Interesting facts about UK

Made by
Lolita Melnyk
1. It is large
Russia excluded, Ukraine is the continent’s
largest county at 603,628 square kilometres,
stretching from Russia in the east to Poland
in the west, and sandwiched between the
Black Sea in the south and fellow former
Soviet state Belarus in the north. France is
next at 551,695 square kilometres.
2. And boasts seven wonders
Within its large borders, Ukraine has seven World Heritage Sites, including the 11th century Saint-Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, the ancient city of Chersonesus,
and the primeval beech forests of the Carpathians. Another is the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey triangulations linking Hammerfest in Norway to the
Black Sea in Ukraine. It “helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and
topographic mapping,” according to Unesco. Beyond its World Heritage Sites it has a wealth of majestic Orthodox cathedrals, including St Michael's in Kiev,
pictured below. 
3. It is at the heart of Europe
Put your tea down because this one is a gasper. Within Ukraine is
the geographical centre of Europe. OK, it’s not quite as simple as
that. A number of locations lay claim to the title and it depends
on how you measure Europe, but the small town of Rakhiv in
western Ukraine is one such place. The country has a second
claimant in Transcarpathia, where an obelisk marks the spot.

 7. It’s not The Ukraine
 The English-speaking world commonly referred to the country as The Ukraine. That is, until
independence in 1991 when the West gradually dropped the definite article. In 1993 the
Ukranian government requested that the country be called just Ukraine. US ambassador William
Taylor, who knew that addition of the “the” was considered insulting by some Ukrainians, said it
implied a disregard for the country’s sovereignty.
4. It is home to ghost towns
Another Ukrainian claim to history is Chernobyl, the site of the
world’s worst nuclear power plant disaster. The location in
northern Ukraine is now the centre of the Chernobyl Exclusion
Zone, established by the USSR soon after the accident in 1986.
Within the zones are a number of abandoned towns, most notably
Pripyat, that draw interest from all over the world. Tours of the
area, including the power plant, are available, at the risk of the
traveller. Radiation levels remain dangerously high – read 
Telegraph Travel's Chris Leadbeater guide on how to visit. 
5. And a cafe capital
The city of Lviv is sometimes claimed to have the
most cafes in the world per capita. 
Fiona Duncan, after visiting for Telegraph Travel, sai
d
: “Though Livivians of today are known for both
their fervent nationalism and for their churchgoing,
their city has an easy-going, almost frivolous air,
filled with university students, embellished by its
frothy confection of Renaissance, Baroque, Belle
Epoque and Art Nouveau buildings and scented with
aromas from its hundreds of Viennese style coffee
houses. We only had to step out from our hotel, the
Opera, and stroll with the crowds along Lviv’s
central spine, Svobody (Liberty) Avenue, to find out
how relaxed the place is.”
6. You can ski there
It’s no French Alps, but Ukraine has about four or five ski
resorts to shout about, including Bukovel in the Carpathian
mountains, with 55km of slopes and 15 lifts.