Ukraine:
A country that has at times been divided between Western beliefs and Soviet allegiance in the east, contains a population of 46 million predominately who reside in the urban areas of major cities such as Kiev(pop 3mm) Karkin, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odesa and Lviv. The people consist of ethnic Ukrainians and Russians who represent 78% and 17% respectively with both of the languages common within their parts of the country. A strong cultural appreciation has it's roots from a long national history to when it once served as an intricate trading route and was once the largest state in Europe under the name Kievan Rus. Inhabitants mainly included Slavik tribes from the sixth century and nobility led the area's conversion to Christianity in 988. Today's religious demography is largely a member in some variety of Catholic Orthodoxy or of the smaller Protestant population.
Polish invasion took a hold on the country in the 14th century where many were taken into servitude but those who resisted were known as the Cossakcs and were emblematic of a gritty spirit, fixated on their individual freedoms. Under seperation of Poland in the 19th century, Ukraine was partitioned primarily to Russia, although the extreme western region was ruled by the Austria-Hungary empire. An emphasis on academic importance is a product of a country bent on preserving it's heritage, where scholars such as Taras Shevchenko produced important works. The literacy rate is nearly 100% and over 900 educational institutions exist. World War II painfully effected the country. The Nazi invasion and ensuing battles between Germany and Russia accounted for a horrific tally of the lives of a million Ukrainian Jews. The country's break from the Soviet Union in 1991 set a course for an elected government system. Three branches constitute the structure with both a president and prime minister nominated by the parlimentary authority known as Verkhovan Rada, for which five year elections are to be held in October 2012.
