Ukraine / Україна

Ukrainian flag flying over view of Kyev
Virtual tours of open air museums in Ukraine
Map of Ukraine with major cities marked. Regions shown in different colors

Quick Facts:

 

Capital: Kyiv (learn how to pronounce Kyiv like a Ukrainian)

Official Language: Ukrainian

Population: 38 million (World Bank, 2022)

Area: 233,062 square miles (603,628 square kilometers)*

Religion: Eastern Orthodoxy is the dominant religion, but there is no official state religion

Currency: Hryvnia 

 

 

*This includes territory annexed by Russia

Ukrainian Language

Ukrainian is an East Slavic language spoken in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. There are about 40 million native speakers of Ukrainian and many more who speak it as a second or third language. It is the 26th most widely spoken languages in the world.

Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet, which combines letters from the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew alphabets, as well as some of its own unique characters. The Ukrainian alphabet has 33 letters. Learn to pronounce the letters of the Ukrainian alphabet here or sing the Ukrainian alphabet song here.

Check out the Ukrainian Word of the Day series on the CREES Instagram account @KU_CREES

cat in Ukrainian folk costume speaking Ukrainian
Good day! My name is Oksana Kishkina. Nice to meet you!

Ukrainian language Resources

Explore Ukrainian Culture

Explore Ukraine's culture through its art, music, holidays, food, history, and literature.

Thumbnail List

  • ukrainian Easter eggs (pysanky)

    Explore traditional Ukrainian folk arts and crafts.

    Art and Crafts
  • woman in traditional Ukrainian dress playing a bandura

    Explore traditional Ukrainian instruments as well as modern Ukrainian music.

    Music
  • open book. middle pages folded to make a heart. one side blue one side yellow. no text visible.

    In progress!

    Literature

Ukrainian Money / Гроші

Ukraine uses a currency called the hryvnia (or hryvna). There are hryvni, like there are dollars, and kopiyky, like there are cents. There are 100 kopiyky in one hryvnia. The number of hryvnii that equal one US dollar changes. You can google the current exchange rate.

Paper hryvna bills of various amounts with a 200 hryvna bill at the center

Hryvnia paper notes (Adobe Stock)

front and back of a one hryvna coin

One hryvna coin (Wikimedia Commons)

front and back of a one kopiyka coin

One kopiyka coin (Wikimedia Commons)

National Anthem and Flag

National Anthem

The Ukrainian national anthem is called "The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished" "Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia" (Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля). Its official title is "State Anthem of Ukraine" (Державний Гімн України, Derzhavnyy Himn Ukrayiny).
The lyrics are a modified version of the first stanza of a poem written by Pavlo Chubynsky in 1862. The music was composed in 1863 by Mykhailo Verbytsky.
The Ukrainian flag consists of two equally sized horizontal stripes. It is said that the top strip represents the blue sky above, and the bottom stipe represents a field of wheat. The sky and field of wheat represent "Ukraine and the Ukrainians as they are – freedom-loving, independent, brave, and vibrant" (Ukraine Now).
Ukrainian flag: two equal sized horizontal stripes, blue (top), yellow (bottom)

Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Lviv

Kyiv

Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine and its most populous city. There is still debate about the exact year the city was founded, but the date traditionally used is 482AD.

Kharkiv

Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine. It was founded much later than Kyiv, in 1654.

Lviv

Lviv is the biggest city in Western Ukraine. Lviv, known as the city of the lion, proudly holds the titles of Ukraine's cultural and IT capital. It is also home to some of the most advanced universities in Ukraine.

All images on this page have been licensed through Adobe Stock, Canva, or Wikimedia Commons.

Holiday photo by M. Malligan -own work, GNU FDL, Wikimedia Commons