Ukraine: an introduction

Where Ukraine is, what its land looks like from the Carpathians to the Black Sea, how its regions differ, and which languages people speak, with a few Ukrainian words for places and directions.

On this page

Ukraine (Украї́на) is a large country in eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its capital is Kyiv, and its state language is Ukrainian. If you are learning the language, this page gives you the map behind the words: where the country is, what its land looks like, and how its regions differ from one another.

Illustration of a calm countryside, with golden fields, a winding river and sunflowers under a wide sky. — Open countryside: golden fields, a winding river and sunflowers.

Where Ukraine is

Ukraine has seven neighbours. Belarus lies to the north and Russia to the north-east and east. Moldova and Romania are to the south-west, and Hungary, Slovakia and Poland to the west. To the south are the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

With an area of about 604,000 km² (roughly 233,000 square miles), including Crimea, Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe.

Map of Europe with Ukraine, including Crimea, in blue in the east of the continent, north of the Black Sea, and a yellow dot marking Kyiv. — Ukraine (blue) within its internationally recognised borders, with Kyiv. The map does not show areas under Russian occupation.Map: Blabober, drawn from Natural Earth country outlines, Public domain, file page.

Borders and control

Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders include Crimea and the whole of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The UN General Assembly affirmed them in 2014 and reaffirmed them in 2022, when it also called on all states not to recognise Russia’s attempted annexation of the four regions. Russia occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014, and much larger areas of the east and south after its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The line of control has moved during the war, so the map above shows the recognised borders, not where the front runs.

The land

Most of Ukraine is flat or gently rolling. Mountains appear in only two places: the Carpathians in the far west, and the Crimean Mountains in the south of Crimea.

From north to south the landscape changes in broad bands. In the north-west there is forest. Further south comes the forest-steppe, a mix of woodland and open land. The south and east are steppe, the natural grassland of the region, on very fertile black soil called chornozem. Most of that land has long been farmed, and wheat is its main grain.

The climate is temperate. Winters get harsher the further east you go, and the land gets drier towards the south. On the Black Sea shore, in the far south, the climate and the plants come close to those of the Mediterranean.

The Carpathians

The Carpathians are a long arc of mountains, about 1,500 km from end to end, shared by several countries. The Ukrainian part lies in the west. Its highest peak, Гове́рла (Hoverla, 2,061 m), is also the highest point in Ukraine. The river Prut rises on its slopes.

A bare, pyramid-shaped mountain peak under a pale blue sky, seen across brown and green grassy ridges with patches of low pine. — Hoverla, the highest mountain in Ukraine (2,061 m), in the Chornohora range of the Carpathians, October 2019.Photo: Nata Mostova, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

The Dnipro

The Dnipro (Дніпро́; older English books call it the Dnieper) is the largest river in Ukraine. It comes from Russia and Belarus and then flows south through the middle of the country, crossing the forest, the forest-steppe and the steppe, until it reaches the Black Sea. Kyiv stands on its banks.

A wide river with low, wooded islands under a grey, cloudy sky, seen from a hillside covered in autumn trees. — The Dnipro seen from Taras Hill at Kaniv, October 2021.Photo: Slava0576, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

Kyiv and the regions

Kyiv (Ки́їв) is the capital and the largest city. For government, the country is divided into 24 regions called oblasts (о́бласть), the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and two cities with special status, Kyiv and Sevastopol.

People also use older names for historical regions, which don’t always match the oblast borders. You will meet them in books, songs and conversation:

Galicia, with Lviv as its historic capital
Volhynia, in the north-west
Transcarpathia, the westernmost region, beyond the Carpathians
Bukovyna, Podillia and Polissia
Slobidska Ukraine, around Kharkiv
the Donbas and Crimea

These regions have different histories. Until the 20th century, different parts of today’s Ukraine often belonged to different states: Lviv, for example, was part of the Kingdom of Poland until 1772 and then of Austria until 1918. The regions still differ in landscape, history and the language people speak at home (see below). That is a more useful way to see them than a simple split into “east” and “west”.

