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Crimean&nbsp;Tatars]]|#0057b8|1.2|0.5%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Bulgarians]]|#0057b8|1.2|0.4%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Hungarians]]|#0057b8|1|0.3%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Romanians]]|#0057b8|1|0.3%}}
+{{Bar percent|[[Poles]]|#0057b8|1|0.3%}}
+{{Bar percent|Other|#0057b8|3|1.7%}}
+|caption = <small>Source: [http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/ Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census]</small>
+}}
+{{Main|Demographics of Ukraine}}
+[[File:Ukraine ethnic 2001 by regions and rayons.PNG|thumb|Main ethnic groups of Ukrainian raions (2001)]]
+According to the [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|Ukrainian Census of 2001]], [[Ukrainians]] make up 77.8% of the population. Other significant groups have identified themselves as belonging to the nationality of [[Russians]] (17.3%), [[Belarusians]] (0.6%), [[Moldovans]] (0.5%), [[Crimean Tatars]] (0.5%), [[Bulgarians]] (0.4%), [[Hungarians]] (0.3%), [[Romanians]] (0.3%), [[Poles]] (0.3%), [[Jews]] (0.2%), [[Armenians]] (0.2%), [[Greeks]] (0.2%) and [[Tatars]] (0.2%).<ref name="Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census">{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080323110131/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/|archivedate=23 March 2008 |title=Population by ethnic nationality, 1 January, year|work=ukrcensus.gov.ua|publisher=Ukrainian Office of Statistics|accessdate=17 April 2010}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref> The industrial regions in the east and southeast are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_statistics.html |title=Ukraine – Statistics|accessdate=7 January 2008 |work=[[United Nations Children's Fund]] (UNICEF)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukraine&action=edit&section=27|title=Total population, as of 1 September 2009. Average annual populations January–August 2009|accessdate=16 October 2009|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|year=2009}}</ref>
+
+===Population decline===
+Ukraine's population has been declining since the 1990s due to its high death rate and a low birth rate. The population is shrinking by over 150,000 annually since 1993. The birth rate has recovered in recent years from a low level around 2000, and is now comparable to the European average. It would need to increase by another 50% or so to stabilize the population and offset the high mortality rate.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
+
+In 2007, the country's rate of population decline was the fourth highest in the world.<ref name="autogenerated2002">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2002.html|title=Field Listing – Population growth rate|accessdate=5 July 2008|work=CIA World Factbook}}</ref>
+
+Life expectancy is falling, and Ukraine suffers a high [[mortality rate]] from environmental pollution, poor diets, widespread smoking, extensive alcoholism and deteriorating medical care.<ref name="Starostenko1998">Hanna H. Starostenko, [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/wumag_old/archiv/2_98/economic.htm "Economic and Ecological Factors of Transformations in Demographic Process in Ukraine"], ''Uktraine Magazine'' No. 2, 1998.</ref><ref name="worldbank1">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/julaug99/pgs3-4.htm|title=What Went Wrong with Foreign Advice in Ukraine?|accessdate=16 January 2008|work=The World Bank Group}}{{Dead link|date=May 2014}}</ref>
+
+In the years 2008 to 2010, more than 1.5 million children were born in Ukraine, compared to fewer than 1.2 million during 1999–2001 during the worst of the demographic crisis. In 2008 Ukraine posted record-breaking birth rates since its 1991 independence. Infant mortality rates have also dropped from 10.4 deaths to 8.3 per 1,000 children under one year of age. This is lower than in 153 countries of the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html?countryName=Ukraine&countryCode=up&regionCode=eur&rank=154#up |title=Infant mortality rate, Ukraine |publisher=Cia.gov |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+===Fertility and natalist policies===
+[[File:Населення України (1950-2012).svg|thumb|right|Population of Ukraine (in thousands) from 1950 to 2012<ref>[http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2007/ds/nas_rik/nas_e/nas_rik_e.html State Statistics Committee of Ukraine] Retrieved 18 September 2009</ref><ref>[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_pop.php Demoscope] Retrieved 18 September 2009</ref>]]
+The current birth rate in Ukraine, as of 2010, is 10.8 births/1,000 population, and the death rate is 15.2 deaths/1,000 population (see [[Demographics of Ukraine|demographic tables]])
+
+The phenomenon of lowest-low fertility, defined as total fertility below 1.3, is emerging throughout Europe and is attributed by many to postponement of the initiation of childbearing. Ukraine, where total fertility (a very low 1.1 in 2001), was one of the world's lowest, shows that there is more than one pathway to lowest-low fertility. Although Ukraine has undergone immense political and economic transformations during 1991–2004, it has maintained a young age at first birth and nearly universal childbearing. Analysis of official national statistics and the Ukrainian Reproductive Health Survey show that fertility declined to very low levels without a transition to a later pattern of childbearing. Findings from focus group interviews suggest explanations of the early fertility pattern. These findings include the persistence of traditional norms for childbearing and the roles of men and women, concerns about medical complications and infertility at a later age, and the link between early fertility and early marriage.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Perelli-Harris | first1 = Brienna | year = 2005 | title = The Path to Lowest-low Fertility in Ukraine | journal = Population Studies | volume = 59 | issue = 1| pages = 55–70 | jstor = 30040436 | doi = 10.1080/0032472052000332700 | pmid = 15764134 }}</ref>
+
+To help mitigate the declining population, the government continues to increase child support payments. Thus it provides one-time payments of 12,250 Hryvnias for the first child, 25,000 Hryvnias for the second and 50,000 Hryvnias for the third and fourth, along with monthly payments of 154 Hryvnias per child.<ref name=BohdanD>{{cite web|url=http://me.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=115924&cat_id=38912|title=Bohdan Danylyshyn at the Economic ministry|accessdate=1 February 2008|work=Economic Ministry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_21296.html|title=President meets with business bosses|accessdate=1 February 2008|work=Press office of President Victor Yushchenko |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20071214153647/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_21296.html |archivedate = 14 December 2007}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref> The demographic trend is showing signs of improvement, as the birth rate has been steadily growing since 2001.<ref>{{uk icon}} [http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/express/expr2009/1109/238.zip The demographic situation in Ukraine in January–September 2009]{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}, [[State Statistics Committee of Ukraine]]</ref> Net population growth over the first nine months of 2007 was registered in five provinces of the country (out of 24), and population shrinkage was showing signs of stabilising nationwide. In 2007 the highest birth rates were in the western oblasts.<ref>[http://unian.net/eng/news/news-215771.html "Ukraine's birth rate shows first positive signs in decade"]. [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] (UNIAN). 5 October 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.</ref> In 2008, Ukraine emerged from lowest-low fertility, and the upward trend has continued since, except for a slight dip in 2010 due to the economic crisis of 2009 (see [[Demographics of Ukraine|demographic tables]]).
+
+===Urbanisation===
+{{Main|List of cities in Ukraine}}
+In total, Ukraine has 457 cities, 176 of them are labelled oblast-class, 279 smaller {{lang|uk-Latn|''raion''}}-class cities, and two special legal status cities. These are followed by 886 urban-type settlements and 28,552 villages.<ref name="oblasts"/>
+{{Largest cities of Ukraine}}
+{{Clear}}
+
+===Language===
+{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=Ukraine census 2001 Ukrainians.svg|image2=Ukraine_census_2001_Russian.svg|width=180|caption1=Percentage of ethnic Ukrainians by subdivision according to the [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 census]] (by oblast)|caption2=Percentage of native Russian speakers by subdivision according to the 2001 census (by oblast){{Ref label|F|f|3}}}}
+{{Main|Ukrainian language|Russian language in Ukraine|Languages of Ukraine|Name of Ukraine}}
+According to the constitution, the [[official language|state language]] of Ukraine is Ukrainian.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> Russian is widely spoken, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> According to the [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 census]], 67.5&nbsp;percent of the population declared Ukrainian as their native language and 29.6&nbsp;percent declared Russian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080105092304/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/|archivedate=5 January 2008|title=Linguistic composition of the population|accessdate=27 January 2008|work=All-Ukrainian population census, 2001}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref> Most native Ukrainian speakers know Russian as a second language.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> Russian was the ''de facto'' official language of the Soviet Union but both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the Soviet Union<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC&pg=PA1&dq=official+languages+Soviet+Union&client=firefox-a&cd=6#v=onepage&q=%22official%20language%22&f=false |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union by L.A. Grenoble |publisher=Books.google.com |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> and in the schools of the [[Ukrainian SSR]] learning Ukrainian was mandatory.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN">[[Serhy Yekelchyk]] ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'', [[Oxford University Press]] (2007), ISBN 978-0-19-530546-3</ref> Effective in August 2012, [[Legislation on languages in Ukraine|a new law on regional languages]] entitles any local language spoken by at least a 10% minority be declared official within that area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-signs-language-bill-into-law-311230.html |title=Yanukovych signs language bill into law |publisher=Kyivpost.com |date=8 August 2012 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> Russian was within weeks declared as a regional language in several southern and eastern [[Oblasts of Ukraine|oblasts]] (provinces) and cities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russian-spreads-like-wildfires-in-dry-ukrainian-forest-311949.html |title=Russian spreads like wildfires in dry Ukrainian forest |publisher=Kyivpost.com |date=23 August 2012 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> Russian can now be used in these cities'/oblasts' administrative office work and documents.<ref name=NewUklang2892012>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/romanian-becomes-regional-language-in-bila-tserkva-in-zakarpattia-region-313373.html Romanian becomes regional language in Bila Tserkva in Zakarpattia region], [[Kyiv Post]] (24 September 2012)</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ukraine/index.html |title=Ukraine |date=5 July 2012 | work=The New York Times |first=Michael |last=Schwirtz}}</ref> On 23 February 2014, following the [[2014 Ukrainian revolution]], the [[Ukrainian Parliament]] voted to repeal the law on regional languages, making Ukrainian the sole state language at all levels; however, but this vote was not signed by acting [[Oleksandr Turchynov|President Turchynov]] and current President Poroshenko.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=45291|script-title=uk:Проект Закону про визнання таким, що втратив чинність, Закону України "Про засади державної мовної політики"|trans-title=Draft Law on the recognition of the void Law of Ukraine "On the basic principles of State Language Policy"|language=uk|publisher=Ukrainian Parliament|accessdate=12 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/ukraine-crisis-western-nations-eu-russia |title=Western nations scramble to contain fallout from Ukraine crisis |date=24 February 2014 | work=The Guardian |first=Ian |last=Traynor}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kramer|first=Andrew|title=Ukraine Turns to Its Oligarchs for Political Help|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/world/europe/ukraine-turns-to-its-oligarchs-for-political-help.html|accessdate=2 March 2014|newspaper=New York Times|date=2 March 2014}}</ref>
