The national emblems of Ukraine

The national emblems include the coat of arms, the flag, and the seal.

The contemporary national coat of arms of Ukraine is Azure, a trident or. It is the most ancient and dignified of all the Ukrainian insignia.

The horizontally stripped flag, blue over yellow, became the national flag all over Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Anthem, Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished, is of quite recent origin.

What is Ukraine's territory?

The territory of Ukraine is 603,7 thousand square kilometers. Two such countries as Italy can be placed on this territory. Ukraine occupies 42^nd place in the world as to its territory being larger than any country in Western Europe. Ukraine stretches for 1300 km from east to west and 900 km from north to south.

Ukraine borders on Russia, Moldova, Rumania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Belarus. The geographical position of Ukraine is ideal for the development of its resources.

The climate of Ukraine is mild and warm, with a long summer and a short winter. Together with its fertile black soil it is ideal for the development of intensive agriculture. Eastern Ukraine is slightly colder in winter and warmer in summer than Western Ukraine. Temperatures in Kharkiv average -7°C in January and +20°C in July, in Lviv -4°C and +18°C.

Ukraine is the country of many rivers. The Dnieper (Dnipro) River divides Ukraine into two parts: Right Bank and Left-Bank Ukraine. The Danube gives Ukraine access to European countries and the Siversky Donets - to the Don.

In the south Ukraine is bounded by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Black Sea and navigable rivers have promoted the development of trade and culture.

Ukraine consists of a flat, fertile plain occupied by steppes and forest-steppe regions. Lowlands occupy a considerable part of the country. The Polissia Lowland lies in the north. The Dnieper Lowland runs along the left bank of the Dnieper River. The Black Sea Lowland skirts the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Within the borders of Ukraine there are the Carpathian Mountains with the highest peak Hoverla 2061 m high. The Carpathians have flat summits and gentle slopes. There are many treeless summits, which are called polonynas.

The Crimean Mountains with their southern steep slopes stretch in three parallel ranges. The highest peak of the Main Range Roman Kosh is 1545 m high.

The economic potential of Ukraine is great. Ukraine is criss-crossed by railroads and highways oil and gas pipelines. It has close economic ties with Eastern and Western Europe.

 

Religion.

Ukrainians have remained a strongly religious people in spite of decades of religious restriction. About 80 of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians. Other groups include Ukrainian Catholics, Protestants, and Jews.

Most Orthodox Christians live in Eastern and central Ukraine and belong to the Ukrainian Autocephalous /Independent/ Orthodox Church.

About 10 percent of Ukraine's people are Ukrainian Catholics, also known as Uniates or Greek Catholics. The Ukrainian Catholics practice Eastern Orthodox forms of warship, but they recognize the authority of the Roman Catholic pope. The Church is strongest in the Western Ukraine. The Moslems of Ukraine practice Islamic forms of warship mostly in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

 

National government.

Ukraine is an independent state since adoption of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine on July 16,1990.

In accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine adopted on June 28,1996 Ukraine has a democratic political system. The country's government features an executive branch headed by the President with strong powers, a legislative branch consisting of a national parliament and the judicial, which headed by the Supreme Court.

The President is commander in chief of the military and can issue orders called edicts without the approval of parliament in some matters. The people of Ukraine elect the President to a five-year term. Ukrainians 18 years old or elder may vote.

The President is assisted by a Cabinet, which the president appoints. A Prime Minister heads the Cabinet.

Ukraine's parliament, called the Supreme Council, is the nation's lawmaking body. It has 450 members, who are elected by the voters. Supreme Council members serve five-year terms. The Supreme Council discusses and adopts the State Budget for the coming year.

The Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court represent the judicial power. They watch over the executive and legislative powers.

Local government.

Ukraine, excluding Crimea, is divided into 24 regions called oblasts. Crimea has special status as an autonomous /self-governing/ republic. Crimea has greater control over the internal affairs than do the oblasts. The Crimean Autonomous republic has its own constitution.

Armed forces.

Ukraine has an army, air force, and a small navy. December 6 is the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

 

KYIV

Kyiv (population 2616000) is the capital and largest city of Ukraine. The city is also the political, economic, and cultural center of Ukraine. It lies in north-central Ukraine on the Dnieper (Dnipro) River, in a rich agricultural and industrial region.

The central area of Kyiv lies on the hilly western bank of the Dnieper. There buildings dating from the Middle Ages to the present stand near each other.

Landmarks of Kyiv include St. Sophia's Cathedral and the Golden Gate of Yaroslav the Wise, both completed in 1037. The Monastery of the Caves, which has a network of catacombs, also dates from the Middle Ages.