Languages

Ukrainian is the state language. The Constitution also guarantees the free development and use of Russian and the other languages of national minorities.

What people speak at home is a different question, and the answer varies by region and has changed over time. In the 2001 census, 67.5% of people named Ukrainian as their mother tongue, 29.6% Russian and 2.9% another language. Smaller communities speak Crimean Tatar, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Greek and other languages.

A newer picture comes from a telephone survey of 1,029 adults by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in February and March 2025. In it, 63% said they usually speak Ukrainian at home, 13% Russian, and 19% both equally; in 2020 the figures were 52%, 25% and 18%. In the survey’s western region, 85% spoke Ukrainian at home in both years. In its southern region the share rose from 22% to 39%, and in its eastern region from 17% to 29%. The survey covered only government-controlled territory and did not include people who had left the country after February 2022, and KIIS itself warns that wartime conditions may bias the answers. It is a snapshot, not a census. Many people are at home in both languages.

A short look at history

Ukraine became an independent state on 24 August 1991, when the Supreme Soviet, the parliament of Soviet Ukraine, proclaimed independence. The history before and after it is long, and it will have its own pages in this section.

For Ukrainian place names in English, this site uses the official transliteration: Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv. Stress and transliteration explains how it works. To say where you are from, see Introductions.

A little Ukrainian

Words for finding your way around a map of Ukraine. To say where something is, use на with the locative case: на за́ході, in the west.

Украї́на: Ukrainefeminine; з Украї́ни, from Ukraine; в Украї́ні, in Ukraine
столи́ця: capital (city)feminine
рі́чка: riverfeminine; plural річки́
мо́ре: seaneuter; Чо́рне мо́ре, the Black Sea; Азо́вське мо́ре, the Sea of Azov
го́ри: mountainsplural of гора́, mountain
пі́вніч, пі́вдень, схід, за́хід: north, south, east, westна пі́вночі, in the north; на пі́вдні, in the south; на схо́ді, in the east; на за́ході, in the west

Ки́їв — столи́ця Украї́ни.

Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine.

Украї́на → Украї́ни (genitive): “the capital of Ukraine”.

Дніпро́ тече́ на пі́вдень.

The Dnipro flows south.

Карпа́ти — на за́ході Украї́ни.

The Carpathians are in the west of Ukraine.

Words without a native-speaker recording are read by a computer-generated voice (OpenAI text-to-speech); the written form, with its stress marks, is the reference.

Read about it in Ukrainian

A short text on this topic, with a word list, a translation, audio and questions.

Picture credits

Illustration of a calm countryside, with golden fields, a winding river and sunflowers under a wide sky: made for Blabober with Recraft.
Map of Europe with Ukraine, including Crimea, in blue in the east of the continent, north of the Black Sea, and a yellow dot marking Kyiv: Map: Blabober, drawn from Natural Earth country outlines, Public domain, file page.
A bare, pyramid-shaped mountain peak under a pale blue sky, seen across brown and green grassy ridges with patches of low pine: Photo: Nata Mostova, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.
A wide river with low, wooded islands under a grey, cloudy sky, seen from a hillside covered in autumn trees: Photo: Slava0576, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, file page.

