Definition of: Ukraine

A country in eastern Europe, off the Black Sea; capital, Kiev; pop. 52,000,000; 233,100 sq. miles; originally known as Rus, the Ukraine was controlled by the Mongols in the 13th century, Lithuania in the 14th and 15th centuries, and Poland in the 16th century; it had a short period of independence before being absorbed by Russia, then the U.S.S.R.; Ukraine declared its independence from the U.S.S.R. in 1991. [Ukrainian Ukrayina]