If you plan on visiting Ukraine, you surely want to know more about Ukraine weather and climate. This way you might be prepared for various weather changes and seasons there.

Ukraine is a country situated in the Eastern Europe. It is situated in latitude 49° 00′N and longitude 32° 00′E.

The climate in Ukraine is temperate continental. It has four distinct seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The weather during these seasons of the year significantly changes from quit cold weather in winters and quit hot weather in summer. Though, the southern coast of Crimean has a Mediterranean climate.

As I have already mentioned Ukraine weather and climate are notable for their rapid changes of temperature during the summer and winter seasons. Winter season can last for over 5 months. The temperature during this period of the year may vary from mild -23 or – 26 in Fahrenheit (- 3, - 5 in Celsius) to more severe -4,00 or – 13 in Fahrenheit (- 20, - 25 in Celsius).

The summer weather in Ukraine is pretty hot. It can vary from 68 to 95 in Fahrenheit. Summer seasons last here for about 3-3.5 months.

Autumns and springs are more mild and the temperature during those seasons many range from 51 to 59 in Fahrenheit. Autumns and springs can be rather rainy and foggy in Ukraine. Summers can be hot and dry, but winters are mostly snowy and cold.

That was some useful information on Ukraine climate and weather.

The history of music in Ukraine is very long, because Ukrainians are a very musical nation; most people here love to sing or play various musical instruments. In fact, most kids here have been taught to play some musical instrument or to sign.

Ukrainians’ tastes in music vary from folk or country music to heavy metal and Rap. Of course the generation of elder people prefer to listen to folk or variety music, while the younger generation prefers such music styles as pop, rock, heavy metal, Rap, House, etc.

Many young Ukrainians love to listen to various European and American pop and rock stars and bands. Though, of late more and more young people obtain a taste for classic or folk Ukrainian music or jazz and blues.

I have to say that often times the tickets to various folk concerts or even to the National Opera of Ukraine are cheaper and more affordable for people than those to various pop concerts of popular signers and bands.

As I have mentioned before, many people here love to sing and play musical instruments. Among the most popular musical instruments, played by Ukrainians there are guitars and pianos, but some people also learn to play accordions, banduras (Ukrainian string instrument) and flutes.

Music in Ukraine is present everywhere. Especially people love to sign on various feast occasions, such as National or religious holidays, birthday parties, etc. As a rule, people would get together and sing, even if there is no one to provide an accompaniment for them.

Such are the musical traditions and tastes of Ukrainian people.

Even though there are many names traditional for Ukraine, such as Galina, Oksana, Ludmila, Larisa, Zinaida or Grigory, Leonid, Stepan, all of those names are not Ukrainian by their origin. Even though these names were very popular in Ukraine and most of them are associated with Slavic nations, all of these names came here from other countries and languages, such as Greece, Byzantine Empire and Italy.

Only few names presently used in Ukraine have truly Slavic origins. For example, such female names as Svetlana, Bogdana or Yana and such male names as Radion or Slava are still used in Ukraine and come from ancient Slavic and even pagan origins. The reason why so many “traditional Ukrainian names” in reality have Roman, Greece or even Jewish origins lies in Christianity.

By the time Christianity was brought to Ukraine (over 10 centuries ago) it has already been well established in the Roman Empire and Greece. Thus, when it conquered the hearts of Ukrainian people, it brought here many of the Roman and Jewish (Bible) names.

Today Ukraine is being greatly influenced by the Western culture and many people here give their kids various Western names. Presently, some of the most popular names people give their kids in Ukraine are such female names as Dar’ay, Sofia, Kristine, Ann and such male names as Denis, Anton, Timothy, Daniel, etc. So, many of the more traditional Ukrainian names remain unused and unpopular in this country.

Such is the story of new and traditional Ukrainian names.

Ukraine is a country with ancient history, traditions and beliefs. There are several Ukraine religions we can talk about in this article. Ukraine was baptized in Christianity over 1000 years ago. Before that, Ukraine was a heathen country with its own pantheon of pagan gods.

Today the main religion of Ukraine is Orthodox Christianity. It came here from Byzantine Empire, where Vladimir, the Prince of Kievan Russia, was baptized into Christianity, which he brought back home and made it the official state religion of Ukraine.

