About Ukraine

Traditional welcome for the guests in Ukraine are bread, salt, and the words "laskavo prosimo!" For us it is the cradle of Slavic statehood: ancient Kiev, Zaporozhye Sech and Gogol's Dykanka. For travelers it is an unexplored area where ancient history is intertwined with modernity.

Most researchers believe the name f the state is derived from the word "oukraina" - "border area", some Ukrainian historians and linguists associate the name with the word "krai" (land), that it means "country", "land inhabited by its people." In the XVI-XVIII centuries, "Ukraine" became a concrete geographical concept, and with the growing number of "Ukrainians" the name extended beyond the original territory and eventually replaced the official and religious term "Little Russia."
Ukraine is located in the central part of Eastern Europe and is one of the largest countries in Europe. Ukraine's area is of 603.7 sq.m. and it stretches about 2,000 km from east to west and 1,000 km from north to south. Ukraine borders with 7 different countries: Russia to the north and east, Belarus to the north, Poland to the west, and also has a large part of the sea coast of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea in the south. Ukraine also has a small border with Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, and Hungary to the south-west. The size of the territory is the 42nd in the world.

The state capital is Kiev.
Kiev today is one of the largest European cities, it is the administrative, scientific, cultural and educational center of Ukraine.

History
The first state here was Kievan Rus ruled by Prince Oleg in the IX-X centuries.It united all of the Eastern Slavic tribes. Under the reign of Prince Sviatoslav were carried out military campaigns to the Balkans and Khazaria. In 988 Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich proclaims Byzanthian Orthodox Christianity to be the state religion. Under his son Yaroslav the Wise Kiev built temples, opened a library, published a set of laws - "The Russian Truth". After the death of Yaroslav the Wise, Rus crushed into smaller principalities. Fleeing from the nomads, a significant part of the population during the XII century migrated to safer Rostov-Suzdal principality, where new cities grow.
After Batu destroyed Kiev (1240), the city fell into disrepair, and in 1362 it became part of Lithuania. Old Russian culture, laws and customs played a rather important role in the Lithuanian state. In XIV-XV centuries, Vilna, Kovno, Brest, Polotsk, Lvov, Kiev, Vladimir-Volyn and other cities were granted the right to self-government - the so-called "Magdeburg Law."

The union with Poland to form a state called Rzeczpospolita and the Union of Brest Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Metropolis with the Catholic Church in 1596 with the recognition of the Catholic dogmas being Orthodox and supreme authority of the Pope, while preserving the Orthodox Church rituals and worship in Slavic languages, caused increasingly violent clashes between the Orthodox and Uniates
In the second half of the XV century in the south of present-day Ukraine - in the steppes called "the Wild Field" and along the Dnieper rapids, settled a group of fugitives from Rzeczpospolita. They called themselves Cossacks. By the first half of the XVII century Cossack revolts became more frequent but got suppressed by the Poles and their Ukrainian supporters. However, Bogdan Khmelnytsky riot led to the formation of an autonomous political unit - Hetmanship. Bogdan Khmelnytsky accepted the citizenship of the Russian kingdom, after which the political situation was the following: Left-bank Ukraine wanted to be a part of Russia, and Right Bank tended to agree with Rzeczpospolita.

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, the alllied Russian-Cossack army resisted the expansion of the joint forces of the Ottoman Empire to Left-Bank Ukraine. During the XVIII century, Cossack nobility integrated in the Russian elite, descendants from Ukraine occupied high positions in the Russian Empire. In 1764, Catherine II abolished Hetmanship, in 1775, Zaporizhzhya Sich, equating Cossack nobility to Russian. Ukrainian Cossacks were given Kuban, Stavropol Territory, New Russia to settle.
On the lands of Zaporozhye, Northern Black Sea and Tauris, in place of Cossack and Tatar settlements were based Russian cities, including Zaporozhye, Krivoy Rog, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Mariupol, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Melitopol, Nikolaev, Odessa, Lugansk.
In 1945, to Ukraine was annexed the Transcarpathian region, and in 1954 by the decision of the USSR authorities, and in honor of the "300th anniversary of friendship between Ukraine and Russia" the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was assigned to the Ukrainian SSR.
On August 24, 1991, after the defeat of the August putsch in Moscow, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament of the Ukrainian SSR) proclaims the independence of Ukraine.

