Ukraine is a country located in Eastern Europe, with its capital at Kiev. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast.Ukraine has had a long and rich history, at one point being a part of the Cossack Hetmanate and then the Russian Empire and Soviet Union.The name of Ukraine likely comes from the old Slavic term for 'borderland', as does the word krajina.Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Ruled by Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine had two brief periods of independence in the 20th century, in 1918-1921 and 1944-1945, but it was conquered by the USSR both times. It would not be until 1991 that Ukraine would become an independent republic for a long period of time, and Ukraine maintained its historical ties to Russia by being involved in the Confederacy of Independent States.
However, Ukraine had to deal with the unification of Europe in the European Union, and the 2014 overthrow of dictator, Viktor Yanukovych led to the new Kiev government seeking membership in NATO and the EU and the abolition of economic ties to Russia that had flourished under the Russophile Yanukovych.
As a result, the culturally Russian regions of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk declared their independence, with Russia annexing Crimea and the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic becoming independent republics.
Ukraine's government, accused by many of being fascist and anti-Semitic, was supported by the West and NATO against the pro-Russian rebels.
In 2016, Ukraine had a population of 42,539,010 people, with the ethnicities being made up 77.8% of Ukrainians, 17.3% Russians, .6% Belarusians, .5% Moldovans, .5% Tatars, .4% Bulgarians, .3% Hungarians, .3% Romanians, .3% Poles, and 1.7% others, and 72% were Orthodox Christian, 15.8% Catholic, 2.4% Protestant, .6% Muslim, .2% Jewish, and 9.9% others; 22% of the population as a whole is atheist.
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