Ukrainians

Ukrainians
Allice Hunter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Group	Ukrainians
Native name	Українці
Population	~37 million (estimate)
Regions	Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Canada, United States, Brazil, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel
Languages	Ukrainian language
Religions	Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam
Related	Ruthenians, Belarusians, Poles, Russians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnolinguistic group primarily associated with Ukraine and the Ukrainian language. Their identity has been shaped by interactions with neighboring peoples and polities such as the Kievan Rus', the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union. Major historical episodes influencing Ukrainian development include the Battle of Poltava, the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Holodomor, and the Euromaidan.

Etymology and Names

The ethnonym derives from medieval designations like Ruthenia and terms appearing in chronicles of Kievan Rus' and Galicia–Volhynia. The modern endonym surfaced alongside intellectual movements in Lviv, Kyiv, and Saint Petersburg during the 19th century when figures such as Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Taras Shevchenko, Panteleimon Kulish, and Ivan Franko articulated national terminology. Competing exonyms included Little Russia used in the Russian Empire and scholarly texts referencing Ruthenian language and Ruthenian people until the consolidation of Ukrainian language and national labels in the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth influence.

History

Early medieval formation took place within Kievan Rus', centered on Kyiv and influenced by princely dynasties like the Rurikids and interactions with Byzantine Empire institutions. After fragmentation, principalities such as Halych-Volhynia (Galicia–Volhynia) engaged with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later forming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The mid-17th-century Khmelnytsky Uprising led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky brought Cossack polity links with the Tsardom of Russia via the Pereiaslav Agreement. Western regions experienced Habsburg rule in Galicia and ties to Austro-Hungarian Empire authorities.

Imperial-era developments under the Russian Empire included policies enacted by rulers such as Catherine the Great and legal instruments like the Valuev Circular and Ems Ukaz that affected language and publishing. The 20th century saw competing state projects: the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and later incorporation into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Recurrent tragedies and transformations included the Holodomor, World War II occupations involving Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, partisan struggles including the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and figures like Stepan Bandera, and postwar reconstruction under leaders of the Soviet Union such as Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev. Late-20th- and early-21st-century events include independence in 1991, the Orange Revolution, the Euromaidan, the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and the Russo-Ukrainian War with notable battles like Battle of Donetsk Airport and Siege of Mariupol.

Demographics

Major population centers include Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Chernivtsi. Diaspora communities established migration networks linking to Canada (notably Toronto and Winnipeg), the United States (including New York City and Chicago), Argentina (Buenos Aires), and Brazil (São Paulo). Census and survey shifts reflect internal migrations after industrialization in Donbas and post-Soviet demographic changes, influenced by events such as the Holodomor, the World War II population displacements, and the post-2014 conflicts in Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast.

Ethnic composition includes substantial minorities: Russians, Belarusians, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Germans, Moldovans, Armenians, Greeks, Roma, and communities from Central Asia such as Kazakhs. Urbanization, fertility trends, and emigration to destinations such as Poland and Germany shape contemporary demographics.

Language and Culture

The primary literary code is the Ukrainian language, with historical stages from Old East Slavic spoken in Kievan Rus' to modern standardization influenced by scholars and writers like Ivan Kotliarevsky, Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Pavlo Tychyna, Mykola Khvylovy, Olena Teliha, and linguists associated with Shevchenko Scientific Society and National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Regional varieties include Pannonian Rusyn communities and dialects around Polesia, Hutsul region, Bukovina, Sloboda Ukraine, and Transcarpathia.

Cultural institutions include the National Opera of Ukraine, the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre, and festivals such as Lviv International Film Festival and Kyiv International Film Festival. Artistic figures feature Kazimir Malevich, Maria Prymachenko, Mykola Leontovych, Sergiy Prokofiev (note: Russian-Ukrainian context), Valentina Lisitsa, Okean Elzy, Ruslana, Jamala, Andriy Shevchenko (sporting cultural icon), and filmmakers like Sergei Parajanov. Musical, literary, and visual arts draw on folk motifs preserved by ethnographers like Filip Lysenko and collectors associated with Shevchenko Scientific Society.

Religion and Traditions

Religious life is primarily structured around Eastern Orthodoxy with major jurisdictions such as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), and historical bodies like the Kyivan Metropolitanate. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is prominent in western regions with connections to Lviv and the Synod of Kirovohrad. Minority faiths include Judaism with historic communities in Pale of Settlement towns, Islam among Crimean Tatars, and Protestantism congregations across urban centers.

Traditional festivals and rites include Vyshyvanka Day filiations and embroidery preserved in peasant arts, Pysanka decoration associated with Easter, folk holidays like Kupala Night and Malanka, and seasonal practices recorded by folklorists in Carpathians and Polissya. Culinary traditions feature dishes such as borscht, varenyky, holubtsi, salo consumption rituals, and beverages linked to Kyiv and regional identities.

Identity and Nationalism

National consciousness developed through political movements and intellectual currents linked to figures and organizations such as Taras Shevchenko, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Shevchenko Scientific Society, Prosvita, Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, and Ukrainian Insurgent Army. 20th-century nation-building involved treaties and episodes including the Treaty of Versailles context, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk implications, and the dissolution of empires post-World War I. Post-Soviet civic and political mobilizations include the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine (1991), the Orange Revolution, and the Euromaidan movement with actors like Viktor Yushchenko, Viktor Yanukovych, Vitali Klitschko, Yulia Tymoshenko, Petro Poroshenko, and civil society groups such as AutoMaidan.

Contested narratives involve debates over historical memory related to Holodomor, collaboration and resistance during World War II involving groups like Ukrainian Insurgent Army and figures such as Stepan Bandera, and the status of regions including Crimea and Donbas. International law and institutions—United Nations, Council of Europe, European Union relations, NATO partnership programs—feature in contemporary identity politics, as do cultural policies at institutions like the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and educational reforms influenced by actors in Lviv and Kyiv.

Category:Ethnic groups in Europe