+
+Ukrainian is mainly spoken in western and central Ukraine.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> In western Ukraine, Ukrainian is also the dominant language in cities (such as [[Lviv]]). In central Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian are both equally used in cities, with Russian being more common in [[Kiev]],{{Ref label|F|f|2}} while Ukrainian is the dominant language in rural communities. In eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian is primarily used in cities, and Ukrainian is used in rural areas. These details result in a significant difference across different survey results, as even a small restating of a question switches responses of a significant group of people.{{Ref label|F|f|1}}
+
+For a large part of the Soviet era, the number of Ukrainian speakers declined from generation to generation, and by the mid-1980s, the usage of the Ukrainian language in public life had decreased significantly.<ref name=Shamshur>Shamshur, p. 159–168</ref> Following independence, the government of Ukraine began restoring the image and usage of Ukrainian language through a policy of [[Ukrainisation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Revolution_2004/UKL/photos.php?UKL302|title=Світова преса про вибори в Україні-2004 (Ukrainian Elections-2004 as mirrored in the World Press)|accessdate=7 January 2008|work=Архіви України (National Archives of Ukraine)}}</ref> Today, all foreign films and TV programs, including Russian ones, are subtitled or dubbed in Ukrainian.{{Failed verification|date=February 2013}}
+
+According to the Constitution of the [[Crimea|Autonomous Republic of Crimea]], Ukrainian is the only state language of the republic. However, the republic's constitution specifically recognises Russian as the language of the majority of its population and guarantees its usage 'in all spheres of public life'. Similarly, the [[Crimean Tatar language]] (the language of 12&nbsp;percent of population of Crimea)<ref name=Census2001CrimeaNationality>{{Wayback |df=yes|date=20071204020421 |url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Crimea/ |title=National structure of the population of Autonomous Republic of Crimea }}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}, [[2001 Ukrainian Census]]. Retrieved 27 January 2008.</ref> is guaranteed a special state protection as well as the 'languages of other ethnicities'. Russian speakers constitute an overwhelming majority of the Crimean population (77&nbsp;percent), with Crimean Tatar speakers 11.4&nbsp;percent and Ukrainian speakers comprising just 10.1&nbsp;percent.<ref name=Census2001CrimeaLanguage>{{Wayback |df=yes|date=20080227002737 |url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/Crimea/ |title=Linguistic composition of population Autonomous Republic of Crimea }}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}, [[2001 Ukrainian Census]]. Retrieved 27 January 2008.</ref> But in everyday life the majority of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea use Russian.<ref name = Belitser>For a more comprehensive account of language politics in Crimea, see Natalya Belitser, "[http://www.iccrimea.org/scholarly/nbelitser.html The Constitutional Process in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the Context of Interethnic Relations and Conflict Settlement]," International Committee for Crimea. Retrieved 12 August 2007.</ref>
+
+===Religion===
+{{multiple image
+|direction=vertical|width=180
+|image1=Kijów - Sobór Mądrości Bożej 01.jpg|180
+|caption1=The [[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev]], a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/527|title=Kiev Saint Sophia Cathedral|accessdate=8 July 2008|work=[[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation]] (UNESCO)|publisher=UN}}</ref> is one of the main Christian cathedrals in Ukraine
+|image2=St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kyiv 3.jpg
+|caption2=[[St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kiev|St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in Kiev]]
+}}
+{{main |Religion in Ukraine}}
+Estimates compiled by the independent [[Razumkov Centre]] in a nationwide survey in 2006 found that 75.2 percent of the respondents believe in God and 22 percent said they did not believe in God. 37.4 percent said that they attended church on regular basis.<ref name = Razumkov>{{cite web| url= http://razumkov.org.ua/ukr/poll.php?poll_id=300 | place = UA | script-title=uk:Опитування: Віруючим якої церкви, конфесії Ви себе вважаєте? | trans_title = "What religious group do you belong to?" Sociology poll about the religious situation in Ukraine | language = Ukrainian | publisher = Razumkov Centre | year = 2006 |accessdate= 26 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+Among Ukrainians who are affiliated with an organised religion, the most common religion in Ukraine is [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]], currently split between three Church bodies: the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate]], the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] [[Autonomy (Eastern Christianity)|autonomous]] church body under the [[Patriarch of Moscow]], and the [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]].<ref name = derzhkomrelig>{{cite web |url= http://www.derzhkomrelig.gov.ua/info_zvit_2003.html |archiveurl= //web.archive.org/web/20041204115821/www.derzhkomrelig.gov.ua/info_zvit_2003.html | archivedate = 4 December 2004 | title = State Department of Ukraine on Religious|accessdate=27 January 2008|work=2003 Statistical report}}</ref>
+
+A distant second by the number of the followers is the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite]] [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]], which practices a similar [[liturgy|liturgical]] and spiritual tradition as Eastern Orthodoxy, but is in [[full communion|communion]] with the [[Holy See]] of the Roman Catholic Church and recognises the primacy of the Pope as head of the Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ugcc.org.ua/eng/ugcc_history/definition/|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080226124455/http://www.ugcc.org.ua/eng/ugcc_history/definition/|archivedate=26 February 2008|title=Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC)|accessdate=27 January 2008}}{{Dead link|date=March 2014}}</ref>
+
+Additionally, there are 863 [[Latin Rite]] Catholic communities, and 474 clergy members serving some one million Latin Rite Catholics in Ukraine.<ref name=derzhkomrelig/> The group forms some 2.19&nbsp;percent of the population and consists mainly of ethnic [[Poles]] and [[Hungarians]], who live predominantly in the western regions of the country. [[Protestants in Ukraine]] form around 2.19&nbsp;percent of the population. Smaller groups are also present.
+
+There are an estimated 500,000 [[Islam in Ukraine|Muslims]] in Ukraine and about 300,000 of them are [[Crimean Tatars]].<ref name="FreedomReport2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012/eur/208378.htm |title = 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom – Ukraine |publisher=[[United States Department of State]] |date=20 May 2013 |accessdate= 19 November 2013}}</ref> There are 487 registered Muslim communities, 368 of them on Crimea. In addition, some 50,000 Muslims live in [[Kiev]]; mostly foreign-born.<ref name="FreedomReport2007">{{cite web|url = http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90205.htm|title=2007 Report on International Religious Freedom – Ukraine |year = 2007 |accessdate=19 November 2013 |publisher=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref>
+
+The [[History of the Jews in Ukraine|Jewish]] population is a tiny fraction of what it was before [[World War II]]. In Tsarist times, Ukraine had been part of the [[Pale of Settlement]], to which Jews were largely restricted in the Russian Empire. The largest Jewish communities in 1926 were in [[Odessa]], 154,000 or 36.5% of the total population; and Kiev, 140,500 or 27.3%.<ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/J/E/Jews.htm | contribution = Jews | title = Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref> [[Orthodox Judaism]] has the strongest presence in Ukraine. Smaller [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative Jewish]] ([[Masorti]]) communities exist.<ref name =derzhkomrelig />
+
+One 2006 survey put the number of [[irreligion|non-religious]] in Ukraine at approximately 11.1% of the population.<ref name = Razumkov />
+
+===Famines and migration===
+The [[Holodomor|famines of the 1930s]], followed by the devastation of World War II, comprised a demographic disaster. Life expectancy at birth fell to a level as low as ten years for females and seven for males in 1933 and plateaued around 25 for females and 15 for males in the period 1941–44.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Vallin | first1 = Jacques | last2 = Meslé | first2 = France | last3 = Adamets | first3 = Serguei | last4 = Pyrozhkov | first4 = Serhii | year = 2002 | title = A New Estimate of Ukrainian Population Losses During the Crises of the 1930s and 1940s | journal = Population Studies | volume = 56 | issue = 3| pages = 249–264 | jstor = 3092980 | doi = 10.1080/00324720215934 }}</ref> According to ''The Oxford companion to World War II'', "Over 7 million inhabitants of Ukraine, more than one-sixth of the pre-war population, were killed during the Second World War."<ref>Ian Dear, Michael Richard Daniell Foot (2001). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qC0OgOHAHVkC&pg=&dq&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false The Oxford companion to World War II]''. Oxford University Press. p. 909. ISBN 0-19-860446-7</ref>
+
+Significant migration took place in the first years of Ukrainian independence. More than one&nbsp;million people moved into Ukraine in 1991–92, mostly from the other former Soviet republics. In total, between 1991 and 2004, 2.2&nbsp;million immigrated to Ukraine (among them, 2&nbsp;million came from the other former Soviet Union states), and 2.5&nbsp;million emigrated from Ukraine (among them, 1.9&nbsp;million moved to other former Soviet Union republics).<ref name=MigrationMalynovska>Malynovska, Olena (January 2006). [http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=365 "Caught Between East and West, Ukraine Struggles with Its Migration Policy"]. National Institute for International Security Problems, Kiev. Retrieved 3 July 2008.</ref> Currently, immigrants constitute an estimated 14.7% of the total population, or 6.9&nbsp;million people; this is the [[List of countries by immigrant population|fourth largest]] figure in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/2006Migration_Chart/2006IttMig_wallchart.xls |title=International migration 2006 |accessdate=5 July 2008 |publisher= United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs}}</ref> In 2006, there were an estimated 1.2 million [[Ukrainian Canadian|Canadians]] of Ukrainian ancestry,<ref>[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Data=Count&Table=2&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000 "Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for [[Canada]], provinces and territories – 20% sample data"]. ''Statistics Canada.''</ref> giving Canada the world's third-largest Ukrainian population behind Ukraine itself and Russia. There are also large Ukrainian immigrant communities in the [[United States]], [[Australia]], [[Brazil]] and [[Argentina]].