The Marinsky Palace and the Church of St. Andrew, both built during the mid - 1700's, are important examples of the architecture of that period.

Kyiv is known for its attractive parks and famous Main Boulevard, Khreshchatyk Street. The city has a number of colleges, universities, and research institutes. Kyiv also has many museums and theatres.

Kyiv is a major manufacturing and transportation center. Its chief products include chemicals, clothing, footwear, instruments and machinery.

The city is an important highway and railroad junction, an air transportation hub and a busy river port.

Kyiv's beginnings go back to the Stone Age. There is a legend about founding of Kyiv. Once there were three brothersKyi, Shchek and Khoriv, and they had a young sister Lybed. They founded a city on the hills and called it Kyiv after the eldest brother. It is believed that Kyi did exist - that he was a Prince of the Poliane tribe and lived in the 7^th century.

The city was founded by Slavic people, possibly as early as the A.D. 400's. In 882 PrinceOlegof Novgorod, having seized Kyiv, was known to have said: "This will be the mother of all Russian towns!" The Novgorod principality united with that of Kyiv, and the town was made the capital of a unified Russian state. Kyiv prospered as a trading center and, during the late 800's became famous as the capital of the first East Slavic State, called Kyivan Rus. By the 1000's, Kyiv was one of Europe's greatest centers of commerce and culture and known as the rival of Constantinople.

Kyiv remained the capital for nearly three centuries. Gradually other feudal centers came into being. The independent princes undermined the authority of the Grand Duke of Kyiv and led to disintegration.

In December 1240 the Mongol-Tatar forces led by Khan Batu besieged Kyiv. Mongol invaders destroyed much of the city in 1240. It was only by a miracle that the Cathedral of St. Sophia, St. Michael's Monastery and the Golden Gate survived the invasion half-ruined. The Mongol-Tatars ruled Kyiv more than a century.

Kyiv was rebuilt in the 1300's. It came under Lithuanian rule in 1362 and under Polish rule in 1569. Russia regained control of Kyiv in 1654 after the Pereyaslav Rada /Council/ adopted a decision on the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.

In 1793 the two parts of Ukraine united within the Russian State and in 1797 Kyiv became the capital of the Kyiv, Volhynia and Podillia Provinces. In 1632 the Kyiv MohylaAcademy was founded. The great Russian scientist Mykhallo Lomonosov, the outstanding Ukrainian philosopher Grygory Skovoroda, and the historian Dmytro Bantysh-Kamensky were all students of the Kyiv Academy.

In 19^th century Kyiv became the chief center of the economic, political and cultural life of Ukraine. In 1805 the first theatre was opened. The great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin lived in Kyiv for a while during 1821. Kyiv University was inaugurated in 1834.

In January 1846 the "Cyril and Methodius" Society was founded in Kyiv. Taras Shevchenko, the outstanding Ukrainian poet, was the leader of its wing.

After the fall of tsarism in 1917-1918 the Provisional Government and the Central Rada under M.S. Grushevsky /i866-1934/ established in Kyiv. In 1918-20 Kyiv became the scene of the fierce battles of the civil war.

In 1934 Kyiv became the capital of the Ukrainian Republic and the Government was transferred from Kharkiv. From 1941 to 1943, during World War II, the city was occupied by the German army and was badly damaged. It was rebuilt after the war and has grown rapidly.

In 1986, an explosion and fire occurred in a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, near Kyiv. In 1991 the Ukrainian republic declared itself an independent nation and Kyiv became the capital of independent and sovereign Ukraine.

 

 

THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

The Ukrainian Language is the second most widely spoken language of 12 surviving members of the Slavic group of the large Indo-European language family. Geographically, it is classified with Russian and Belarussion as an East Slavic language.

Ukrainian is represented basically by a set of dialects, some of which differ significantly from the others. Generally, however, dialectical divisions in Ukrainian are not so strong as they are, for example, in British English or German. Traditionally, scholars have divided Ukrainian dialects into three main groups, northern, southwestern, and southeastern. Standard Ukrainian is a superstructure built on this dialectal foundation. It is the only form of Ukrainian taught in school and used in literature. The standard language is based mainly on the Poltava-Kyiv dialects of the southeastern group.

On 28 October 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the UkSSR passed the law "On languages in the Ukrainian SSR", which gives official status to Ukrainian and provides its introduction in the legislation, ministry, civil organizations and enterprises, the court system, international treaties and agreements, the school system from kindergarten to higher educational institutions, scientific publications and the mass media.

 

 

THE SYSTEM OF SCHOOLING