Ukraine
Country Information

• The official name of the country is Україна (Ukrayina).
• Etymology. Many contemporary Ukrainian historians translate the term "u-kraine" as "in-land", "home-land" or "our-country". Other researchers think the name Ukraine may have come from the Old East Slavic word "ukraina" meaning "borderland" or "march". Or, etymologically it may be related to the Russian word "krai" meaning "cut", which was related to the word for vast territories located along the periphery of Russia - "a place of the cut-off".
• Geography: Ukraine is the largest country entirely within Europe. Ukraine is about the size of Texas.
• Steppes. Much of Ukraine consists of vast plains, called steppes.
• Location: It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast; Belarus to the northwest; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova (along the Carpathian Mountains) to the southwest; the Black Sea to the south; and the Sea of Azov to the southeast.
• Climate: Ukraine is mostly a temperate continental climate. A subtropical Mediterranean climate is prevalent on the southern portions of the Crimean Peninsula. 
• Language. Ukrainian is an Eastern Slavonic language closely related to Russian and Belarusian. Ukraine may have been the site of the origin of the Proto-Indo-European languages. 
• Pre-History. The lands of Ukraine have been inhabited for at least 44,000 years. Ukraine was a motherland for one of the world's most ancient civilizations, the Trypillian Civilization. This was a Neolithic culture which existed between 5500 BC and 2750 BCE.
• History. The medieval state of Kievan Rus was probably established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic State. It was a very powerful nation in the Middle ages, but later came under the rule of invading forces. Ukraine became independent again in 1991. 
• Horses. Horses were first domesticated in the grasslands of Ukraine 6000 years ago.
• The National University of Ostroh Academy is the successor of Ostroh Slavic, Greek and Latin Academy, the first higher educational establishment of the Eastern Slavs. It was founded in 1576 by Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn of Ostroh.
• Khreshchatyk Street in Kiev is the shortest yet widest main city street in the world. It is 130 meters (426 feet) wide wide, but only 1.2 km long! 
• Agricuilture. Throughout its history, Ukraine has been one of the leaders of agriculture in the world because of its fertile black soil. As of 2011, Ukraine was the world's third-largest grain exporter.
• Minerals. Ukraine boasts approximately 5 per cent of the world's total mineral resources
• Government. As stated in the Ukrainian Constitution: "Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, legal State."
• Industry contributes more than 40 per cent of GDP and accounts for more than one-fourth of total employment.
• Arsenalnaya Metro Station located in Kiev. It is reportedly the deepest in the world, at 105 meters, with one of the longest escalators in the world. According to some reports, the tunnels near Arsenalnaya house secret shelters built for the political elite.
• Pysanky egg writing has long roots in Ukraine. This tradition is thousands of years old, and precedes the arrival of Christianity to Ukraine.