1. Ukraine is the largest state in Europe.
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, followed by France, Spain, and then Sweden. Here are their respective land areas:
Ukraine 603,700 sq. km
France 547,030 sq. km
Spain 504,750 sq. km
Sweden 449,964 sq. km
2. “Carol of the Bells” is a Ukrainian folk song.
"Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol composed by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 with lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. The song is based on a Ukrainian folk chant called "Shchedryk" which means "Bountiful".
3. Ukraine is a 4th educated nation in the world.
99.4% of Ukrainians aged 15 and over can read and write. 70% of adult Ukrainians have a secondary or higher education. High-level research is also a strong-point in Ukraine. The country current has 1350 scientific organizations employing 450,000 people, 295,000 of whom are directly involved in research and development: that's 40% more than in the UK.
Ukrainian science can trace its roots back to the 10th to 12th centuries. The names of the scholars of the Kyivan Rus were well-known to medieval Europe. Among them, for instance, was philologist Meletiy Smotrytsky whose Slovenian Grammar laid down the foundations for the spelling of a great many Slavic languages. In the 18th century the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was a major centre of science and scholarship.
4. World's First Constitution.
The Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk or Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhian Host was a constitutional document written by Hetman Pylyp Orlyk, a Cossack of Ukraine in 1710. Some researchers believe that this document is one of the world’s first constitutions. For example, U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787 and French and Polish in 1791.
5. The Chernobyl disaster, also referred to as the Chernobyl accident or simply Chernobyl, was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine.
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is a city in the restricted Chernobyl Exclusion Zone situated in Ivankiv Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. The city was the administrative center of Chernobyl Raion (district) from 1923 until it was disestablished in 1988. The city currently has 704 inhabitants. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is technically located within the northernmost part of the Kiev Oblast but access to the Zone is prohibited to the public.
6. Ukrainian language.
Another interesting fact about Ukrainian language is its being among the top three most beautiful languages in the world. In the linguistic contests in Italy and France it was acknowledged as the second most melodious language in the world after the Italian language. Other sources say that the bronze should be given for the Ukrainian language in this contest, the second place appointed for the French, and the fourth place given to the Persian language.
7. Taras Shevchenko.
Back in Soviet times, Lenin was the subject of the most national statues, with every town and city having at least one. Now independent Ukraine gets of the proletariat chief and seems to have another monumental icon – the 19th century poet and moral authority Taras Shevchenko, with around 1256 of his statues in the country and 128 is abroad.
When I am dead, bury me
In my beloved Ukraine,
My tomb upon a grave mound high
Amid the spreading plain,
So that the fields, the boundless steppes,
The Dnieper's plunging shore
My eyes could see, my ears could hear
The mighty river roar.