Sources

Constitution of Ukraine (official English text) (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Ukrainian is the state language; the free development, use and protection of Russian and other minority languages are guaranteed (Art. 10); The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv (Art. 20); The administrative division into the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 24 oblasts, and the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol with special status (Art. 133). Accessed 7 November 2026.
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies)
In English. Used for: Independence proclaimed on 24 August 1991; Which neighbours lie in which direction; The area, about 603,700 km² (rounded here to about 604,000 km²). Accessed 7 November 2026.
Ukraine (National Geographic Kids)
In English. Used for: The seven neighbouring countries, and the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south; Most of Ukraine is flat, with mountains only in the west (the Carpathians) and in the south of Crimea. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Geography of Ukraine (physical) (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Mostly flat to gently rolling lowland; A temperate, cool, semi-continental climate; less moisture to the south, harsher winters to the east, a transition to a Mediterranean climate on the Black Sea shore; Forest in the north-west, forest-steppe in between, steppe in the south and east. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Hoverlia (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Hoverla is the highest mountain in Ukraine (2,061 m), in the Chornohora group of the Carpathians; the Prut rises there. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Carpathian Mountains (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: The Carpathians form an arc about 1,500 km long across several countries; part of it lies in western Ukraine. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Dnipro River (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: The Dnipro is the largest river in Ukraine; it also flows through Russia and Belarus, then south through the centre of Ukraine to the Black Sea, crossing the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Steppe (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: The steppe is the natural grassland of southern Ukraine, on chornozem (black earth) and chestnut soils; The steppe has been almost completely changed by people: most of it is cultivated, and grain, above all winter wheat, takes half the cropped area (figures for 1981). Accessed 7 November 2026.
Kyiv (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, on the Dnipro. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Featured topics: the land and regions of Ukraine (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: The names of the historical regions (Galicia, Volhynia, Podillia, Polissia, Bukovyna, Transcarpathia, Slobidska Ukraine, the Donbas, Crimea), Volhynia in the north-west, Transcarpathia as the westernmost region, Slobidska Ukraine with Kharkiv. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Lviv (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Lviv is the historic capital of Galicia; Lviv belonged to Poland until 1772 and to Austria from 1772 to 1918. Accessed 7 November 2026.
All-Ukrainian population census 2001: linguistic composition of the population (State Statistics Committee of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: In 2001: Ukrainian named as mother tongue by 67.5%, Russian by 29.6%, another language by 2.9%; Smaller language communities, among them Crimean Tatar, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish and Greek speakers. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Attitude towards teaching Russian in Ukrainian-language schools (press release, 29 April 2025) (Anton Hrushetsky, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS))
In English. Used for: February–March 2025 telephone survey: 63% usually speak Ukrainian at home, 13% Russian, 19% both equally (2020: 52%, 25%, 18%); Ukrainian at home rose from 22% to 39% in the South and from 17% to 29% in the East; 85% in the West in both years; The method and its limits: 1,029 adults by telephone, government-controlled territory only, people who left the country after February 2022 not included, and a warning about wartime bias. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Resolution 68/262: Territorial integrity of Ukraine (United Nations General Assembly)
In English. Used for: In March 2014 the General Assembly affirmed Ukraine's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, and said the March 2014 referendum in Crimea had no validity. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Resolution ES-11/4: Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations (United Nations General Assembly)
In English. Used for: On 12 October 2022 the General Assembly reaffirmed its commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders (para. 1); It called on all states not to recognise any change by Russia to the status of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it noted are in part, or have been, under Russia's temporary military control (preamble, paras 2–4). Accessed 7 November 2026.
Donetsk oblast (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: Since the Donbas war began in 2014, a front has separated the Russia-controlled part of Donetsk oblast from the Ukraine-controlled part. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Luhansk oblast (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
In English. Used for: In 2014 a self-proclaimed republic was set up in part of Luhansk oblast with Russian military help; a front separates the Russia-controlled part from the Ukraine-controlled part. Accessed 7 November 2026.
Горох — онлайн-бібліотека словників української мови (Словозміна) (goroh.pp.ua)
In Ukrainian. Used for: Stress and forms of every Ukrainian word on this page (Украї́на, Ки́їв, Дніпро́, Карпа́ти, Гове́рла, о́бласть, столи́ця, рі́чка, мо́ре, гора́ and го́ри, пі́вніч, пі́вдень, схід, за́хід, чо́рний, азо́вський, тече́). Accessed 7 November 2026.

Last updated 7 November 2026