Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, romanized: Ukraïna, pronounced [ʊkrɐˈjinɐ] (listen))

is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after

Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast.[a][11] It is also bordered by
Belarus to the north; by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and by Romania
and Moldova[b] to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea
of Azov to the south and southeast.[c] Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest
city, followed by Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa. Ukraine's official language is
Ukrainian; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south.

During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area
later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus',
which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival
regional powers and was ultimately destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the 13th
century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external
powers for the next 600 years, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the
Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack
Hetmanate emerged in central Ukraine in the 17th century, but was partitioned
between Russia and Poland, and ultimately absorbed by the Russian Empire. Ukrainian
nationalism developed, and following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the short-
lived Ukrainian People's Republic was formed. The Bolsheviks consolidated control
over much of the former empire and established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Republic, which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union when it was
formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a
human-made famine. The German occupation during World War II in Ukraine was
devastating, and seven million Ukrainian civilians were killed, including the
majority of Ukrainian Jews.

Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved, and declared
itself neutral.[12] A new constitution was adopted in 1996. A series of mass
demonstrations, known as the Euromaidan, led to the establishment of a new
government in 2014 after a revolution. Russia then unilaterally annexed Ukraine's
Crimean Peninsula; and pro-Russian unrest culminated in a war in the Donbas between
Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. Since the
outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine has continued to seek closer ties with the
United States, European Union, and NATO.[13][14][15] Russia launched a full-scale
invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine is a unitary state with a semi-presidential system. Although a developing

country it is the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita,[16] and
corruption remains a significant issue.[17][18] However, due to its extensive
fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world.
[19][20] It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the
Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the OSCE. It is in the process
of joining the European Union and has submitted an application for NATO membership.
[21]