UKRAINE

UKRAINEKNOW YOUR COMMUNITY-KNOW YOUR WORLD

Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe. It is slightly smaller than Texas in area, making it the second largest country in Europe. The terrain is mostly fertile plains and plateaus with some mountains in the west and extreme south. It borders the Black Sea to the south.

Country Quick FactsFull name: Ukraine Population: 44.4 million (July 2015) Capital: KyivLargest city: KyivOfficial language: Ukrainian Major religion: Orthodox Christianity Life expectancy: male-67, female-77 Monetary unit: Ukrainian hryvniaMain exports: metals, fuel & petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, foodstuffs GNI per capita: $8,970 (2013)

Ukrainian History in BriefMany different nomadic groups settled in Ukraines current territory during the first millennium BC Around 600 BC had colonies along the Black Sea and the Slavic tribes occupied much of central and eastern Ukraine Near the end of the 10th century Vladimir the Great converted most of the population to Christianity Kievan Rus was an influential medieval city state, but disintegrated after the Mongol invasion in the 13th century In the 14th century Ukraine became part of the Kingdom of PolandIn the 1700s the Kingdom of Poland was divided among 3 major powers and the Russian Empire got most of Ukraine, while the Austrio-Hungarian Empire got some of west Ukraine

History continuedAfter WWI Ukraine declared independent statehood, but they couldn'tt protect themselves so Poland took over the far west and the east became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic In WWII Poland lost its part of Ukraine to the USSR Shortly after Nazi Germany invaded Russia and gained control of parts of Ukraine for about 3 years and Ukraine suffered greatly during this time with many executions and other crimes against humanityAfter WWII Ukraine remained part of the USSR and industries grew rapidly In 1991 Ukraine declared itself an independent state after the breakup of the Soviet Union and began positive moves towards democracyFebruary 2014 fighting breaks out during protests (see slide 10)

Germany soldiers holding a Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic flag

LanguageHELLO: /Vitayu GOODBYE: /Do pobaennjaYES: /TakNO: /NiTHANK YOU: /DiakujuYOURE WELCOME: /Prou, bu laskaPLEASE: /Bud laskaI LOVE YOU: /Ja tebe kochajuHOW ARE YOU: /Jak vy poyvajete

GovernmentPresident- Petro Poroshenko Prime minister- Arseniy YatsenyukRepublic Voting age- 18 years old

Poroshenko (above), Yatsenyuk (left)

Ukraine Crisishttps://youtu.be/vdxG-fLv0vI WARNING: semi-graphic images in this video Since this video, from September 2014, two peace agreements, Minsk I and Minsk II, have been attempted but were not implemented Fighting has continued since and sanctions on Russia continue to be extended by the US and the European UnionIn April, US troops started training Ukrainian infantry Human right violations continue and just from mid-April 2015-June 2015 almost 6,500 were killed in the fighting, many of them civilians

Current IssuesHigh levels of human traffickingHigh poverty and mass starvation in some areas Displaced people and refugees from the conflict Economic troublesChildren out of school because of the conflict Water and air pollution

EconomyUkraines economy continues to suffer due to the conflict going on theirOne of the remaining questions is west or east; will Ukraine align with the west (EU & NATO) or east (Russia)? In March 2014 Ukraine received an assistance package from International Monetary Fund for $14-18 billion to help their economy Industries: coal, electric power, metals, machinery and trasport equipment, chemicals, food processing

CurrencyUkrainian hryvnia 1 US Dollar= 21.22 Ukrainian hryvnia (July 2015)

Traditional Ukrainian Dress

Traditional Ukrainian Dancehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VByNuaE_CT0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHddMpZ_dCo

Traditional Ukrainian FoodBorshch- beet root soup with lots of vegetablesVarenyky- dumplings filled with mashed potatoes, onions, cabbage and many other thingsBanosh with brynza- corn flour cooked in sour cream then cheese, mushrooms, and pork addedUzvar- dried fruit drink Paska- sweet egg bread, served especially at Easter time

BorshchPaska(Above) Varenyky, (right) uzvar

Fun FactsThe famous Tunnel of Love is located in Ukraine Ukrainians rarely smile in publics, but they are still very friendly people! The third most visited McDonalds in the world is located in Kyiv Arsenalnaya Metro Station located in Kiev is the deepest in the world (105 meters)The famous Christmas song, Carol of the Bells, was written by a Ukrainian composerUkrainians wear their wedding ring on their right hand Kyiv has the shortest city main street in the world at only 1.2 km

(Top left) the third most visited McDonalds in the world in Kyiv, Ukraine, (above) Arsenalnaya Metro Station is the deepest in the world, (right) the shortest city main street in the world in Kyiv

(Above) Tunnel of Love, (right) a Ukrainian couple wearing the wedding rings on their right hands

Linkshttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.htmlhttp://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/ua.htm

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