Ukrainian Ethnicity

Ukrainians (Ukrainian: українці) are an East Slavic ethnic group predominantly residing in Ukraine, as well as in significant diaspora communities in Russia, Canada, Brazil, and other countries.

Ukrainians are the third largest population among Slavic peoples, followed by Russians and Poles. There are approximately 45 million Ukrainians worldwide. Major diaspora communities can be found in the United States (1.5 million people), Canada (1.3 million), Poland (0.3 million), Moldova (0.2 million), Belarus (0.2 million), Slovakia (0.2 million), Argentina (0.2 million), Brazil (0.2 million), Germany, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. According to the 2010 census, there were1.93 million Ukrainians in Russia. The most prevalent religion in Ukraine is Orthodox Christianity, followed by nearly 76% of the faithful.

Please note that the numbers provided are approximate and may vary depending on different sources and current war.

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History of Ukraine

Throughout history, various groups and powers have exerted influence and control over different parts of the territory that is now Ukraine. In ancient times, the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians, followed by the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars, Khazars, and Magyars (Hungarians), invaded and occupied the region in the 1st millennium BCE and 1st millennium CE respectively. Slavic tribes began to settle in the area after the 4th century, with Kyiv emerging as the central city. However, the Mongol conquest in the mid-13th century decisively ended Kyivan's power. From the 14th to the 18th century, different parts of Ukraine were under the rule of Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. Additionally, the Cossacks governed a largely self-governing territory known as the Hetmanate. In the 18th century, Russia gained control over most of Ukraine.

Following World War I and the bolshevik coup of 1917, most of the Ukrainian region became a republic within the Soviet Union. Ukraine was divided among Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Ukraine faced a severe famine known as the Holodomor in 1932-33 under the leadership of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. During World War II, Axis armies occupied Ukraine in 1941, but the Soviets reclaimed it in 1944. By the end of the war, the borders of the Ukrainian S.S.R. were redrawn to include western Ukrainian territories.

In 1991, Ukraine declared its independence. The following years were marked by turmoil as the country attempted to implement economic and political reforms. The disputed presidential election of 2004 led to mass protests known as the Orange Revolution. Another mass protest movement, centered around Kyiv's Maidan (Independence Square), in 2014 led to the overthrow of the government, which was affiliated with Russian authorities. Disappointed with the results of Maidan revolution, Russia invaded and occupied Crimea. Subsequently, in March 2014, Crimea was annexed by Russia following a fake referendum. The Russian army, backed by local pro-Russian separatist militias also occupied parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. The armed conflict in the region between occupying forces and Ukrainian government forces continued until the full-scale invasion. In late 2021, Russia began amassing military forces along its border with Ukraine, and in February 2022, launched a full scale military invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian alphabet

Ukrainian, similarly to other East Slavic languages, evolved from dialects of the Old East Slavic language. The development of the literary language can be divided into two main periods: Old Ukrainian (14th - mid-18th century) and Modern Ukrainian (from the late 18th century). Ukrainian poet Ivan Kotliarevsky, the pioneer of Modern Ukrainian literature, and the literary works of Taras Shevchenko played a crucial role in establishing language norms. The Ukrainian writing system is in the Cyrillic script (Ukrainian alphabet).

Ukrainian language (українська мова) is classified as a Slavic language and serves as the national language of Ukrainians. It shares similarities with Belarusian and Russian, belonging to the East Slavic language group, is predominantly spoken in Ukraine but is also present in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Serbia, and among Ukrainian diaspora communities in Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and other countries. Ukrainian holds the status of the official language in Ukraine. The estimated global number of Ukrainian speakers varies between 36 and 45 million individuals.

Ukrainian culture

Art

The artistic school at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy greatly influenced the development of Ukrainian national art in the 17th and 18th centuries. The "additional classes" at the Kharkiv Collegium also served as a notable artistic center, essentially functioning as an art academy.

The emergence of secular portrait painting occurred predominantly in the latter half of the 18th century. Many talented Ukrainian youth received education and pursued their artistic careers at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts during this period. Renowned artists of that time in Russia, including Dmitry Levitsky (originating from Kiev) and Vladimir Borovikovsky (hailing from Myrhorod), had Ukrainian roots. Notable Ukrainian figures in the art world also included Anton Losenko (born in Hlukhiv), who contributed to the historical genre in Russian academic art, and Ivan Martos from Ichnia in the Chernigov Governorate, an exceptional sculptor of the Neoclassical era.