+
+===Health===
+{{Main|Health in Ukraine}}
+[[File:Міська дитяча лікарня (Кременчук) - 04.JPG|thumb|right|The municipal children's hospital in [[Kremenchuk]], [[Poltava Oblast]]]]
+The [[Ukrainian Red Cross Society]] was established in April 1918 in [[Kiev]] as an independent humanitarian society of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]]. Its immediate tasks were to help refugees and prisoners of war, care for handicapped people and orphaned children, fight famine and epidemics, support and organize sick quarters, hospitals and public canteens. At present, society involves more than 6.3 million supporters and activists. Its Visiting Nurses Service has 3200 qualified nurses. The organization takes part in more than 40 humanitarian programmes all over Ukraine, which are mostly funded by public donation and corporate partnerships. By its own estimates, the Society annually provides services to more than 105 000 lonely, elderly people, about 23 000 people disabled during the Second World War and handicapped workers, more than 25 000 war veterans, and more than 8 000 adults handicapped since childhood. Assistance for orphaned and disabled children is also rendered.
+
+Ukraine's healthcare system is state subsidised and freely available to all Ukrainian citizens and registered residents. However, it is not compulsory to be treated in a state-run hospital as a number of private medical complexes do exist nationwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bestofukraine.com/travel-essentials/medical-care.html |title=Medical Care in Ukraine. Health system, hospitals and clinics |publisher=BestOfUkraine.com |date=1 May 2010 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}{{Dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref> The public sector employs most healthcare professionals, with those working for private medical centres typically also retaining their state employment as they are mandated to provide care at public health facilities on a regular basis.
+
+All of the country's medical service providers and hospitals are subordinate to the Ministry of Health, which provides oversight and scrutiny of general medical practice as well as being responsible for the day-to-day administration of the healthcare system. Despite this, standards of hygiene and patient-care have fallen.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ukraine |url=http://www.europe-cities.com/en/633/ukraine/health/ |title=Health in Ukraine. Healthcare system of Ukraine |publisher=Europe-cities.com |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
+
+Hospitals in Ukraine are organised along the same lines as most European nations, according to the regional administrative structure; as a result most towns have their own hospital ''(Міська Лікарня)'' and many also have district hospitals ''(Районна Лікарня)''. Larger and more specialised medical complexes tend only to be found in major cities, with some even more specialised units located only in the capital, [[Kiev]]. However, all [[Administrative divisions of Ukraine|oblasts]] have their own network of general hospitals which are able to deal with almost all medical problems and are typically equipped with major trauma centres; such hospitals are called 'regional hospitals' ''(Обласна Лікарня)''.
+
+Ukraine currently faces a number of major public health issues and is considered to be in a demographic crisis due to its high death rate and low birth rate (the current Ukrainian birth rate is 11 births/1,000 population, and the death rate is 16.3 deaths/1,000 population). A factor contributing to the high death rate is a high [[mortality rate]] among working-age males from preventable causes such as [[alcohol poisoning]] and smoking.<ref name="worldbank1"/> In 2008, the country's population was one of the fastest declining in the world at −5% growth.<ref name="autogenerated2002"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/ |title=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine |publisher=Ukrstat.gov.ua |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref> The UN warned that Ukraine's population could fall by as much as 10 million by 2050 if trends did not improve.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision|url=http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm|publisher=United Nations|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> In addition, obesity, systemic high blood pressure and the HIV endemic are all major challenges facing the Ukrainian healthcare system.
+
+As of March 2009 the [[Ukrainian government]] is reforming the health care system, by the creation of a national network of [[family doctor]]s and improvements in the [[Emergency medical services|medical emergency services]].<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/11044/ National network of family doctors to be established by 2010, says health minister], [[Interfax|Interfax-Ukraine]] (30 March 2009)</ref> former [[Ukrainian Prime Minister|Prime Minister]] [[Yulia Tymoshenko]] put forward (in November 2009) an idea to start introducing a public healthcare system based on health insurance in the spring of 2010.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/53483/ Ukraine to start introducing insurance-based healthcare system in spring of 2010], Kyiv Post (24 November 2009)</ref>
+
+===Education===
+{{main|Education in Ukraine|List of universities in Ukraine}}
+[[File:Universidad Roja de Kiev.jpg|thumb|right|The [[University of Kiev]] is one of Ukraine's most important educational institutions]]
+[[File:Cernauti Residentia 04.jpg|thumbnail|[[Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans]] building by [[Josef Hlávka]], 1882, now [[Chernivtsi University]].]]
+According to the [[Constitution of Ukraine|Ukrainian constitution]], access to free education is granted to all citizens. Complete general secondary education is compulsory in the state schools which constitute the overwhelming majority. Free higher education in state and communal educational establishments is provided on a competitive basis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rada.kiev.ua/const/conengl.htm|title=Constitution of Ukraine, Chapter 2, Article 53. Adopted at the Fifth Session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 28 June 1996}}</ref> There is also a small number of accredited private secondary and higher education institutions.
+
+Because of the Soviet Union's emphasis on total access of education for all citizens, which continues today, the [[literacy rate]] is an estimated 99.4%.<ref name=cia/> Since 2005, an eleven-year school programme has been replaced with a twelve-year one: primary education takes four years to complete (starting at age six), middle education (secondary) takes five years to complete; upper secondary then takes three years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/secondaryeduc_eng.html|title=General secondary education|accessdate=23 December 2007|publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20071016104343/http://education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/secondaryeduc_eng.html |archivedate = 16 October 2007}}</ref> In the 12th grade, students take Government tests, which are also referred to as school-leaving exams. These tests are later used for university admissions.
+
+The first higher education institutions (HEIs) emerged in Ukraine during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The first Ukrainian higher education institution was the [[Ostroh Academy|Ostrozka School]], or Ostrozkiy Greek-Slavic-Latin Collegium, similar to Western European higher education institutions of the time. Established in 1576 in the town of [[Ostroh|Ostrog]], the Collegium was the first higher education institution in the [[East Slavic peoples|Eastern Slavic]] territories. The oldest university was the [[National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy|Kyiv Mohyla Academy]], first established in 1632 and in 1694 officially recognised by the government of [[Imperial Russia]] as a higher education institution. Among the oldest is also the [[Lviv University]], founded in 1661. More higher education institutions were set up in the 19th century, beginning with universities in [[Kharkiv University|Kharkiv]] (1805), [[Kiev University|Kiev]] (1834), [[Odessa University|Odessa]] (1865) and [[Chernivtsi University|Chernivtsi]] (1875) and a number of professional higher education institutions, e.g.: [[Nizhyn Pedagogical University|Nizhyn Historical and Philological Institute]] (originally established as the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in 1805), a Veterinary Institute (1873) and a [[Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute|Technological Institute]] (1885) in [[Kharkiv]], a [[Kiev Polytechnic Institute|Polytechnic Institute]] in [[Kiev]] (1898) and a Higher Mining School (1899) in [[Dnipropetrovsk|Katerynoslav]]. Rapid growth followed in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet]] period. By 1988 a number of higher education institutions increased to 146 with over 850,000 students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001465/146552e.pdf |title=Higher education in Ukraine; Monographs on higher education; 2006 |format=PDF |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> Most HEIs established after 1990 are those owned by private organisations.
+
+The Ukrainian higher education system comprises higher educational establishments, [[scientific]] and [[methodological]] facilities under national, [[municipal government|municipal]] and self-governing bodies in charge of education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/higher_educ_eng.html|title=System of Higher Education of Ukraine|accessdate=23 December 2007|publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20071217073746/http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/higher_educ_eng.html |archivedate = 17 December 2007}}</ref> The organisation of higher education in Ukraine is built up in accordance with the structure of education of the world's higher [[developed countries]], as is defined by [[UNESCO]] and the UN.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/education_eng.html |title=System of the Education of Ukraine|accessdate=23 December 2007|publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archiveurl = //web.archive.org/web/20071212111804/http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/education_eng.html |archivedate = 12 December 2007}}</ref>
+Ukraine has more than 800 higher education institutions and in 2010 the number of graduates reached 654,700 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://outsourcing-ukraine.org/2011/10/14/educational-system-ukraine-facilitates-development-outsourcing-sector/ |title=Educational system in Ukraine |publisher=Outsourcing-ukraine.org |date=14 October 2011 |accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref>
+
+Ukraine produces the fourth largest number of [[Tertiary education|post-secondary graduates]] in Europe, while being ranked seventh in population.  [[Higher education in Ukraine|higher education]] is either state funded or private. Students that study at state expense receive a standard scholarship if their average marks at the end-of-term exams and differentiated test suffice; this rule may be different in some universities.  For highest grades, the scholarship is increased by 25%.  For most students the government subsidy is not sufficient to cover their basic living expenses.  Most universities provide subsidised housing for out-of-city students. Also, it is common for libraries to supply required books for all registered students.  Ukrainian universities confer two degrees: the Bachelor's Degree (4&nbsp;years) and the Master's Degree (5–6th&nbsp;year), in accordance with the [[Bologna process]].  Historically, [[Specialist degree]] (usually 5 years) is still also granted; it was the only degree awarded by universities in the Soviet times.
