Ukraine
Article
August 15, 2022
Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, tr. Ukraína or Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ ( listen)) is a sovereign state located in Eastern Europe. Its form of government is the republic governed by a semi-presidential system, with the separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers. Its territory is organized according to a unitary state made up of twenty-four oblasts, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and two cities with a special status: kyiv and Sevastopol. [note 1] Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km² and a population of 40,997 698 inhabitants. The city of kyiv is the capital and the most populous city of the country. The official language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language and the predominant religion is Orthodox Christianity. The history of Ukraine begins in 882 with the establishment of Kievan Rus', a federation of East Slavic tribes, which became the largest and most powerful state in Europe during the 11th century.[6] After the invasion During the mid-13th century Mongol Republic, the territorial unit disappeared, and the area was divided and ruled by various powers, including the Two Nations Republic, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Tsardom. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cossack Hetmanate emerged and prospered, eventually divided between Poland and the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, a nationalist movement emerged, forming the Ukrainian People's Republic, forced by the Bolsheviks to become the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921, and a founding member of the Soviet Union the following year. Finally, it regained its independence on August 24, 1991, after the attempted coup in the Soviet Union that led to its dissolution in December of the same year.[7] Since then, Ukraine is in a process of "decommunization" transition to a market economy and a democratic state.[8] In 2013, following President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to reject the long-negotiated Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and, on the contrary, closer relations with Russia, began a series of protests (known as the Euromaidan) that led to his overthrow. This unstable situation was used by the Russian Federation to occupy and annex Crimea in March 2014 and start the Donbas War the following month, culminating in the Russian invasion in February 2022. In 2020, Ukraine ranked 74th in the HDI (human development index) out of 189 countries and, together with Moldova, had the lowest gross domestic product at purchasing power parity (PPP) values per capita in Europe (see Annex :Countries by GDP (PPP) per capita). It suffers from a very high poverty rate, as well as widespread corruption; however, due to its extensive fertile farmland, Ukraine is one of the world's largest grain exporters. Although due to the Russo-Ukrainian war, it is ceasing to produce cereals.