Country
Today the population of Ukraine equals about 50.5 million.  The country ranks fifth in total population in Europe after Germany, Italy, England and Sweden.  Ukraine is a multiparty republic with a single legislative house, called the Supreme Council.  The official language is Ukrainian, which is similar - but not identical - to Russian.  Today Ukrainian and Russian are about as close as Dutch and German.  The majority of Ukrainians claim Orthodoxy as their religion.  About 10 percent would claim the Uniat religion.  Less than 3 percent are evangelical Christians.

Population:  51 million
Government:  Republic
Language:  Ukrainian
Religion:  Orthodoxy
Evangelical:  3 percent

Geography
The word "Ukraine" means land. Ukraine is a vast land that stretches for 870 miles from north to south. Ukraine is bordered by Russia in the north, Belarus in the northwest, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania on the west, Moldova in the southwest, and on the south by the Black Sea and Sea of Azov  About 90% of the territory is taken up by wide rolling plains. However, there are also mountains in Ukraine: the Carpathians in the west and the Crimean Range in the south. Neither are very high, but gorgeously picturesque. Three mighty rivers and innumerable smaller ones cross the great plain; the Dnipro, the Southern Buh and the Dneister. The Dnipro is the longest of these rivers (2285 km, or 1520 miles), and third largest in Europe. Ukraine has many forests as well. There are enough mineral resources to meet the needs of a highly-developed economy. A large part of Ukrainian territory is covered with a layer of exceptionally fertile soil that can provide excellent crops.

Location:  Eastern Europe
Terrain:  Rolling plains
Mountains:  Carpathian
Rivers:  Dnipro & Dneister
Seas:  Black Sea
Soils:  Fertile black soil
Capitol:  Kiev (2.6 million)

History
Slavic peoples populated Ukraine at least 2000 years before Christ.  Kiev, the capital, dates to about the 8th century A.D. - some 400 years before Moscow.  Christianity came to Ukraine when Prince Vladimir of kiev was converted to Orthodoxy by Byzantine missionaries from Constantinople in A.D. 988.  Ukraine has been a price coveted by many warring peoples.  The Mongols sacked Kiev in 1240 but were eventually driven eastward.  The Lithuanians conquered Ukraine around 1392.  When Lithuania and Poland merged in 1569, Polish influence became dominant.  Under their rule the Ukrainian farmers were forced into serfdom.  Some who resisted banded together and became known as the Cossacks.  In 1648 the Cossacks drove out the Polish Jesuit priests.  Fearing that their independent state was too weak they requested that Moscow rule them in 1654.  Moscow eventually tightened its grip until the Cossacks had little power.  To this day many Russians do not accept Ukraine as a separate state.  The Bolsheviks gained power in the early 1900s.  Lenin and Stalin were responsible for much suffering and death.  Ukraine gained its independence in the early 1990s and are currently struggling with reform.

800s:  City of Kiev founded
988:  Mass baptism
1240:  Mongol invasion
1392:  Lithuanian invasion
1569:  Polish control
1648:  Cossack revolt
1654:  Moscow control
1900s:  Communist era
1990s:  Independence