Ukraine

Find out some interesting snippets of history, geography and culture about Ukraine, Europe's second largest country, and enjoy our collection of Ukrainian flag printables.

Independence Square, Kiev, capital city of Ukraine

Learn about Ukraine

Geography of Ukraine:

• Europe's second largest country, Ukraine means "Land on the edge". It is an apt name for a country on the eastern fringe of the European steppe.
• Known as the biggest European wheat producer, Ukraine is also a major steel exporter using coal and iron ore from its eastern industrial belt.
• The capital city is Kiev.
• The country has a population of around 46m people.
• The main language is Ukrainian, and Russian is also widely spoken.
• It's northern forests contain an abundance of mammals such as wild boar, deer and brown bears.
• The horse was first domesticated in Ukraine!

History:

• Ukraine was settled in ancient times, with colonies of Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and the Byzantine empire all in teh vicinity.
• The origins of modern Ukraine can be traced to the Rus people, who settled in an area centred around Kiev known as Kievan Rus. During the 10th and 11th centuries, Kievan Rus - ruled by Vladimir the Great and then his sone Yaroslav the Wise, was arguably the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
• Many tumultuous centuries followed - far too complicated to write about here!
• The modern history of Ukraine begins in 1922 when it became a founding member of the Soviet Union. It remained under Soviet control until the USSR broke up in 1991.

More about Ukraine

• Ukrainians eat a hearty diet including soups such as borscht, dumplings and cakes.
• Ironically, Chicken Kiev was invented in Moscow, not Kiev!

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About the Ukrainian Flag

The flag of Ukraine is made up of two equally sized horizontal blue and yellow stripes. The blue represents the mountains, sky and streams of Ukraine and the yellow represents the fields of wheat.

The flag was officially adopted as the national flag in 1992.

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Our Ukraine Resources