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Ukraine

Ukraine (Україна, Ukrayina in Ukrainian; Украина in Russian) is a republic in eastern Europe which borders the Black Sea to the south, the Russian Federation to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west and Romania and Moldova to the west and south.

It was formerly referred to as the Ukraine in English, and some people continue to use the article. The region has also been known as Rus’/Ruthenia, and in Russian historiography as Little Russia (Малороссия, Malorossiya). Formerly, the territory of Ukraine was a major part of both Scythia and Sarmatia. The current name is derived in various ways according to Slavic etymology. It may signify "borderland" or "on the edge;" alternatively, the name may be taken to mean "homeland" or "one's own land"; finally some trace the name to a verb meaning, "to cut," indicating the land the Rus' people/Ruthenian/Ukrainians cut out for themselves.

Ukraine geography

The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains or steppes and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dniepr, Donets, Dnister and the Southern Bug as they flow down into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. Mountains are found only in the western range of the Carpathian Mountains, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 m, and in the Crimean peninsula in the extreme south along the coast.

Ukraine has a temperate continental climate, though a more mediterranean climate is found on the southern Crimean coast. Precipitation is disproportionately distributed; it's highest in the west and north and lesser in the east and southeast. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland. Summers are warm across the greater part of the country, but generally hot in the south.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ukraine".