Note: The red font in the article comes from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and the green font comes from the website of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
One place of land and water nourishes the people. More than 200 countries and regions and more than 2,000 ethnic groups in the world have their own unique national cultural traditions and customs. In my spare time, I snatch bookstores, read the news on the Internet, and learn about the ethnic customs and habits of some countries, which feels more interesting. Today I will introduce the social customs and historical culture of Ukraine.
1. Ukraine is not a small country in Europe in terms of territory and population, and in terms of strategic status, it is also an existence that cannot be ignored.
【Position】 "Ukraine" means "the borderland", but in fact it is not "borderland" at all. Ukraine is located in eastern Europe, Black Sea , and the northern coast of the Azov Sea. Near Belarus and Russia in the north, and connected to EU in the west, Poland , Slovakia and Hungary. is the intersection between the EU and the CIS geopolitics.
Looking at the intersection of geopolitics in the world, it has both benefits and disadvantages for small countries. From a military perspective, such a place is a place that must be fought for by military strategists and is easily remembered by great powers. After the intervention of a great power, it will cause war and become a battlefield for the competition of a great power. In severe cases, it will even cause disasters to destroy the country. From an economic perspective, such a place is easy to develop economic and trade relations and use its location advantages to play a good card that can be good at everything. Ukraine's location can import Russia's mineral resources and military equipment to the east, and EU funds and technology to the west. Unfortunately, it is so difficult to let Ukraine play good cards that can be successful in everything!
Russia and NATO The conflict between the enemy has always been difficult to alleviate, which makes Ukraine in the cracks in a dilemma. Whether choosing NATO or Russia, they will offend the other side. The problem is that neither Ukraine can afford to offend, and Ukraine after independence has also tried to balance diplomacy, but this emphasism has made Russia and the United States unsatisfied. Coupled with the struggles of various factions in its own country, Ukraine is in a very bad situation.
【Area】 Ukraine's land area is only .6037 million square kilometers , is about half of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in my country (1.183 million square kilometers), or 4 Shandong provinces (153,800 square kilometers). It looks like a small country, but this area is in Europe and is the largest country in Europe except Russia.
[Population] This is a country with negative population growth. On June 1, 2020, the total population of Ukraine was 41.63 million, a decrease of about 10 million from the time of independence. In June 2021, Ukraine had a population of 41.41 million (excluding the Crimea region), , but this total population can still rank seventh in Europe. is expected to be the national population of Ukraine in 2035 to be the same as the population of Beijing (Beijing’s population is growing rapidly, with 16.01 million in 2006 and 21.893 million in 2020).
The life expectancy of Ukraine is not optimistic, The average life expectancy of male residents is about 67 years old, and the average life expectancy of female residents is about 77 years old.
Ukraine is a country with a large number of men and women, with the ratio of men and women of about 0.86:1.
[Ethnicity] Ukraine has more than 110 ethnic groups, Ukrainian accounts for 77%, and Russian 17%.
2. The history of Ukraine is the history of the development of a tragic nation.
Although Ukraine is very sad now, in history, Ukraine is even worse than it is now. This tragic nation has never established a truly independent country and has repeatedly become a battlefield for neighboring countries.
1. Before the 14th century, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, were family, all of them were Eastern Slavs, , and they all belonged to the ancient Kievan Rus. Today, the Ukrainian region is successively ruled by the Mongol Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland.
The earliest country in Ukraine appeared in 862. The first kingdom of Ross established by Eastern Slavia , the Liurik Dynasty, , occupied , Kiev , and established Kiev ross.
In the 12th to 14th century AD, due to feudal separatism, Ross gradually split into three factions: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. Culturally, the Ukrainians believed that the cultural center of Rossian should be Kiev rather than Moscow.
2. In the 17th century, the modern Ukrainian nation was formed, and began the history of alliance between Ukraine and Russia.
3, in the late 18th century, during the reign of Tsar , Katerina II, , most of this place became Russian territory.
Starting from 1772, Russian , Prussian , and Austria-Hungarian Empire divided Poland three times, and Poland lost its country, and territory including today's Western Ukrainian was merged into the Russian territory. At that time, on the Crimean Peninsula, the descendants of Genghis Khan's eldest son, Shuchi , established the Crimean Khanate (1430-1783). In 1783, Crimea was also acquired by Russia. By 1795, except for Galicia (1772-1918 belonging to Austrian ), the rest of today's Ukraine was under the rule of Tsarist Russia. That is to say, in the late 18th century, most of Ukraine's territory today, including the Crimea Peninsula, were Russian territory.
At the end of the First World War , the Tsarist Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empires launched a fierce tug-of-war in today's Ukrainian region. With the support of Tsarist Russia, in December 1917, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was established in the Eastern Ukrainian region, with the capital in Kharkov. With the support of Germany and Austria, in January 1918, the Ukrainian People's Republic declared independence in Kiev, calling the central Lada regime, but these two puppet regimes were just a flash in history and did not play a substantial role.
