Ukraine is a former Soviet republic, now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, located to the north of the Black Sea. It touches borders with a number of other Eastern European nations: Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, as well as with the massive Russian Federation to the east. After "European Russia", Ukraine is accounted the second largest country in all of Europe.
There are a few important geographical features worth mentioning. First, the Carpathian Mountain range, which stretches up into the Western region of Ukraine and forms the highest point in the country at the peak of Hoverla (2061 meters). There are also some considerable elevations on the Crimean, the southernmost area
of land that juts into the Black Sea. However, most of Ukraine's terrain is taken up by the Eurasian Steppe, a vast treeless plain covered with short grass. There are also a number of rivers tracing their way through the country--the most notable being the Dniepr, which is 2,290 km long and cuts through the entire north-south length of the country.On a side note, when referring to the country, "Ukraine" is preferred over the still somewhat common form "The Ukraine". First, there is no grammatical precedent for it in English (we would never say "the Germany" or "the Kenya"), and it seems even more silly in light of the fact that the Ukrainian language lacks all articles. For a fuller discussion of this minute matter, see Andrew Gregorovich's essay.
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