About the Nation of Ukraine
Size
      Largest European country / 92% as big as Texas - though Russia now (June, 2026) claims Crimea and a lot of the SW Ukraine.

Population
      44 million people, but now (June, 2026), with the war going on over four yeas the population is around 30 million.

Religion (estimated)
      65% Russian Orthodox
      21% Atheist or don't care
      10% Catholic
      1% Muslim and Cults
      1% Protestant
      1% Baptist

A good source: CIA Factbook: Ukraine


HISTORICAL NOTES ABOUT UKRAINE

Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, the largest and most powerful state in Europe in the 10th century. Ukraine was overrun by Mongol hordes, Lithuania, and Poland for centuries. During the latter part of the 18th century, Ukraine was absorbed by the Russian Empire. There was a brief independence following the collapse of czarist Russia (1917- 1921). However, beginning in 1921 Ukraine endured a brutal 70-year Soviet rule. The Soviet Union officially started in 1922 and Ukraine was forced to be a member. The Soviets, under Stalin, engineered the great artificial famine (1932-33) in which 6-9 million Ukrainians died. Ukraine also lost seven or eight million in WWII. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Ukraine achieved independence on August 24 of that year.


CHRONOLOGY OF UKRAINE AND THE USSR

1917 (Nov. 7)      Bolshevik revolution with Vladimir Lenin a key person
1922 (Jan. 22)      USSR formed (Ukraine forced to be a member)
1924 - 1953     Joseph Stalin years
1932 - 1933      Stalin's artificial famines kill 6-8 million in Ukraine
1940 - 1945      World War II - 30 million Soviets, 1/4 Ukrainians, die
1949      Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb
1962      Cuban missile crisis with Soviet missiles in Cuba
1986      Nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 26
1991      Soviet Union collapses
1991      Ukraine gains independence on August 24
2005      Ukraine gains more religious freedom
2008      Ukraine joins World Trade Organization
2012      Ukraine and Poland co-host the Euro Cup
2014Russia invades and takes Crimea (Feb. - Mar)
2014Russia starts funding war in SE Ukraine.
2021War in SE Ukraine continues - eight years and more than 15,000 killed (CIA)
2022On February 22, Russia started the current war. It has been going for more than four years.


UKRAINE GEOGRAPHY
  • Ukraine is in Eastern Europe, between Russia and Poland; the Black Sea is on the south.
  • The largest country in Europe, Ukraine is 88% the size of Texas.
  • Ukraine shares its border with Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Belarus, and Russia.
  • Most of Ukraine consists of plateaus and fertile plains.
  • The Carpathian mountains are found in the southwestern part of the country.
  • The Crimean Peninsula extends into the Black Sea in the south.
  • Ukraine is important geopolitically: at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, the West and the East.
UKRAINE NATIONAL DATA
  • Ukraine has 44 million people, but now (June, 2026), with the war going on over four yeas the population is around 30 million.
  • Ethnic groups include Ukrainians (50%), Russians (40%), and several others, some unknown.
  • The main languages is primarily Ukrainian, and Russian is second, with some Romanian, Polish, and Hungarian.