Besides the Orthodox Christianity, there are other churches and religions in Ukraine. Some people here attend Roman Catholic Church, while others go to Ukrainian Autocephalous Church. Many people attend various Protestant churches, such as Baptist, Pentecostal or Charismatic Gospel churches.

However, Christianity is not the only one among many Ukraine religions. Many people here, and especially those who live in Crimea (Crimean Tatars), are Muslims. There are many Jewish congregations in Ukraine as well. Two of the largest and quite ancient Jewish churches in Ukraine are situated in Obukhov and Uman’. Besides, one may find some Buddhist communities in many cities of Ukraine.

Plus, among the Ukraine religions there could be found many modern churches and religious communities, such as Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Scientists, Myunnists, etc. Besides all the above listed religions, there are some sects where people confess ancient pagan Ukrainian beliefs and practices.

That is a brief story of a diversity of Ukraine religions and beliefs.

Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe. It’s territory has over 600.000 square kilometers or over 220.000 square miles. It has a population of over 47 million people.

There are 25 major cities in Ukraine. By saying this I mean that Ukraine has 24 regions and Crimea and every one of these regions has their major city or so called regional center. Such a city has all the main communications, regional administration jurisdiction, major health centers, etc.

Though, not all of these cities are large. In fact, Ukraine has only 6 cities which have over a million people population. Those are Kiev (the capital of Ukraine), Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkov (ex capital of Ukraine), Odessa and Lviv.

Kiev is the largest among the major cities of Ukraine. Officially it has over 3 million of population, but unofficial statistics say it has over 5 million population.

Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kharkov are situated in the eastern part of Ukraine. Both southern and western parts of Ukraine have only one large city with over a million population each.

Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odessa and Lviv have a little over 1 million people population each. Kharkov has up to 1.5 million people population.

People in large cities have more opportunities for getting better education and jobs. Consequently, the level of income and the quality of people’s life in Ukraine is the highest in its large cities. Though, most people live in small towns and villages.

That was the information about the largest and major cities in Ukraine.

Ukrainian eggs or Pisanky are the eggs specially decorated for the celebration of the Orthodox Easter. So, in this article I would like to give you some tips on how to make Ukrainian eggs.

Now Pisanky are the painted eggs, decorated with some symbols painted on them. Even though these eggs are a part of Christian holiday, but the symbols most commonly used for their decoration come from pagan times.

To make a Pisanka you should take an egg and soak out the white and the yolk out of it. To do it make two small holes on both ends of the egg and soak out its white and yolk. Then wash the shell and leave it to dry.

Get some dye and color your egg with it. The most commonly used colors are red and brown. Or, else you may leave the egg undyed, but decorated with various symbols.

You may also use some natural dyes for coloring the Easter eggs, such as beets, carrots or onions skins. To do that you need to boil the eggs with one of the mentioned ingredients in water. The beetroot will turn eggs pink, carrots – orange and onion skins – brown.

Finally, the last tip in our how to make Ukrainian eggs “manual” is decorating them with different symbols. The most commonly used ones are circles (the symbol of the sun), stars and trees.

When you learn some easy methods on how to make Ukrainian eggs, you may make your own designs for the Easter table.

Ukrainian land has given birth to many people talented in different professions, such as artists, poets, writers, politicians, sportsmen, etc.
In this article about famous people from Ukraine I would like to tell you brief stories of two of such famous men, who have similar last names Shevchenko. Those are Andrey Shevchenko (football player) and Taras Shevchenko (poet, writer and artist).

Presently one of the most famous people from Ukraine is its football player Andrey Shevchenko. He was born back in 1976 in one of the Ukrainian villages near Kiev City. When he turned 9 years old he was enlisted into Kiev’s national soccer club Dinamo, in its youth team.

In 1999 Shevchenko started to play for the Italian team Milan and according to the FIFA survey he was acknowledged to be the third world’s best football player. Presently, Andrey Shevchenko plays for English football club Chelsea.

Taras Shevchenko was born in 1814, also in one of the villages near Kiev City. He became the most famous Ukrainian poet, prose writer and artist. He is considered to be a founder of Ukrainian classic language and literature.

