Ukraine People.

Who are they? How do they live?

Ukraine people.Ukrainian nation. Several years ago a Ukrainian television station ran the slogan, "We are 52 Million!" Perhaps it intended to demonstrate that Ukraine is an independent and prospering state with vast territory and a growing population.

Alas... According to the All-Ukrainian Population Census 2001 , the actual population figure of Ukraine as of 5 December, 2001 accounted for 48,457,000 people. That means that during the past 10 to 12 years, the population of Ukraine actually decreased by more than 3 million people.

Ukraine people:
Boys in national costumes. Source: http:/axiommedia.org

There are many reasons which can be listed as causing the population drop in Ukraine. With both optimistic and pessimistic prognoses made by experts in demography, only time will tell which analysis will be realized.

One fact that nobody can doubt is that once again, Ukraine is experiencing a new and difficult period of its turbulent history.For a period of more than 700 years, beginning with the Tatar-Mongol invasion in the early 13th century, Ukraine people went through extremely difficult periods of their history .

Because of the challenges they have been historically faced, Ukrainian people are survivors. During more than seven centuries, Ukraine's neighbors have always considered that this country has too many Ukrainians in it. Ukrainians deserve respect for managing to survive so well under such conditions. How did they manage to do it?

After the collapse of the Soviet system, the rules of life had suddenly and dramatically been changed. Many Ukraine people have been plunged into poverty since then; older people have been hit the hardest. Most people in Ukraine have hope that "tomorrow will be better than today". While Ukrainians look to the future, they are still prepared for tough and uncertain times, because they had good "training" during those 700 years.

Since time immemorial, Ukrainian people have been known as kind-hearted, friendly, hospitable and well-wishing hard-workers. They are emotional and tend to be open to anything that claims to bring balance and stability in their life. This includes everything such as Christianity and eastern religions, horoscopes and fortune-telling and even alcoholism and narcotics.

It is a sad but unavoidable situation. People need stability in their lives and everybody tries to look for it in his own way. That's why Ukraine has experienced such a large-scale emigration of workers.

There are only 37-million native Ukrainians living in Ukraine. Another 20-million Ukrainians live in 46 different countries of the world. The largest Ukrainian community outside of Ukraine is in neighboring Russia where about 3 million ethnic Ukrainians live.

There are also almost 2-million Ukrainians living in North America. With approximately 890,000 in the United States and 1 million in Canada. A large number of Ukrainians also live in Brazil about 550,000, Kazakhstan about 500,000, Moldova 450,000, Poland 300,000, Belarus 250, 000, Slovakia 200,000 and Argentina 100,000. There are also Ukrainian Diasporas in Germany, Portugal, Romania, Latvia and former the Yugoslavia.

Ukraine has always had an educated work force and been rich in human talents. However, many specialists no longer work in the field for which they were trained.

Here is a short list of famous Ukraine people who have brought significant contribution to the world. All of them are either ethnic Ukrainians, or were born, lived and worked in Ukraine.

Ukraine people:Sergey Korolev,
First Spacecraft Designer.

Sergey Korolev, Soviet spacecraft and rocket designer

Oleg Antonov, Aircraft designer and founder of the Antonov Aircraft Company

Igor Sikorsky, Inventor of helicopter and aircraft pioneer

Ilya Mechnikov, Microbiologist, Nobel Prize in Medicine (1908)

Vladimir Vernadsky, Mineralogist and biochemist

Volodymyr Filatov , Ophthalmologist, Successfully achieved corneal transplants

Golda Meir, 4th Prime Minister of Israel (1969-74)

Facts about Ukraine People.

Population: 46,710,816 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 3,377,868/female 3,203,738); 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 15,559,998/female 16,831,486); 65 years and over: 16.6% (male 2,635,651/female 5,102,075) (2006 est.)
Median age: Total: 39.2 years male: 35.9 years female: 42.2 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:-0.6% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 8.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 14.39 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female; Total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rateTotal: 9.9 deaths/1,000 live births; Male: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births; Female: 8.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birthTotal population: 69.98 Male: 64.71, Female: 75.59 (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.17 children born per Woman (2006 est.)
Ethnic groups:Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belorussian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census)
Religions:Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.
Literacy: Definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.7% male: 99.8% female: 99.6% (2003 est.)