Ukraine: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe, the second-largest in Europe by area after Russia. It borders Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and its south faces the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The capital, Kyiv, is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe and stands on the wide Dnipro River.

Ukraine is known for its golden wheat fields and sunflowers, its golden-domed churches and its colourful folk art. On the globe you can find Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, with its green and gold domes, and the giant Motherland Monument above the Dnipro, as well as the Eurasian lynx and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Geography and nature

Most of Ukraine is made up of wide plains and steppe grasslands covered with some of the most fertile soil on Earth, a dark, rich earth called chernozem. That is why Ukraine is one of the world's biggest growers of wheat, corn and sunflowers. The Carpathian Mountains rise in the west, where Hoverla, about 2,061 metres, is the highest point. The Dnipro River flows through the middle of the country. Forests in the north shelter lynx, wolves and elk, and the Danube Delta reaches into the south-west.

People, languages and culture

Ukrainian is the official language, and many people also speak Russian. Most people are Orthodox Christians, and there is a Greek Catholic church in the west. Ukrainians decorate Easter eggs with detailed patterns, called pysanky, and wear embroidered shirts called vyshyvanka on special days. The culture of cooking Ukrainian borscht, a beetroot soup, is listed by UNESCO, and varenyky dumplings are a favourite. The bandura, a many-stringed instrument, is played in folk music.

History in a nutshell

About a thousand years ago, Kyiv was the centre of Kyivan Rus', a powerful medieval state, and Saint Sophia Cathedral was built in the 1000s. Later, Ukrainian lands were ruled by Poland-Lithuania, the Russian Empire and other powers, and Cossack communities fought for their freedom. In the 1900s Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union and suffered a terrible famine in 1932 and 1933, and huge losses in the Second World War. Ukraine became independent in 1991. In 2014 Russia annexed Crimea, and in 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.