Ukraine

Ukraine is a state in Eastern Europe. It is the second largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus in the north; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in the west; Romania and Moldova in the south; and has a coastline along the Azov and Black Seas. It covers an area of ​​603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi) with a population of 41.3 million and is the eighth most populous country in Europe. The capital of the country and the largest city is Kiev.

The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC. In the Middle Ages, this region was a key center of East Slavic culture, and the powerful state of Kievan Rus formed the basis of Ukrainian identity. After its fragmentation into several principalities in the 13th century and the devastation caused by the Mongol invasion, territorial unity collapsed and the territory was contested, ruled, and divided by various powers, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the kingdom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, but ultimately its territory was divided between Poland and the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian national movement for self-determination emerged, and on June 23, 1917, the internationally recognized Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed. After World War II, the western part of Ukraine became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. and the whole country became part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

After gaining independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state; he formed a limited military partnership with Russia and other CIS countries, and established a partnership with NATO in 1994. In 2013, after the government of President Viktor Yanukovych decided to suspend the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and seek closer economic ties with Russia. , a wave of several months of demonstrations and protests, known as the Euromaidan, began, which later escalated into the Ukrainian revolution of 2014, which led to the overthrow of Yanukovych and the creation of a new government. These events formed the basis for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the war in Donbass in April 2014. On January 1, 2016, Ukraine applied for the economic component of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union.

Ukraine is a developing country, ranking 74th in the Human Development Index. It is the poorest country in Europe after Moldova, suffering from very high levels of poverty and serious corruption. However, due to its vast fertile agricultural land, Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. It also contains the third largest military forces in Europe after Russia and France. Ukraine is a unitary republic with a semi-presidential system with separate powers: legislative, executive and judicial. The country is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the GUAM organization, the Lublin Triangle and is one of the founding states of the CIS, although it has never become a member of the organization.