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About Ukraine

Another Ukraine

A prominent Ukrainian politician Viacheslav Chornovil once said, that Ukrainians could boast (or maybe grieve) almost the same dispersion all over the world as the biblical Jewish nation. The Ukrainian diaspora indeed stretches the globe. According to the statistic, over 16 million Ukrainians reside in 55 countries. The biggest Ukrainian communities are in Russia - over 8 million, in the USA - over 1 million, Canada - some 800 thousand, Poland and Rumania - some 500 thousand, Argentina - 150 thousand people.

 
Mass Media in Ukraine

There are public and private mass media in Ukraine. The share of non-public television and radio broadcasting stands at over 96%. According to data from the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine, more than 30,000 state registration certificates have been issued to various print media to date. According to estimates by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, over 5,300 periodical titles are published. With the development of information technologies and the advent of the Internet, many independent Internet publications have appeared.

 
Language situation

Language is a reflection of a people’s soul, because through a language one can find out about many features of the development and formation of those people. Unfortunately, during their history, Ukrainians have been deprived of the possibility to fully study and develop their native language. Subordination to the authority of the states of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita), and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires led not only to a denial by these countries’ historians of the existence of Ukrainians as an ethnos, but also to relegating the Ukrainian language to the status of a dialect.

 
State holidays

 

Outstanding events, memorable dates that bear national values, and special historical or sociopolitical significance are commemorated in Ukraine as state holidays and are official days off.

 
Religions in Ukraine

Ukraine’s religious life is represented by 55 religious confessions within the framework of which there are 34,000 religious organizations; namely 32,500 religious communities, 82 centers, 246 administrations, 420 monasteries, 333 missions, 74 brotherhoods, 192 religious educational establishments, and 12,700 Sunday schools.

There are 29,400 clergymen in Ukraine. The number of religious printed mass media is constantly increasing and at present constitutes 383 publications.

For public worship, religious organizations use 22,000 religious buildings, or buildings adapted for purposes of worship.

 
National composition

During Ukraine’s entire history, its territory has also been populated by other peoples, in addition to its indigenous population of Ukrainians. Their settlement was a result of historical events: wars, migration, forced relocation of populations, and natural and social calamities on the territories of other countries. Those very processes formed a bright picture of a multinational state, which Ukraine is today.

 
Administrative-territorial composition of Ukraine

Ukraine is a unitary state. This means that governance of the country is carried out from one center, the capital; a single Constitution is in force for the entire territory of the country; there is a single system of the highest bodies of authority and there is a single legal framework. However, each of the administrative-territorial units has its governing bodies within a given authority.

 
Geography

Ukraine is a Central Eastern European country located between 52°20′ and 44°20′ north latitude and 22°5' and 41°15' east longitude. The capital city of Ukraine is Kyiv.

 
Traditions

Like any nation in the world, we have our own features that may look unusual to a guest, for example, our cuisine. In restaurants you can be served a bowl of strange red soup called borshch. This is a traditional Ukrainian dish that only Ukrainians can cook properly. If you wish to get an in-depth look at our folk traditions, it is best to see a holiday celebration. On the shortest night of July, young people jump over a campfire, and girls place wreathes of flowers on the water. This romantic celebration is called Ivana Kupala. Our people celebrate Christmas in a special way too. On Christmas Eve, you can bump into costumed amateurs and professional performers in the streets who sing Christmas carols and stage folk performances called verteps.