Ukraine is a country in eastern Europe, home to about 46 million people. The capital and largest city is Kiev. The country’s name is derived from a Slavic word meaning “borderland,” and standard usage is without the definite article “the.”
The region was originally populated by an Iranian tribe called the Scythians, who established a kingdom there from 700 B.C. to 200 B.C. The region was then inhabited by a succession of groups including the Goths, the Bulgars and the Khazars. During the 10th and 11th centuries Ukraine became the center of a European state called the Kievan Rus, which prospered until it was destroyed by the Mongol invasion in 1240. The area fell under Lithuanian and then Polish rule after a royal marriage created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which in the 16th century underwent a series of Tatar invasions designed to capture and enslave people, mostly Ukrainians. In the mid-17th century a Cossack state was established, some of which was then incorporated into Russia and the rest partitioned off to Poland. Ukraine spent much of the 20th century attempting to reunite and become its own nation, but this did not come to pass until 1991. Ukraine is now considered to be in a state of political transition and the country is still struggling economically following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine is famous for the production of the beautiful, intricately decorated Easter eggs known as pysanka, made using a wax-resist or batik process. The local cuisine is hearty; a well-known specialty is Chicken Kiev. Visitors enjoy seeing historic cathedrals and monasteries, monuments to Vladimir Lenin, displays of legendary traditional horsemanship, colorful folkloric costumes, music and dance, and museums displaying artifacts from bygone eras. Visitors also enjoy traveling to the ancient Tatar city of Bakhchisarai to visit the 16th-century Khan palace, heavily influenced by Turkish culture.