After the end of World War I, Poland was restored and the Second Republic of Poland was established. From February 1919 to March 1921, the Soviet-Polish war broke out with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. As a result of the war, Russia suffered a loss and signed the Treaty of Riga, and Western Ukraine became Polish territory. In 1922, the Soviet Union was founded, and Eastern Ukraine joined the alliance and became one of the founding countries of the Soviet Union.
In other words, since the late 18th century, the Ukrainian region has been the battlefield for duels for powerful countries. Since the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, East and West Ukraine have been divided into the Eastern and Western camps. This history has a great influence on contemporary Ukraine. The Dnieper River is roughly used as the natural dividing line, and two parts of Eastern Ukraine and Western Ukraine appear. Western Ukraine includes western regions such as Kiev and Lviv, and traditionally tends to countries such as Germany and Poland. Eastern Ukraine was once one of the founding countries of the Soviet Union, and it tended to be Russia, the successor of the Soviet Union. Representative regions include the Crimean Peninsula, Donetsk and other regions.
5. In World War II, this place became the battlefield for Germany and the Soviet Union. At the end of the war, except for Crimea (which was allocated from Russia to Ukraine in 1954), Ukraine's territorial space was basically formed today.
The wheel of history advanced to 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, the Soviet Union also stabbed Poland in the back, occupied eastern Poland, pushed the border line westward for 200 to 300 kilometers, and took back the Western Ukrainian area in the Treaty of Riga. After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union was unwilling to return this part of Poland's territory, so it allocated the eastern part of Germany to Poland as compensation. In other words, the current western territory of Ukraine was Polish before World War II, but before the Soviet-Polish war, it was Russian Soviet territory.
In June 11940, Stalin forced Romania to transfer the eastern bank of Bisarabia and Transnistria to Ukraine. In the late World War II, the outer Carpathian area was assigned to Ukraine. Today, the population of this part of the region is also pro-Western.
In February 11954, at the suggestion of Khrushchev , the Soviet Union assigned Crimea from Russia to Ukraine. This laid the root of the disaster for after the collapse of of the Soviet Union, Crimea made independence from Ukraine, and also provided an excuse for Russia to send troops to Crimea.
6. It is worth mentioning that after the end of World War II, Ukraine was not only a member of the United Nations , but also a founding member of the United Nations. This is a strange existence. As a founding member of the United Nations and one of the United Nations member states, Ukraine does not have independent powers, and is not a country in a complete sense. It is a younger brother of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet era, Ukraine was one of the franchise republics of the Soviet Union.
Notes, this picture comes from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
7. On August 24, 1991, Ukraine declared independence. This is the country established by the Ukrainian nation in its true sense.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine ended its 337-year alliance with Russia and became an independent country. After independence, Ukraine inherited a large number of former Soviet troops, weapons and equipment and strategic reserve materials, including a large number of nuclear weapons and and modern equipment. In 1992, Wu and Wu abandoned their martial arts and announced that they would pursue a policy of nuclear-free, neutral and non-alignedness, and began to carry out large-scale disarmament, destroying a large number of nuclear weapons.
However, in 1994, Ukraine was the first among the CIS countries to join NATO's "Peace Partnership" program, which caused dissatisfaction among Russia, but the two companies had not yet broken up at that time.
In 2004, a color revolution occurred within the sphere of influence of the former Soviet Union (purposes to overthrow the pro-Russian regime, establish a "revolution" that breaks away from Russian influence and pro-Western regimes, and advocates revolutions carried out in non-violent forms such as marches and demonstrations). Pro-Russian forces and pro-Western forces began to have fierce competition, and eventually, the Yushenko , which represents pro-Western forces, won.
But in February 2010, the pro-Russian delegation Yanukovych was elected as Ukrainian President . On February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian crisis broke out, and Ukrainian Supreme Rada (Parliament) removed Yanukovych from his post as president. On the evening of March 21, 2014, Putin officially signed the Treaty of Crimea's entry into Russia. Yanukovych then fled to Russia.
Subsequently, pro-Western Poroshenko took office as president, regarded the United States and the West as diplomatic priority, firmly promoted joining the contract, condemned Russia's aggression, refused to recognize Crimea's incorporation into Russia, and hoped that the United States and Europe would help it safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. After Zelensky took office as president, he generally continued his former diplomatic direction. Since then, the conflict with Russia has become increasingly fierce.
3. Social situation and customs in Ukraine.
1. [Capital and Major Cities] The capital Kiev is located on the bank of the Dnieper River. It is the birthplace of the country's culture and the world's beauty capital. It is known as the "Mother of the City of Ross", and it is the oldest city established by the Eastern Slavs.In the Tsarist era and the Soviet era , Kiev was an important town on the Russian border and its strategic position was important. Napoleon once said: "Occupy Kiev is equivalent to seizing Russia's feet."
