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Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the north and east, Belarus to the north, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Hungary to the west and Romania and Moldova to the southwest. The landscape of the country is varied, with mountains to the west, plains in the center and the Black Sea coast to the south. The northern regions are made up of forests. Its other features are the steppes with beech and oak forests and the treeless steppes. The Dnieper River divides Ukraine and flows into the Black Sea.

It obtained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.



Ukrainian customs are highly influenced by Christianity, which is the dominant religion in the country. Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a larger role in raising children's awareness than in the West. The culture of Ukraine was also influenced by its eastern and western neighbors, which is reflected in its architecture, music and art.



The communist era had a very strong effect on art and literature. In 1932 Stalin attempted to apply a policy of socialist realism when he decreed the "Decree on the Reconstruction of the Organization of Art and Literature", which severely limited the creativity of some artists. During the 1980s, with the introduction of glasnost (opening) politics, Soviet artists and writers again had freedom of expression.



One of Ukraine's best-known traditions is Easter eggs, known locally as pysankys. These eggs are painted with wax to create a pattern; Then the egg is painted with its classic cheerful colors, this coat of paint does not affect the egg's wax coating. After all the egg has been painted, the wax is removed, leaving only the colored patterns. This tradition has been celebrated for thousands of years and precedes the arrival of Christianity in Ukraine. In 2000, in the town of Kolomya, near the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, the Pysanka Museum, dedicated to the Ukrainian tradition of Easter eggs, was opened.

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