Climate
In most parts of Ukraine, climate is temperate continental, except for the southern coast of Crimea, which has typical Mediterranean climate. The more continental is the climate, the hotter gets summer, and winters are colder with less rainfall. For the Crimean Mountains and the Carpathians, mountain climate is typical. Summer throughout Ukraine is warm and long, in the east and south it is hot and dry, in the west warm and humid. Winters depend on the region. In the south and west they are mild, the coldest winters are in the north-east of Ukraine.

The main seaports are Odessa, Illichivsk, Yuzhny, Izmail, Reni, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Mariupol.
Major airports: Borispol (Kiev), Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa, Donetsk.

Kiev phone code is 8-10-38-044

Religion
Ukraine is a secular state, more than 88% of the population are Christians, a significant part of Ukrainian Christians are Orthodox. Muslims amount to 1 to 4% of the population, most of them living in the Crimea, the most significant communities - in Simferopol, Crimea, Bakhchisarai and Old Crimea.

Inhabitants
The population is about 50 million people.
Ukrainians are hardworking, assertive, they are businesslike and cheerful. They have a well developed sense of humor. Of all Slavs, the Ukrainians are the most musical, and the Ukrainian language is one of the most melodious. Rural residents are characterized by high morality, rare malformation (there is no word for a thief in the Ukrainian language). Ukrainians are known for their love for law and order.They love nature, communication, teamwork.

They actively participate in public life, easily adapt to different conditions of life and work in a multicultural environment. As for business, Ukrainians are circumstantial, prudent, assertive. They always strive to excel, to be among the first which, in general, is welcomed by other people, but sometimes their colleagues of other nationalities seem to disapprove of it. Ukrainians boldly go to showdown with unscrupulous people, honestly defend their positions and their personal attitude.
At the same time we must keep in mind that in some cases Ukrainians show unreasonable stubbornness, obstinacy, in some circumstances, the inability to compromise in relationships with others. They may be distrusting and suspicious.

Public holidays in Ukraine

• January 1 - New Year's Eve of the Christian era (date determined by the Gregorian calendar)
• January 7 - Christmas Day (date determined by the Julian calendar)
• January 22 - Day of Unification of Ukraine
• March 8 - International Women's Day
• May 1, 2 - International Workers' Day
• May 9 - Victory Day
• June 28 - Constitution Day
• August 23 - Day of the Ukrainian Flag
• August 24 - Independence Day
• Variable - Easter
• Variable - Pentecost

Tourism
The scope of tourist interests in Ukraine includes active leisure and sports tourism, such as rock climbing and downhill skiing, as well as traveling with cognitive goals: to study the rich archaeological and religious history of the country, its culture and nature.
Ukraine is rich in tourism opportunities: Crimea and the Carpathian Mountains, the historic monuments of ancient Ukrainian cities, rural (green) tourism and nature reserves.

World Heritage Sites in Ukraine

• Saint Sophia Cathedral (Kiev) and related monastic buildings
• Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Kiev)
• The historic center of Lviv (Lviv)
• Part of Struve Geodetic Arc
• Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians
• Residence of Bukovina metropolitans (Chernivtsi)

A touristic trip to Ukraine can also be made for health. Its healing resorts, located in almost all regions of Ukraine, have been known for ages. Since the Soviet era is known the "All-Union health resort" - Crimea, which brought together the mountains, sea, forests, historical and architectural monuments, as well as unique parks. Resorts in the Carpathian Mountains and Transcarpathia are also actively developing.

Ukrainian cuisine is diverse and tasty, it evolved over many centuries.Throughout the territory of modern Ukraine, the cuisine is fairly homogeneous both in terms of products and methods for their processing. Some of Ukrainian dishes are widespread among other nations, especially Slavic, both Eastern and Western.
Any national cuisine is, first of all, affected by the design of the place where food is prepared, i.e. the hearth.In Ukraine, such a place was the "varista pіch" - a closed fireplace. Therefore, Ukrainian main techniques of preparing food are cooking, stewing and baking. Even the Cossacks, having shot an animal, tried to cook a yushka (broth), instead of roasting it on a spit, the Germans, for example.

Besides, Ukrainian cuisine also adopted some technological methods of their neighbors, particularly frying foods in very hot oil ("smazhennya" in Ukrainian), which is typical for the Tatar and Turkish cuisine. The minced meat "Sicenica" was borrowed from German cuisine, and from the Hungarian, for example, the use of paprika.
Typical Ukrainian dishes are bacon, soup, green soup, broth, kapustnyak, friedge, different kinds of dumplings, pork, kruchenyky, sicenica, jelly, tsybulnik, cracklings, zrazy, kartoplyaniki, home-made sausage (baked with meat and fat), pudding, stuffed , Kiev chop, gruel, etc.