Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second largest country in Europe after Russia. Ukraine is bordered by Belarus to the north, Russia to the east, the Black Sea to the south, Moldova and Romania to the southwest, and Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland to the west. Kyiv (Kiev) is the capital and largest city of Ukraine. Ukraine is a unitary state composed of 24 oblasts (provinces), one autonomous republic (Crimea), and two cities with special status: Kyiv, the capital, and Sevastopol, which has a federal city status on the Crimean Peninsula. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. During the Middle Ages, the area was a key center of 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, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but its territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire, and later annexed by the latter. After World War II, Ukraine was again annexed by the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's territory was enlarged westward following the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, and again in 1954 with the Crimea Transfer Agreement. In 1991, Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as "The Ukraine", but most sources have since moved to drop "the" from the name of Ukraine in all uses. Following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. The country has had a limited military partnership with Russian Federation and other CIS countries while also maintaining a partnership with NATO since 1994. In 2013, after the government of President Viktor Yanukovych had decided to suspend the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement and seek closer economic ties with Russia, a several-months-long wave of demonstrations and protests known as the Euromaidan began, which later escalated into the 2014 Ukrainian revolution that led to the overthrow of Yanukovych and the establishment of a new government. These events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union. As of 2020, Ukraine has the second-lowest HDI rating in Europe after Moldova, and is also the poorest country in Europe.