+
+=== Regional differences ===
+{{see also|Demographics of Ukraine#Regional differences|Central Ukraine|Eastern Ukraine|Southern Ukraine|Western Ukraine}}
+[[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] is the dominant language in [[Western Ukraine]] and in [[Central Ukraine]], while [[Russian language|Russian]] is the dominant language in the cities of [[Eastern Ukraine]] and [[Southern Ukraine]]. In the [[Ukrainian SSR]] schools, learning [[Russian language|Russian]] was mandatory; currently in modern Ukraine, schools with Ukrainian as the language of instruction offer classes in Russian and in the other minority languages.<ref name = "SerhyYUBoaMN" /><ref>{{Citation | url = http://norric.org/files/education-systems/Ukraine2009 | title = The Educational System of Ukraine | publisher = [[National Academic Recognition Information Centre]] |date=April 2009}}</ref><ref name = "RatingJuly12"/><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.ukrinform.ua/eng/news/poll_ukrainian_language_prevails_at_home_229692 | title = Poll: Ukrainian language prevails at home | newspaper = [[Ukrinform]] | place = UA | date = 7 September 2011}}</ref>
+
+On the [[Russian language in Ukraine|Russian language]], on [[Soviet Union]] and [[Ukrainian nationalism]], opinion in Eastern Ukraine and Southern Ukraine tends to be the exact opposite of those in Western Ukraine; while opinions in Central Ukraine on these topics tend be less extreme.<ref name=RatingJuly12>{{Citation | url = http://ratinggroup.com.ua/en/products/politic/data/entry/14004/ | title = The language question, the results of recent research in 2012 | publisher = [[Sociological group "RATING"|Rating]] | date = 25 May 2012 | place = UA}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/sep/21/whos-afraid-ukrainian-history/ | title = Who's Afraid of Ukrainian History? | first = Timothy D | last = Snyder | author-link = Timothy D. Snyder | newspaper = [[The New York Review of Books]] | date = 21 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/poll-over-half-of-ukrainians-against-granting-official-status-to-russian-language-318212.html |title=Poll: Over half of Ukrainians against granting official status to Russian language |work=Kyiv Post |date=27 December 2012 |accessdate= 8 January 2014}}</ref><ref name=KIISS1313>{{Citation | url = http://kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=140&page=1 | script-title=uk:Ставлення населення України до постаті Йосипа Сталіна | trans_title = Attitude population Ukraine to the figure of Joseph Stalin | publisher = [[Kyiv International Institute of Sociology]] | date = 1 March 2013| language = Ukrainian }}</ref>
+
+Similar historical cleavages also remain evident at the level of individual social identification. Attitudes toward the most important political issue, relations with [[Russia]], differed strongly between [[Lviv]], identifying more with [[Ukrainian nationalism]] and the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] and [[Donetsk]], predominantly Russian orientated and favourable to the [[Soviet era]], while in central and southern Ukraine, as well as [[Kiev]], such divisions were less important and there was less antipathy toward people from other regions (a poll by the [[Research & Branding Group]] held March 2010 showed that the attitude of the citizens of Donetsk to the citizens of Lviv was 79% positive and that the attitude of the citizens of Lviv to the citizens of Donetsk was 88% positive).<ref name=antipathy>{{cite web|title= Ukraine. West-East: Unity in Diversity| url= http://rb.com.ua/eng/projects/omnibus/6575/| publisher= [[Research & Branding Group]] | accessdate = 8 January 2014|date=March 2010}}</ref> However, all were united by an overarching Ukrainian identity based on shared economic difficulties, showing that other attitudes are determined more by culture and politics than by demographic differences.<ref name=antipathy/><ref>{{Citation | first = Oksana | last = Malanchuk | publisher = Informa World | url = http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a723749562&db=all | title = Social Identification Versus Regionalism in Contemporary Ukraine | journal = Nationalities Papers | year = 2005 | volume = 33 | number = 3 | pages = 345–68 | ISSN = 0090-5992 | doi=10.1080/00905990500193204}}</ref> Surveys of regional identities in Ukraine have shown that the feeling of belonging to a "Soviet identity" is strongest in the [[Donbas]] (about 40%) and the Crimea (about 30%).<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.taraskuzio.net/Comparative%20Politics_files/SovietCulture_Conspiracy_Yanukovych.pdf | title = Soviet conspiracy theories and political culture in Ukraine: Understanding Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Region | first = Taras | last = Kuzio | author-link = Taras Kuzio | date = 23 August 2011}}</ref>
+
+During [[Elections in Ukraine|elections]] voters of Western and Central Ukrainian [[Oblasts of Ukraine|oblasts]] (provinces) vote mostly for parties ([[Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc|Our Ukraine]], [[All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland"|Batkivshchyna]])<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2012/WP406?PT001F01=900&pf7171=52 | publisher = Центральна виборча комісія України Central Election Commission of Ukraine | script-title=uk:Вибори народних депутатів України 2012 | trans_title = The Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine 2012 | language = Ukrainian}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://en.for-ua.com/news/2012/08/30/111349.html | publisher = For UA | date = 30 August 2012 | title = CEC {{not a typo|substitues}} Tymoshenko, Lutsenko in voting papers}}.</ref> and presidential candidates ([[Viktor Yuschenko]], [[Yulia Tymoshenko]]) with a [[pro-Western]] and state reform [[Political platform|platform]], while voters in Southern and Eastern oblasts vote for parties ([[Communist Party of Ukraine|CPU]], [[Party of Regions]]) and presidential candidates ([[Viktor Yanukovych]]) with a [[pro-Russian]] and [[status quo]] platform.<ref name= EWparties>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=H23Pv4Ik3vMC&pg=PA396&dq=Ukrainian++parties+pro-Western+Bloc | title = Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe | first1 = Uwe | last1 = Backes | author1-link = Uwe Backes | first2 = Patrick | last2 = Moreau | author2-link = Patrick Moreau | publisher = [[Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht]] | year = 2008 | ISBN = 978-3-525-36912-8 | page = 396}}</ref><ref name=Umland>{{Citation | url = http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andreas-umland/ukraine-right-wing-politics-is-genie-out-of-bottle | title = Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle? | publisher = [[openDemocracy.net]] | date = 3 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=39981 | title = Eight Reasons Why Ukraine's Party of Regions Will Win the 2012 Elections | first = Taras | last = Kuzio | author-link = Taras Kuzio | publisher = [[The Jamestown Foundation]] | date = 17 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.taraskuzio.net/media20_files/8.pdf | title = UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again | first = Taras | last = Kuzio | author-link = Taras Kuzio | publisher = [[Oxford Analytica]] | date = 5 October 2007}}</ref> However, this geographical division is decreasing.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59340/ "Election winner lacks strong voter mandate"]. ''[[Kyiv Post]]''. 11 February 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.euractiv.com/specialreport-eu-ukraine-relatio/ukraines-party-regions-pyrrhic-v-analysis-516103|title=Ukraine's Party of Regions: A pyrrhic victory|work=EurActiv – EU News & policy debates, across languages}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/ukraine-vote-ushers-in-new-constellation-of-power/a-16341696|title=Ukraine vote ushers in new constellation of power|work=DW.DE}}</ref>
+
+==Culture==
+[[File:Pysanky2011.JPG|thumb|A collection of traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs – [[pysanka|pysanky]]. The design motifs on pysanky date back to early Slavic cultures.]]
+{{main|Ukrainian culture}}
+[[File:Rushnyk - Ukraine embroidered decorative towels..jpg|thumbnail|[[Rushnyk]], [[Ukrainian embroidery]]]]
+Ukrainian customs are heavily influenced by Christianity, the dominant religion in the country.<ref name=derzhkomrelig/> Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a greater role in bringing up children, than in the West.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tryukraine.com/society/cultural_differences.shtml |title=Cultural differences |accessdate=27 January 2008 |work=Ukraine's Culture}}</ref> The culture of Ukraine has also been influenced by its eastern and western neighbours, reflected in its [[Ukrainian architecture|architecture]], music and art.
+
+The Communist era had quite a strong effect on the art and writing of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine|title=Interwar Soviet Ukraine|accessdate=12 September 2007|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] (fee required)|quote=In all, some four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite was repressed or perished in the course of the 1930s}}</ref> In 1932, Stalin made [[socialist realism]] state policy in the Soviet Union when he promulgated the decree "On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organisations". This greatly stifled creativity. During the 1980s [[glasnost]] (openness) was introduced and Soviet artists and writers again became free to express themselves as they wanted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037405|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080622041436/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037405|archivedate=22 June 2008|title=Gorbachev, Mikhail|accessdate=30 July 2008|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)|quote=Under his new policy of glasnost ("openness"), a major cultural thaw took place: freedoms of expression and of information were significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented candour in their reportage and criticism; and the country's legacy of Stalinist totalitarian rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government}}</ref>
+
+The tradition of the [[Easter egg]], known as [[pysanky]], has long roots in Ukraine. These eggs were drawn on with wax to create a pattern; then, the dye was applied to give the eggs their pleasant colours, the dye did not affect the previously wax-coated parts of the egg. After the entire egg was dyed, the wax was removed leaving only the colourful pattern. This tradition is thousands of years old, and precedes the arrival of Christianity to Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/index.html|title=Pysanky – Ukrainian Easter Eggs|accessdate=28 July 2008|publisher=[[University of North Carolina]]}}</ref> In the city of [[Kolomyia]] near the foothills of the [[Carpathian Mountains]] in 2000 was built the museum of Pysanka which won a nomination as the monument of modern Ukraine in 2007, part of the [[Seven Wonders of Ukraine]] action.