During the Soviet times, when Ukrainian culture and language were prosecuted by the Soviet government, Taras Shevchenko became a cult person for many Ukrainian patriots. His poems helped people to survive during those times of trouble and to keep and pass on to the new generation their culture and language.

Those were two brief stories about the most famous people from Ukraine, who share one last name and come from the same region of Ukraine.

During the Soviet times only few people in the world have heard about such country as Ukraine. Most people thought Ukraine was some province of Russia. But after Ukraine reestablished its independence in 1991 and especially after the Orange Revolution in 2004, more and more people began to hear about and take interest in Ukraine and in learning more facts about Ukraine.

Though, in this article I want to give you not only such well known facts as geographical location of this country or its demographics. I wish to give you some facts about Ukraine which even not all Ukrainians are familiar with. Let us start:

Did you know that Ukraine is one of the largest European countries? It has a territory of over 600 square kilometers or over 223 square miles. Few other countries in Europe, such as Spain or France can match it up in size.

Did you know that the man who invented the helicopter was born in Ukraine? His name was Igor Sikorskiy. He invented helicopters, but the Soviet government did not take any interest in his invention. He emigrated to the USA and there established his own aircraft company.

Did you know that back in the beginning of last millennium, Ukraine had the largest and most fine library on the territory of Europe and Asia? It was founded by Yaroslav the Wise, who ruled Kievan Russia back in 1030.

Did you know that the largest airplane in the world was created and still belongs to Ukraine? It is called Ruslan. It can lift up to 171 219 kilograms at an altitude of 2000 meters (over 6500 feet).

These are some interesting and not widely known facts about Ukraine.

Even though Ukrainian cuisine has long history and traditions, most of its modern dishes were developed only when local farmers began to grow such vegetables as potatoes, beets, carrots, eggplant, etc. All these vegetables are widely used in Ukrainian cuisine. Here I would like to provide you with three simple recipes of Ukrainian food.

Here we go:

1. Beetroot salad
Take several beets, boil them till they get soft and edible. Grate the beets and add several grated cloves of garlic to them. Take up to ten prunes, cut them to small pieces and add to your beet salad. Mix it all up and add some olive or corn oil or mayonnaise, and some salt and pepper.

2. “Squirrel” salad
Take 1 processed cheese 100 grams (3.5 ounces), 2 eggs, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and mayonnaise. Boil eggs and grate them or crumble them with your food processor, add cheese and garlic and grate it some more. Add mayonnaise and thoroughly mix it all together.

3. Dumpling soup
Make broth from any kind of meat. Add several potatoes, fried onions and carrots. Add some salt, black, red or white pepper and bay leaf. Take a cup of flour and one egg. Mix it up together, so the pastry would be pretty thick. When all the vegetables in your broth get cooked well, take the pastry in your hand and with the other hand nip off little pieces and throw them into your boiling soup. Stir it and wait until the dumplings come up to the surface. Boil for 5 more minutes.

Those are three very simple to cook and pretty popular dishes of the Ukrainian cuisine.

Easter in Ukraine is the main religious holiday. There is no fixed date for celebrating Orthodox Easter. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon (after March 21st) in the Georgian calendar. Basically there is a 35 days time frame of possible dates for celebrating Orthodox Easter. On different years it can be celebrated anywhere from March 22nd to April 25th.

Many believers do not sleep on Easter night. They go to Orthodox temples for the over night service to pray and to sanctify various foods, such as painted eggs called Krashenki, special Easter cakes called Paska, meat, cabbage rolls and even Salo (pig’s fat).

A long 40 days fast precedes Easter in Ukraine. So, when people finally return home from church, they can start eating and drinking anything they want and cease fasting. But Easter dinner here must always start with tasting Easter cakes called Paski.

There are many different religious and folk traditions, beliefs and games that can be used as a part of Easter celebration. For example, it is believed that if a girl washes her face in water with Easter painted egg (Krashanka) in it, she will be as beautiful as that painted egg. Kids also play with Easter eggs. They take eggs and crush them together; those whose eggs don’t crush, win the game.

When celebrating Easter people greet each other with the words: The Christ has arisen! And they receive the answer: Truly He is risen. Such are the traditions of celebrating Easter in Ukraine.