During the first half of the 19th century, Ukrainian painting gradually embraced realistic tendencies. Realism is an artistic and literary ruthfully and comprehensively. The emergence of this new style in Ukrainian art is attributed to the works of the first Ukrainian artists who incorporated its characteristics into their creations, such as the works of Ivan Soshenko (1807–1876), Kapiton Pavlov (1792–1852), and Havrylo Vaska (1820-1866), and other Ukrainian artists.

Literature

At the end of the 18th century, Ivan Kotlyarevsky's burlesque-travesty poem "Eneyida" marked the emergence of the modern Ukrainian literary language and the beginning of contemporary Ukrainian literature. The 19th century was a period of national self-awareness. Taras Shevchenko's poetry collection "Kobzar," published in 1840, proclaims Ukrainians' literary and intellectual independence. For decades, Shevchenko's works shaped the future development of Ukrainian literature in poetry, prose, and drama.

The literary process in the second half of the 19th century was influenced by the works of a group of talented writers, including Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Ivan Nechui-Levytskyi, Marko Vovchok, and Panas Myrnyi. Ivan Franko, a poet, prose writer, playwright, journalist, literary critic, theorist, and translator, was a prominent figure. His vast creative legacy spans over 50 volumes, and he was one of the first writers to translate works of world literature into Ukrainian, including those by Goethe, Heinrich Heine, and Byron.

Despite the constraints of the dominant socialist realism style during the Soviet era, Ukrainian writers managed to create literature that has remained relevant even today. Notable authors include Pavlo Tychyna, Maksym Rylskyi, Volodymyr Sosiura, and Oles Honchar.

In the 1960s, thanks to the Khrushchev Thaw and a certain liberalization of public and political life in Ukraine, a powerful artistic movement emerged, later referred to as the "Sixtiers." The "Sixtiers" sought new forms of creativity and a new interpretation of the national experience within the framework of the totalitarian system. This generation included Vasyl Stus, Lina Kostenko, Vasyl Symonenko, Hryhoriy Tyutyunnyk, Dmytro Pavlychko and Ivan Drach.

Music

The creators and performers of historical songs, epics, psalms, and chants were called kobzars. They played kobzas or banduras, which became integral to the national heroic and patriotic epic.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, historical epics and songs became one of the most prominent phenomena in Ukrainian folk music, serving as a distinctive symbol of national history and culture.

In the early 19th century, Ukrainian music witnessed the emerged with its first symphonic and chamber-instrumental compositions. The development of Ukrainian opera was greatly influenced by the activities of amateur musicians and the establishment of the first professional theaters. In 1803, a theater was opened in Kyiv, followed by another in Odessa in 1810. These theaters showcased musical and theatrical works based on national themes, which played a significant role in the evolution of Ukrainian opera. "Zaporozhets za Dunayem" by Semen Gulak-Artemovsky, which premiered in 1863, is widely recognized as the pioneering Ukrainian opera.

Cuisine

Thanks to fertile soils and active development of agriculture, Ukraine is renowned for its delicious and nourishing cuisine. One of the symbols of Ukrainian cuisine is lard, known as salo. There is a belief that the widespread use of pork in Ukrainian cuisine is connected to the raids conducted by the Tatars on Ukrainian lands. These raids would often result in the plundering of households, leaving behind only pigs, as religious restrictions prohibited their meat. As a result, Ukrainian cuisine features a wide variety of meat dishes.

A highly consumed product in Ukrainian cuisine is pork fat, used in various forms. It can be eaten raw, salted, smoked, fried, and even incorporated into chocolate. Another iconic dish of Ukraine is the famous Ukrainian borscht. Many believe this soup, made with meat broth and beets, originated during the time of Kyivan Rus. In the Ukrainian language, the name for beets is buryak, hence borscht. Although variations of this soup exist, Ukrainian borscht is considered to be the most considered the renowned, and many recipes exist.

Explore more about Ukrainian ethnicity

Ethniticy map of Ukraine on MyHeritage
Vital records of Ukraine on MyHeritage
All-Ukrainian population census on Ukrcensus.gov.ua

Contributors

Main contributor: Alina Borisov-Rebel

Additional contributor: Karal Seibel