+
+===Weaving and embroidery===
+Artisan [[textile arts]] play an important role in Ukrainian culture,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ua-travelling.com/en/article/Ukrainian-clothes |title=Ukrainian folk dress. Traditional clothes of Ukraine |publisher=Ua-travelling.com |accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> especially in [[Ukrainian wedding traditions]]. [[Ukrainian embroidery]], [[weaving]] and lace-making are used in traditional [[folk dress]] and in traditional celebrations. Ukrainian embroidery varies depending on the region of origin<ref>''"Podvyzhnytsi narodnoho mystetstva", Kyiv 2003 and 2005, by Yevheniya Shudra, Welcome to Ukraine Magazine''</ref> and the designs have a long history of motifs, compositions, choice of colours and types of stitches.<ref name=museum>{{cite web|title=Traditional Ukrainian Embroidery|url=http://www.umacleveland.org/traditional-ukrainian-embroidery/|publisher=Ukrainian Museum-Archives|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> Use of color is very important and has roots in [[Ukrainian folklore]]. Embroidery motifs found in different parts of Ukraine are preserved in the [[Rushnyk]] Museum in [[Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi]].
+
+National dress is woven and highly decorated. Weaving with handmade looms is still practised in the village of Krupove, situated in [[Rivne Oblast]]. The village is the birthplace of two famous personalities in the scene of national crafts fabrication. Nina Myhailivna<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rv.gov.ua/sitenew/main/ua/1160.htm |title=Рівненська обласна державна адміністрація – Обласний центр народної творчості |publisher=Rv.gov.ua |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> and Uliana Petrivna<ref>{{cite web|url=http://storinka-m.kiev.ua/article.php?id=478 |title=ПІСНІ ТА ВИШИВКИ УЛЯНИ КОТ – Мистецька сторінка |publisher=Storinka-m.kiev.ua |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref> with international recognition. To preserve this traditional knowledge the village is planning to open a local weaving centre, a museum and weaving school.
+
+===Literature===
+{{main|Ukrainian literature}}
+[[File:Taras Shevchenko selfportrait oil 1840-2.jpg|thumbnail|[[Taras Shevchenko]] self-portrait.]]
+The history of Ukrainian literature dates back to the 11th&nbsp;century, following the Christianisation of the Kievan Rus'.<ref name=ualit>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30128/Daily-life-and-social-customs#toc275898|title=Ukraine – Cultual Life – The Arts – Literature|accessdate=8 January 2014|work=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> The writings of the time were mainly liturgical and were written in [[Old Church Slavonic]]. Historical accounts of the time were referred to as ''[[chronicle]]s'', the most significant of which was the [[Primary Chronicle]].<ref name=ualitmsn>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573617_4/Ukraine.html|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080406035927/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573617_4/Ukraine.html|archivedate=6 April 2008 |title=Ukraine – Literature |accessdate=3 July 2008 |work=MSN Encarta}}</ref>{{Ref label|G|g|none}} Literary activity faced a sudden decline during the [[Mongol invasion of Rus']].<ref name=ualit/>
+
+Ukrainian literature again began to develop in the 14th&nbsp;century, and was advanced significantly in the 16th&nbsp;century with the introduction of [[printing|print]] and with the beginning of the Cossack era, under both Russian and Polish dominance.<ref name=ualit/> The Cossacks established an independent society and popularized a [[Duma (epic)|new kind]] of [[epic poem]]s, which marked a high point of Ukrainian [[oral literature]].<ref name=ualitmsn/> These advances were then set back in the 17th and early 18th&nbsp;centuries, when publishing in the Ukrainian language was outlawed and prohibited. Nonetheless, by the late 18th&nbsp;century modern literary Ukrainian finally emerged.<ref name=ualit/>
+
+The 19th&nbsp;century initiated a [[vernacular]] period in Ukraine, led by [[Ivan Kotliarevsky]]'s work {{lang|uk-Latn|''Eneyida''}}, the first publication written in modern Ukrainian. By the 1830s, Ukrainian [[romanticism]] began to develop, and the nation's most renowned cultural figure, romanticist poet-painter [[Taras Shevchenko]] emerged. Where Ivan Kotliarevsky is considered to be the father of literature in the Ukrainian vernacular; Shevchenko is the father of a national revival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\L\I\Literature.htm|title=Literature|author=Struk, Danylo Husar |accessdate=17 January 2008|work=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>
+
+Then, in 1863, use of the Ukrainian language in print was effectively [[Ems Ukaz|prohibited]] by the Russian Empire.<ref name=censor/> This severely curtailed literary activity in the area, and Ukrainian writers were forced to either publish their works in Russian or release them in Austrian controlled [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]]. The ban was never officially lifted, but it became obsolete after the revolution and the Bolsheviks' coming to power.<ref name=ualitmsn/>
+
+Ukrainian literature continued to flourish in the early Soviet years, when nearly all literary trends were approved (the most important literature figures of that time were [[Mykola Khvylovy]], [[Valerian Pidmohylny]], [[Mykola Kulish]], [[Mykhayl Semenko]] and some others). These policies faced a steep decline in the 1930s, when prominent representatives as well as many others were killed by NKVD (as part of [[Great Purge]]). In general around 223 writers were repressed (so called The [[Executed Renaissance]]).<ref>{{cite web|author=Юрій Лавріненко |url=http://fmm51.org.ua/html_books/lavrinenko_rozstriliane_vidrodzhennia.htm |title=Розстріляне відродження: Антологія 1917–1933. |location=Київ |publisher=Смолоскип |date=2004|archivedate=13 December 2010|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20101213085603/http://fmm51.org.ua/html_books/lavrinenko_rozstriliane_vidrodzhennia.htm}}</ref> This repressions were part of Stalin's implemented policy of [[socialist realism]]. The doctrine did not necessarily repress the Ukrainian language, but it required writers to follow a certain style in their works.
+
+In post-Stalinist times literary activities continued to be somewhat limited under the Communist Party. The most famous figures of Ukrainian post-war Soviet literature were [[Lina Kostenko]], [[Dmytro Pavlychko]], [[Borys Oliynyk]], [[Ivan Drach]], [[Oles Honchar]], [[Vasyl Stus]], [[Vasyl Symonenko]].
+
+Literary freedom appeared in late 1980s — early 1990s with the process of collapse of the USSR and reestablishing of Ukrainian independence in 1991.<ref name=ualit/> Among the most famous writers of the post-Soviet period are [[Oksana Zabuzhko]], [[Yurii Andrukhovych]], [[Oleksandr Irvanets]], [[Serhiy Zhadan]], [[Taras Prokhasko]], [[Jaroslav Melnik]], [[Yuriy Izdryk|Izdryk]], [[Yuri Pokalchuk|Yuriy Pokalchuk]], [[Yuriy Vynnychuk]], [[Andrey Kurkov]].<ref>Although Kurkov is writing in Russian he is mainly considered as a represtative of the Ukrainian literature.</ref>
+
+=== Architecture ===
+{{Main|Ukrainian architecture}}
+[[File:Curitiba Parque Tingui.jpg|thumb|right|Traditional Ukrainian village [[Ukrainian architecture|architecture]] in [[Curitiba]], Brazil, where a large [[Ukrainian diaspora]] is.]]
+Ukrainian architecture is a term that describes the motifs and styles that are found in structures built in modern Ukraine, and by [[Ukrainians]] worldwide.
+These include initial roots which were established in the [[Eastern Slavs|Eastern Slavic]] state of [[Kievan Rus']]. After the [[Mongol invasion of Rus|12th century]], the distinct [[architectural history]] continued in the principalities of [[Galicia-Volhynia]]. During the epoch of the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]], a new style unique to Ukraine was developed under the western influences of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. After the union with the [[Tsardom of Russia]], many structures in the larger eastern, Russian-ruled area were built in the styles of [[Russian architecture]] of that period, whilst the western [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] was developed under [[Architecture of Austria|Austro-Hungarian architectural influences]]. Ukrainian national motifs would finally be used during the period of the [[Soviet Union]] and in modern independent Ukraine.
+
+The great [[Architecture of Kievan Rus|churches of the Rus']], built after the [[Baptism of Kievan Rus'|adoption of Christianity]] in 988, were the first examples of monumental architecture in the East Slavic lands. The architectural style of the Kievan state was strongly influenced by the [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]]. Early [[Eastern Orthodox]] churches were mainly made of wood, with the simplest form of church becoming known as a [[cell church]]. Major cathedrals often featured scores of small domes, which led some art historians to take this as an indication of the appearance of pre-Christian pagan Slavic temples.
