Is Ukraine in Russia or Europe?
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe.
In terms of area, Ukraine is Europe’s second-largest country behind its eastern and northern neighbors, Russia.
Ukraine is bordered on the north by Belarus, the west by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, the south by Romania and Moldova, and the seas of Azov and the Black Sea run along its coastlines.
Although it is only 233,062 square miles in size, it has a population of 43.6 million, making it Europe’s seventh most populous country. Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital and largest city, is the country’s largest and most populous metropolis.
At least 32,000 years of human habitation have taken place on the land that is now Ukraine. Kievan Rus’ (a loosely organized group of East Slavic tribes) was the foundation of Ukrainian identity during the Middle Ages.
A number of empires fought over, divided, and ruled over the region after its disintegration into several principalities in the 13th century, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia, as well as the destruction caused by the Mongol invasion.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Cossack Hetmanate grew and prospered, although its territory was divided between Poland and the Russian Empire.
After the Russian Revolution, a Ukrainian national movement for self-determination evolved, and the internationally recognized Ukrainian People’s Republic was established on June 23, 1917.
Ukraine joined the Soviet Union as a founding member in 1922. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country regained its freedom.
When Ukraine became a sovereign state, it stated that it would remain neutral; it signed a military alliance with Russia and other CIS countries, but it also formed a military alliance with NATO in 1994.
A series of protests and demonstrations known as the Euromaidan began in Ukraine in 2013 after the government of President Viktor Yanukovych decided to suspend the Ukraine–EU Association Agreement and seek closer economic ties with Russia. This eventually led to Yanukovych’s ouster and the establishment of a new government.
