The territory o modren Ukraine haes been inhabitit syne 32,000 BC. In theMiddle Ages, the aurie wis a key centre o East Slavic cultur, wi the pouerfu state oKievan Rus' formin the basis o Ukrainian identity. Follaein its fragmentation in the 13t century, the territory wis contestit, ruled an dividit bi a variety o pouers, includinLithuanie, Poland, theOttoman Empire,Austrick-Hungary, an Roushie. ACossack republic emerged an prospered in the 17t an 18t centuries, but its territory wis eventually split atween Poland an theRoushie Empire, an later merged fully intae Roushie.
In the 20t century three periods o unthirldom occurred. The first o thir periods occurred briefly in an immediately efter the German occupation near the end oWarld War I an the seicont occurred, an aa briefly, an an aa in German occupation, inWarld War II. Houiver, baith o thir first twa earlier periods wad eventually see Ukraine's territories consolidatit back intae aSoviet republic within theUSSR. The third period o unthirldom begoud in 1991, whan Ukraine gained its unthirldom frae the Soviet Union in the eftermath oits dissolution at the end o theCauld War. Ukraine haes maintained its unthirldom as a sovereign state iver syne. Afore its unthirldom, Ukraine wis teepically referred tae as "The Ukraine", but soorces syne then hae muived tae drap "the" frae the name o Ukraine in aw uises.[12]
Follaein its unthirldom, Ukraine declared itsel aneutral state.[13] Nanetheless it formed a leemitit militar pairtnership wi the Roushie Federation an itherCIS kintras an apairtnership wi NATO in 1994. In the 2000s, the govrenment begoud leanin taewart NATO, an a deeper cooperation wi the alliance wis set bi the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan signed in 2002. It wis later agreed that the quiasten o jynin NATO shoud be answered bi a naitional referendum at some pynt in the futur.[14] UmwhilePresesViktor Yanukovych conseedert the current level o co-operation atweenUkraine an NATO sufficient,[15] an wis against Ukraine jynin NATO.[16] In 2013, efter the govrenment o Preses Yanukovych ha decidit tae suspend theUkraine-European Union Association Greement an seek closer economic ties wi Roushie, a several-months-lang wave o demonstrations an protests kent as theEuromaidan begoud, that later escalatit intae the2014 Ukrainian revolution that led tae the owerthraw o Preses Yanukovych an his cabinet an the establishment o a new govrenment. Thir events formed the backgrund for theannexation o Crimea bi Roushie in Mairch 2014, an theWar in Donbass in Apryle 2014. On 1 Januar 2016, Ukraine applee'd the economic pairt o theDeep an Comprehensive Free Tred Aurie wi the European Union.[17]
Ukraine haes lang been a globalbreidbasket acause o its extensive, growthie fermlands an is ane o the warld's mucklestgrain exporters.[18][19] The diversifiedeconomy o Ukraine includes a mucklehivy industry sector, pairteecularly in aerospace an industrial equipment.
![Location o Ukraine (green)on the European continent (dark grey) — [Legend]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fsco.wikipedia.org%2f%2fsco.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEurope-Ukraine_(1991-2014).svg)