+
+Several examples of these churches survive; however, during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, many were externally rebuilt in the [[Ukrainian Baroque]] style (see below). Examples include the grand [[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev|St. Sophia of Kiev]] – the year 1017 is the earliest record of foundation laid, [[Church of the Saviour at Berestove]] – built from 1113 to 1125 and [[St. Cyril's Monastery|St. Cyril's Church]], circa 12th-century. All can still be found in the Ukrainian capital. Several buildings were reconstructed during the late-19th century, including the [[:File:WladimirWolynsk Uspenski Cathedral.jpeg|Assumption Cathedral]] in [[Volodymyr-Volynskyi]], built in 1160 and reconstructed in 1896–1900, the [[:File:AX Chernigiv Pyatnitska Church.jpg|Paraskevi church in Chernihiv]], built in 1201 with reconstruction done in the late 1940s, and the [[Golden Gate (Kiev)|Golden gates in Kiev]], built in 1037 and reconstructed in 1982. The latter's reconstruction was criticised by some art and architecture historians as a revivalist fantasy. Unfortunately little secular or [[vernacular architecture]] of [[Kievan Rus']] has survived.
+
+As Ukraine became increasingly integrated into the [[Russian Empire]], Russian architects had the opportunity to realise their projects in the picturesque landscape that many Ukrainian cities and regions offered. [[St. Andrew's Church of Kiev]] (1747–1754), built by [[Bartolomeo Rastrelli]], is a notable example of [[Baroque]] architecture, and its location on top of the Kievan mountain made it a recognisable monument of the city. An equally notable contribution of Rasetrelli was the [[Mariyinsky Palace]], which was built to be a summer residence to Russian Empress [[Elizabeth of Russia|Elizabeth]]. During the reign of the last [[Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks|Hetman of Ukraine]], [[Kirill Razumovsky]], many of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]]'s towns such as [[Hlukhiv]], [[Baturyn]] and [[Koselets]] had grandiose projects built by [[Andrey Kvasov]]. Russia eventually conquered the south of Ukraine and Crimea, and renamed them as [[New Russia]].  New cities such as [[Mykolayiv|Nikolayev]], [[Odessa]], [[Kherson]] and [[Sevastopol]] were founded. These would contain notable examples of Imperial Russian architecture.
+{{Gallery
+|title=
+|width=200 | height=210 | lines=4
+|align=center
+|File:Чернігів.Собор Бориса й Гліба.JPG|The Transfiguration Cathedral in [[Chernihiv]] dates to [[Architecture of Kievan Rus|Kievan Rus]]. 1030.
+|File:Kamianets-Podilskyi-2007.jpg|[[Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle]] – one of the [[Seven Wonders of Ukraine]].
+|File:Kyiv, St Andrew church (2).jpg|[[St Andrew's Church, Kiev|St Andrew's Church]] in [[Kiev]] an example of [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]].
+|File:Cables Lviv.jpg|[[Old Town (Lviv)|Lviv's Old Town]]; architecture [[Western Ukraine|there]] is much influenced by its history as part of [[Austria-Hungary]] and [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]].
+|File:Комплекс споруд Воронцовського палацу.jpg|[[Vorontsov's Palace (Alupka)|Vorontsov Palace]], at the foot of the [[Crimean Mountains]], an example of [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]]/[[Moorish Revival architecture]].
+|File:Monasterio de San Migueel.jpg|[[St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral]] in [[Kiev]], an example of [[Ukrainian Baroque]].
+|File:Крещатик 38 дробь 2 Киев 2012 01.JPG|Central Department store in [[Kiev]], [[Stalinist architecture]] example.
+}}
+In 1934, the capital of Soviet Ukraine moved from [[Kharkiv]] to [[Kiev]]. Previously, the city was seen as only a regional centre, hence received little attention. All of that was to change, at great price. The first examples of [[Stalinist architecture]] were already showing, and, in light of the official policy, a new city was to be built on top of the old one. This meant that much-admired examples such as the [[St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery]] were destroyed. Even the St. Sophia Cathedral was under threat. Also, the Second World War contributed to the wreckage. After the war, a new project for the reconstruction of central Kiev transformed [[Khreshchatyk]] avenue into a notable example of Stalinism in Architecture. However, by 1955, the new politics of architecture once again stopped the project from fully being realised.
+
+The task for modern Ukrainian architecture is diverse application of modern aesthetics, the search for an architect's own artistic style and inclusion of the existing historico-cultural environment. An example of modern Ukrainian architecture is the reconstruction and renewal of the [[Maidan Nezalezhnosti]] in central Kiev. Despite the limit set by narrow space within the plaza, the engineers were able to blend together the uneven landscape, and use underground space for a new shopping centre.
+
+A major project, which may take up most of the 21st century, is the construction of the Kiev City-Centre on the [[Rybalskyi Peninsula]], which, when finished, will include a dense skyscraper park amid the picturesque landscape of the [[Dnieper River|Dnieper]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archunion.com.ua/sovet-2005/gradsovet_05_12_07.shtml|title=Project of reconstruction of the Rybalskyi Peninsula|work=archunion.com.ua|date=7 December 2005|accessdate=8 January 2014|language=Russian}}</ref>
+
+=== Music ===
+[[File:Cossack Mamay 1st half of 19th c (4).jpg|thumbnail|[[Cossack Mamay]] playing [[kobza]]]]
+[[File:Лисенко Микола.jpg|thumbnail|left|upright|[[Mykola Lysenko]] is widely believed to be the father of Ukrainian classical music]]
+[[Image:Rapid Trident 2014 06.jpg|thumb|Ukrainian Dance ''[[Hopak]]''.]]
+{{Main|Music of Ukraine}}
+Music is a major part of Ukrainian culture, with a long history and many influences. From traditional [[folk music]], to [[classical music|classical]] and [[modern rock]], Ukraine has produced several internationally recognised musicians including [[Kirill Karabits]], [[Okean Elzy]] and [[Ruslana]]. Elements from traditional Ukrainian folk music made their way into Western music and even into [[modern jazz]].
+
+Ukraine music sometimes presents a perplexing mix of exotic melismatic singing with chordal harmony.
+The most striking general characteristic of authentic ethnic Ukrainian folk music is the wide use of minor modes or keys which incorporate augmented 2nd intervals.
+
+During the Baroque period, music was an important discipline for those that had received a higher education in Ukraine. It had a place of considerable importance in the curriculum of the [[Kyiv-Mohyla Academy]]. Much of the nobility was well versed in music with many Ukrainian Cossack leaders such as (Mazepa, Paliy, Holovatyj, Sirko) being accomplished players of the [[kobza]], [[bandura]] or [[torban]].
+
+The first dedicated musical academy was set up in Hlukhiv, Ukraine in 1738 and students were taught to sing, play violin and bandura from manuscripts. As a result many of the earliest composers and performers within the Russian empire were ethnically Ukrainian, having been born or educated in Hlukhiv, or had been closely associated with this music school.
+See: [[Dmytro Bortniansky]], [[Maksym Berezovsky]] and [[Artemy Vedel|Artemiy Vedel]].
+
+Ukrainian classical music falls into three distinct categories defined by whether the composer was of Ukrainian ethnicity living in Ukraine, a composer of non-Ukrainian ethnicity who was born or at some time was a citizen of Ukraine, or an ethnic Ukrainian living outside of Ukraine within the [[Ukrainian diaspora]]. The music of these three groups differs considerably, as do the audiences for whom they cater.
+
+Since the mid-1960s, Western-influenced pop music has been growing in popularity in Ukraine. Folk singer and harmonium player [[Mariana Sadovska]] is prominent. Ukrainian pop and folk music arose with the international popularity of groups and performers like [[Vopli Vidoplyasova]], [[Dakh Daughters]], [[Ivan Dorn]] and [[Okean Elzy]].
+{{clear}}
+
+===Cinema===
+[[File:Muratova.jpg|upright|thumbnail|[[Kira Muratova]]]]
+{{Main|Cinema of Ukraine}}
+Ukraine has had an influence on the history of the cinema. Ukrainian directors [[Alexander Dovzhenko]], often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, as well as being a pioneer of [[Soviet montage theory]], [[Dovzhenko Film Studios]], and [[Sergei Parajanov]], Armenian film director and artist who made significant contributions to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema. He invented his own cinematic style, Ukrainian poetic cinema, which was totally out of step with the guiding principles of socialist realism.
+
+Other important directors including [[Kira Muratova]], [[Larisa Shepitko]], [[Sergei Bondarchuk]], [[Leonid Bykov]], [[Yuri Ilyenko]], [[Leonid Osyka]], [[Ihor Podolchak]] with his [[Delirium (2013 film)|Delirium]] and [[Maryna Vroda]]. Many Ukrainian actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including: [[Vera Kholodnaya]], [[Bohdan Stupka]], [[Milla Jovovich]], [[Olga Kurylenko]], [[Mila Kunis]].
+
+Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of Russian and European influence. Ukrainian producers are active in international co-productions and Ukrainian actors, directors and crew feature regularly in Russian (Soviet in past) films. Also successful films have been based on Ukrainian people, stories or events, including [[Battleship Potemkin]], [[Man with a Movie Camera]], [[Everything Is Illuminated (film)|Everything Is Illuminated]]. The highest-grossing film ever is [[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]] with £5.2 million in 2009.
+
+Ukrainian State Film Agency owns [[National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre]], film copying laboratory and archive, takes part in hosting of the [[Odessa International Film Festival]], and [[Molodist]] is the only one [[FIAPF]] accredited International Film Festival held in Ukraine; competition program is devoted to student, first short and first full feature films from all over the world. Held annually in October.
+
+===Media===
+{{Main|Media of Ukraine}}
+<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:The Ukrainian Week 5.jpg|thumbnail|[[The Ukrainian Week]] January 2014 cover]] -->
+[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]<ref name="alexa.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/UA |title=Top Sites in Ukraine |publisher=Alexa |accessdate=12 May 2014}}</ref> founded by [[Georgiy Gongadze]] in April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrainian with selected articles published in or translated to Russian and English, the newspaper has particular emphasis on the politics of Ukraine. Freedom of the press in Ukraine is considered to be among the freest of the post-Soviet states other than the Baltic states.
+[[Freedom House]] classifies the Internet in Ukraine as "free" and the press as "partly free". Press freedom has significantly improved since the Orange Revolution of 2004. However, in 2010 Freedom House perceived "negative trends in Ukraine".
+
+[[Kiev]] dominates the media sector in Ukraine: the [[Kyiv Post]] is Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper. National [[List of newspapers in Ukraine|newspapers]] [[Den (newspaper)|Den]], [[Zerkalo Nedeli|Mirror Weekly]], tabloids, such as [[The Ukrainian Week]] or [[Focus (Ukrainian magazine)|Focus]] (Russian), and television and radio are largely based there, although [[Lviv]] is also a significant national media centre. The National News Agency of Ukraine, [[Ukrinform]] was founded here in 1918. The Ukraine publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover. [[Sanoma]] publishing Ukrainian editions of such magazines as [[Esquire]], [[Harpers Bazaar]] and [[National Geographic Magazine]]. [[BBC Ukrainian]] started its broadcasts in 1992.
+
+Ukrainians listen to radio programming, such as [[Radio Ukraine]] or [[Radio Liberty]], largely commercial, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day. Several television channels operate, and many Websites are popular.
+
+=== Sport ===
+{{main|Sport in Ukraine}}
+[[File:Andriy Shevchenko goal celebration Euro 2012 vs Sweden.jpg|thumb|Ukrainian footballer [[Andriy Shevchenko]] celebrates a goal against Sweden at Euro 2012]]
+Ukraine greatly benefited from the Soviet emphasis on [[physical education]]. Such policies left Ukraine with hundreds of stadia, swimming pools, gymnasia and many other athletic facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30127/Ukraine|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20080115053121/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30127/Ukraine|archivedate=15 January 2008 |title=Ukraine – Sports and recreation|accessdate=12 January 2008|work=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required)}}</ref> The most popular sport is [[Association football|football]]. The top professional league is the [[Ukrainian Premier League|Vyscha Liha]] ("premier league").
+
+Many Ukrainians also played for the [[Soviet national football team]], most notably [[Ihor Belanov]] and [[Oleh Blokhin]], winners of the prestigious [[Ballon d'Or|Golden Ball Award]]. This award was only presented to one Ukrainian after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, [[Andriy Shevchenko]]. The national team made its debut in the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]], and reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions, [[Italy national football team|Italy]]. Ukrainians also fared well in [[boxing]], where the brothers [[Vitali Klitschko|Vitali]] and [[Wladimir Klitschko]] have held world heavyweight championships.
+
+[[Sergey Bubka]] held the record in the [[Pole vault]] from 1993 to 2014; with great strength, speed and gymnastic abilities, he was voted the world's best athlete on several occasions.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.olympic.org/en/content/The-IOC/Members/Mr-Sergey-BUBKA/ | accessdate =27 May 2010 | title = Mr. Sergey BUBKA | author = International Olympic Committee | work = Official website of the Olympic Movement | quote =...&nbsp;voted world's best athlete on several occasions. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/aoy.html |title=Track and Field Athlete of the Year |publisher=Trackandfieldnews.com |accessdate=30 January 2011}}{{Dead link|date=May 2014}}</ref>
+
+[[Basketball]] is becoming popular in Ukraine. In 2011, Ukraine was granted a right to organize [[EuroBasket 2015]]. Two years later the [[Ukraine national basketball team]] finished 6th in [[EuroBasket 2013]] and qualified to [[2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup|FIBA World Cup]] for the first time in its history. [[Euroleague]] participant [[BC Budivelnyk|Budivelnyk Kyiv]] is the strongest professional basketball club in Ukraine.
+
+[[Chess]] is a popular sport in Ukraine. [[Ruslan Ponomariov]] is the former world champion. There are about 85 [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmasters]] and 198 [[International Masters]] in Ukraine.
+
+Ukraine made its Olympic debut at the [[1994 Winter Olympics]]. So far, [[Ukraine at the Olympics]] has been much more successful in [[Summer Olympics]] (115 medals in five appearances) than in the [[Winter Olympics]]. Ukraine is currently ranked 35th by number of gold medals won in the [[All-time Olympic Games medal count]], with every country above it, except for Russia, having more appearances.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
+<!-- Adding other sports – consider adding any expansion to the "main" page [[Sport in Ukraine]] -->
+
+===Cuisine===
+[[File:Borscht with bread.jpg|thumbnail|[[Borscht]] soup with [[smetana (dairy product)|smetana]]]]
+{{Main|Ukrainian cuisine}}
+The traditional Ukrainian diet includes chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms. Ukrainians also tend to eat a lot of potatoes, grains, fresh, boiled or pickled vegetables. Popular traditional dishes include {{lang|uk-Latn|''[[varenyky]]''}} (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, sauerkraut, cottage cheese, cherries or berries), [[nalysnyky]] ((pancakes) with cottage cheese, poppy seeds, mushrooms, caviar or meat), [[kapuśniak]] (soup made with meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, millet, tomato paste, spices and fresh herbs), [[borsch]] (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat), {{lang|uk-Latn|''[[Gołąbki|holubtsy]]''}} (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots, onion and minced meat) and [[pierogi]] (dumplings filled with boiled potatoes and cheese or meat). Ukrainian specialties also include [[Chicken Kiev]] and [[Kiev Cake]]. Ukrainians drink [[kompot|stewed fruit]], juices, milk, buttermilk (they make cottage cheese from this), mineral water, tea and coffee, beer, wine and {{lang|uk-Latn|[[horilka]]}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/T/R/Traditionalfoods.htm|title=Traditional Foods|accessdate=10 August 2007|last=Stechishin|first=Savella|publisher=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>
+{{clear}}
+
+==See also==
+{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
+* [[2014 Crimean crisis]]
+* [[2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine]]
+* [[2014 Ukrainian revolution]]
+* [[Belarusian People's Republic]]
+* [[General Secretariat of Ukraine]]
+* [[Green Ukraine]] – projected Ukrainian country in the Russian Far East.
+* [[History of the Jews in Ukraine]]
+* [[Orange Revolution]]
+* [[Odessa Museum of the Regional History]]
+* [[Outline of Ukraine]]
+* [[People's Republic]]
+* [[Ukraine after the Russian Revolution]]
+* [[Ukrainian karbovanets]] – the first official Ukrainian currency
+* [[Universal (act)]]
+* [[West Ukrainian People's Republic]]
+* [[:Category:Ukraine-related lists]]
+* {{Wikipedia books link|Ukraine}}
+{{div col end}}
+{{portalbar|Ukraine|Europe}}
+
+==Notes==
+{{Refbegin|30em}}
+'''a.'''{{Note label|A|a|none}} Among the Ukrainians that rose to the highest offices in the Russian Empire were [[Aleksey Razumovsky]], [[Alexander Bezborodko]] and [[Ivan Paskevich]]. Among the Ukrainians who greatly influenced the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in this period were [[Stephen Yavorsky]], [[Feofan Prokopovich]] and [[Dimitry of Rostov]].
+
+'''b.'''{{Note label|B|b|none}} See the [[Great Purge]] article for details.
+
+'''c.'''{{Note label|C|c|1}}{{Note label|C|c|2}} Estimates on the number of deaths vary. Official Soviet data is not available because the Soviet government denied the existence of the famine. See the [[Holodomor]] article for details. Sources differ on interpreting various statements from different branches of different governments as to whether they amount to the official recognition of the Famine as Genocide by the country. For example, after the statement issued by the Latvian Sejm on 13 March 2008, the total number of countries is given as 19 (according to ''Ukrainian [[BBC]]'': [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukrainian/domestic/story/2008/03/080313_latvia_holodomor_oh.shtml {{lang|uk|"Латвія визнала Голодомор ґеноцидом"}}]), 16 (according to ''[[Korrespondent]]'', Russian edition: [http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/403002 {{lang|ru|"После продолжительных дебатов Сейм Латвии признал Голодомор геноцидом украинцев"}}]), "more than 10" (according to ''Korrespondent'', Ukrainian edition: [http://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/403780 {{lang|uk|"Латвія визнала Голодомор 1932–33 рр. геноцидом українців"}}]) Retrieved 27 January 2008.
+
+'''d.'''{{Note label|D|d|1}}{{Note label|D|d|2}} These figures are likely to be much higher, as they '''do not''' include Ukrainians from nations or Ukrainian Jews, but instead only [[ethnic]] Ukrainians, from the Ukrainian SSR.
+
+'''e.'''{{Note label|E|E|none}} This figure excludes [[POW]] deaths.
+
+'''f.'''{{note label|F|f|1}}{{note label|F|f|2}}{{note label|F|f|3}} According to the official [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 census]] data (by nationality;<ref>{{cite web|title=About number and composition population of Kyiv city by All-Ukrainian population census'2001 data|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Kyiv_city/|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> by language<ref>{{cite web|title=About number and composition population of Kyiv on the results of Census 2001|url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/general/language/city_kyiv/|publisher=State Statistics Committee of Ukraine|accessdate=8 January 2014|language=Ukrainian}}</ref>) about 75&nbsp;percent of Kiev's population responded 'Ukrainian' to the native language (ridna mova) census question, and roughly 25&nbsp;percent responded 'Russian'. On the other hand, when the question 'What language do you use in everyday life?' was asked in the 2003 sociological survey, the Kievans' answers were distributed as follows: 'mostly Russian': 52&nbsp;percent, 'both Russian and Ukrainian in equal measure': 32&nbsp;percent, 'mostly Ukrainian': 14&nbsp;percent, 'exclusively Ukrainian': 4.3&nbsp;percent.<br />{{cite news|url= http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20032/72|title=What language is spoken in Ukraine?|publisher=Welcome to Ukraine|date=February 2003|accessdate=11 July 2008 }}
+
+'''g.'''{{Note label|G|g|none}} Such writings were also the base for Russian and Belarusian literature.
+
+'''h.'''{{Note label|H|h|none}} Without the city of Inhulets.
+
+'''i.'''{{Note label|I|i|none}} Russia and Kazakhstan are the first and second largest but both these figures include European and Asian territories. Russia is the only country possessing European territories larger than Ukraine.
+{{Refend}}
+
+==References==
+{{reflist|group=nb}}
+{{reflist|30em|refs=<ref name="DW 16.09.2014">[http://www.dw.de/ukraine-ratifies-eu-association-agreement/a-17925681 Ukraine ratifies EU association agreement]. [[Deutsche Welle]]. Published 16 September 2014.</ref><ref name="Reuters Sep 25, 2014">Richard Balmforth and Natalia Zinets. [http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/09/25/uk-ukraine-crisis-president-idUKKCN0HK0OE20140925 Ukraine president sets 2020 as EU target date, defends peace plan]. [[Reuters]]. Published on 25 September 2014.</ref>}}
+
+==Print sources==
+
+===Reference books===
+{{refbegin}}
+* ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (University of Toronto Press, 1984–93) 5 vol; [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/ partial online version], from Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
+* ''[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58069636 Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopedia Vol.1]'' ed by Volodymyr E. KubijovyC; University of Toronto Press. 1963; 1188pp
+* Dalton, Meredith. ''Ukraine'' (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (2001)
+* Evans, Andrew. ''Ukraine'' (2nd ed 2007) The Bradt Travel Guide [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1841621811?p=S00T online excerpts and search at Amazon.com]
+* Johnstone, Sarah. ''Ukraine'' (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) (2005)
+{{refend}}
+
+===Recent (since 1991)===
+{{refbegin}}
+* Aslund, Anders, and Michael McFaul.''Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine's Democratic Breakthrough'' (2006)
+* Birch, Sarah. ''Elections and Democratization in Ukraine'' Macmillan, 2000 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98201086 online edition]
+* Edwards Mike: "Ukraine – Running on empty" [[National Geographic Magazine]] March 1993
+* Katchanovski, Ivan: ''Cleft Countries: Regional Political Divisions and Cultures in Post-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova'', Ibidem-Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3898215589
+* Kuzio, Taras: ''Contemporary Ukraine: Dynamics of Post-Soviet Transformation'', M.E. Sharpe, 1998, ISBN 0-7656-0224-5
+* Kuzio, Taras. ''Ukraine: State and Nation Building'' Routledge, 1998 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102997170 online edition]
+* Shamshur O. V., Ishevskaya T. I., ''Multilingual education as a factor of inter-ethnic relations: the case of the Ukraine'', in ''Language Education for Intercultural Communication'', By D. E. Ager, George Muskens, Sue Wright, Multilingual Matters, 1993, ISBN 1-85359-204-8
+* {{cite book|title=Ukraine's Economic Reform: Obstacles, Errors, Lessons|last=Shen|first=Raphael|publisher=Praeger/Greenwood|isbn=0-275-95240-1|year=1996}}
+* Whitmore, Sarah. ''State Building in Ukraine: The Ukrainian Parliament, 1990–2003'' Routledge, 2004 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108557869 online edition]
+* [[Andrew Wilson (historian)|Wilson, Andrew]], ''Ukraine's Orange Revolution'' (2005)
+* Wilson, Andrew, ''The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation,'' 2nd ed. 2002; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0300093098?p=S00L online excerpts at Amazon]
+* Wilson, Andrew, ''Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s: A Minority Faith'', [[Cambridge University Press]], ISBN 0-521-57457-9
+* Zon, Hans van. ''The Political Economy of Independent Ukraine.'' 2000 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98833788 online edition]
+{{refend}}
+
+===History===
+{{refbegin|30em}}
+* Bilinsky, Yaroslav ''The Second Soviet Republic: The Ukraine after World War II'' (Rutgers UP, 1964) [http://www.questia.com/read/98757892/the-second-soviet-republic-the-ukraine-after-world online]
+* Hrushevsky, Michael. ''A History of Ukraine'' (1986)
+* Katchanovski Ivan; Kohut, Zenon E.; Nebesio, Bohdan Y.; and Yurkevich, Myroslav. ''Historical Dictionary of Ukraine.'' Second Edition. Scarecrow Press, 2013. 968 pp.
+* Kononenko, Konstantyn. ''Ukraine and Russia: A History of the Economic Relations between Ukraine and Russia, 1654–1917'' (Marquette University Press 1958) [http://www.questia.com/read/30412054/ukraine-and-russia-a-history-of-the-economic-relations online]
+* Luckyj, George S. ''Towards an Intellectual History of Ukraine: An Anthology of Ukrainian Thought from 1710 to 1995.'' (1996)
+* [[Magocsi, Paul Robert]], ''A History of Ukraine''. [[University of Toronto Press]], 1996 ISBN 0-8020-7820-6
+* Reid, Anna. ''Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine'' (2003) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96969196 online edition]
+* [[Orest Subtelny|Subtelny, Orest]]. ''Ukraine: A History'', 1st edition. Toronto: [[University of Toronto Press]], 1988. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
+* Yekelchyk, Serhy. ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'' (Oxford University Press 2007) [http://www.questia.com/read/117724172/ukraine-birth-of-a-modern-nation online]
+{{refend}}
+
+====World War II====
+{{refbegin|30em}}
+* {{cite book|title=Ukraine During World War II: History and Its Aftermath |last=Boshyk|first=Yuri|year=1986|publisher=Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies|isbn=0-920862-37-3}}
+* Berkhoff, Karel C. ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule.'' Harvard U. Press, 2004. 448 pp.
+* {{cite book|last=Cliff|first=Tony|title=Class Struggle and Women's Liberation|publisher=Bookmarks|year=1984|isbn=0-906224-12-8}}
+* Gross, Jan T. ''Revolution from Abroad: The Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia'' (1988).
+* Lower, Wendy. ''Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine.'' U. of North Carolina Press, 2005. 307 pp.
+* Piotrowski Tadeusz, ''Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918–1947'', McFarland & Company, 1998, ISBN 0-7864-0371-3
+* Redlich, Shimon. ''Together and Apart in Brzezany: Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians, 1919–1945.'' Indiana U. Press, 2002. 202 pp.
+* Zabarko, Boris, ed. ''Holocaust In The Ukraine'', Mitchell Vallentine & Co, 2005. 394 pp.
+{{refend}}
+
+==External links==
+{{Sister project links|voy=Ukraine}}
+* {{CIA World Factbook link|up|Ukraine}}
+*[http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/europe-central-asia/ukraine/business-corruption-in-ukraine.aspx Ukraine Corruption Profile] from the [[Business-Anti-Corruption Portal|Business Anti-Corruption Portal]]
+* [http://en.ukrainecityguide.com/ Website Ukraine-CityGuide]
+* [http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/up/ Ukraine] information from the [[United States Department of State]]
+* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/ukraine/ua.html Portals to the World] from the United States [[Library of Congress]]
+* [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/ukraine.htm Ukraine] at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
+* {{dmoz|Regional/Europe/Ukraine}}
+* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18018002 Ukraine] from the [[BBC News]]
+* {{Wikiatlas|Ukraine}}
+* {{osmrelation-inline|60199}}
+* {{Wikivoyage-inline}}
+* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=UA Key Development Forecasts for Ukraine] from [[International Futures]]
+* [http://encyclopediaofukraine.com/ Encyclopedia of Ukraine]
+*[http://www.enpi-info.eu/countryeast.php?country=62 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre: Ukraine]
+*[http://www.enpi-info.eu/library/ EU Neighbourhood Library]
+; Government
+* [http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ The President of Ukraine]
+* [http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en Government Portal of Ukraine]
+* [http://rada.gov.ua/en The Parliament of Ukraine]
+* [http://www.escher.com.ua/ Ukrainian art. Most famous modern painters]
+;Trade
+*[http://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/Country/UKR/Year/2012/Summary World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Ukraine]
+*[http://trendeconomy.com/en/tradeSummary/H4/Europe-Ukraine#Ukraine Trade Profile (Imports/Exports) of Ukraine]
+{{coord|49|N|32|E|scale:10000000_source:GNS|display=title}}
+{{Geographic Location
+| Centre = {{flag|Ukraine}}
+| North = {{flag|Belarus}}
+| Northeast = {{flag|Russia}}
+| East = {{flag|Russia}}
+| Southeast = [[Azov Sea]]<br>{{flag|Russia}}
+| South = [[Black Sea]]
+| Southwest = {{flag|Hungary}}<br /> {{flag|Romania}}<br /> {{flag|Moldova}}
+| West = {{flag|Poland}}<br /> {{flag|Slovakia}} 
+| Northwest = {{flag|Belarus}}<br /> {{flag|Poland}}
+}}
+{{Ukraine topics}}
+{{Commonwealth of Independent States}}
+{{Countries of Europe}}
+
+{{Authority control}}
+
+[[Category:Ukraine| ]]<!-- eponymous category -->
+[[Category:Areas of traditional spread of Ukrainians and Ukrainian language]]
+[[Category:Eastern Europe]]
+[[Category:Countries in Europe]]
+[[Category:Kievan Rus']]
+[[Category:Member states of the United Nations]]
+[[Category:Slavic countries and territories]]
+[[Category:States and territories established in 1991]]
+[[Category:Ukrainian-speaking countries and territories]]