The buildings in Donetsk City are full of green plants and are extremely elegant, so they have a very romantic name - "City of Millions of Roses". Now the tension here is no longer related to romance. Khrushchev came to the city with his father at the age of 14 (1908), and his political career began here.
Kharkov city is Ukraine's second largest city and an important industrial center in the country. It was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from January 1920 to June 1934.
Odessa City is an important port city in Ukraine. The reason why
focuses on these cities is that there are about 8,000 Chinese in Ukraine, mainly concentrated in the above cities .
【Language】 The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian. Due to historical reasons, Russian is still widely used in Ukraine, especially in the eastern region. In 2014, the parliament passed a bill to abolish the official language status of Russian language, which attracted strong opposition from Russian-speaking residents in the country and exacerbated the racial conflict.
Since January 2020, Ukraine has stipulated that the service industry has been completely switched to Ukrainian and prohibited from using Russian. Starting from January 16, 2022, relevant legal provisions on the use of language by Ukraine's national print media will begin to be implemented. Newspapers, magazines, and even crossword books will only be published in Ukrainian language. The latest law stipulates that from July 16, 2022, those communicating with customers in Russian in the service industry will be fined up to 11,900 hryvn (approximately RMB 2,760). The Ukrainian Constitutional Court approved a law in February 2021 that prohibits the broadcast of Russian films and TV programs on state television stations.
Kiev Sophia Cathedral
2, [Topographic Landform] Most parts of Ukraine belong to Eastern European plains . The largest mountain range is the Carpathian Mountains in the west, the highest peak, Gorvira Peak, with an altitude of 2061 meters.
3, [Resources] Ukraine has rich mineral resources, mainly including coal, iron, manganese, and oil and natural gas resources are relatively scarce.
Ukraine is rich in agricultural resources, and black soil area accounts for 27% of the total black soil in the world. The agricultural land area accounts for 55.5% of the national land area, and the forest land area accounts for 17.6% of the national land area. Ukraine is the world's third largest grain exporter and has the reputation of "European granary".
Ukraine has sufficient water resources and many rivers and lakes are located in the territory. The longest is the Dnieper River, which flows through Ukraine for 981 kilometers in length.
4. [State System Political System] Ukraine implements a Western-style political system, and the president represents the highest head of state; the Supreme Lada (Parliament) is the legislative body; the government is the executive body, and is responsible to the president.
implements multi-party system . As of January 1, 2020, there were 349 registered political parties, but only about 30 were more active.
5, [Economy] Ukraine per capita GDP is only US$3,200, while China has exceeded US$10,000, and Ukraine is less than 1/3 of China. Ukraine has an average income of more than 2,000 yuan, making it the poorest country in Europe. After After 2020, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, Ukraine's economy has been hit hard. The situation in is now chaotic, which is even worse. The main factors that restrict Ukraine's economic growth are: First, frequent government changes; Second, the eastern conflict drags down; Third, the economic structure is single; Fourth, the business environment is poor and investment is weak.
6, [People's Life] The Ukrainian currency is hryvnia, 1 USD ≈26.65 hryvnia, and 1 RMB to 4 hryvnia .
Ukraine's prices are generally very low. You can drink a cup of coffee for 2 yuan, a pound of beef is 15 yuan, Kiev City average price is US$926/square meter, and the average selling price of land is US$1,410/100 square meters.
7, [Education and Technology] There are two national education departments in Ukraine: Ministry of Education and Science and Technology. Ukraine has a high penetration rate of higher education, with nearly a thousand universities. Ukraine is a major science and technology power second only to Russia among the former Soviet countries. Its aerospace, shipbuilding, machinery manufacturing, , the development and production of new materials, and welding technology are at an advanced level in the world. , which is widely known in China, was made in Ukraine. After China's transformation, it was named Liaoning , becoming China's first aircraft carrier .
8. [Ukrainian Beauty] In the Chinese impression, there are many Ukrainian beauties, with blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, bulging front and long legs, which will definitely feast your eyes.
The reasons why there are many beautiful women in Ukraine are said to be the following reasons:
First, the ratio of men and women is unbalanced, and there are more women than men. Ukraine's ratio of men and women is 0.86:1.
Second, Ukrainian women are tall and rank in the top ten in the world (about 170cm).
Third, Ukrainian women like to dress up when they are very young. "There are no ugly women, only lazy women." What's more, Ukrainian women are beautiful in nature, and Ukrainian women after dressing up are even more beautiful.
Fourth, Ukrainian women are keen on being models because they have a high income from being models, and do not require much skill and physical strength, and they make money quickly. After becoming a model, they improved their temperament.
Chinese men envy Ukrainian men for being blessed, but don’t be fascinated by beauty. These items should be considered:
First, Ukrainian women love to smoke.
Second, Ukrainian beauties like to drink.
Third, Ukrainian beauties have a lot of hair and strong body odor in summer. They have to spray a lot of perfume to cover up.
poured cold water on the man who wanted to find a wife in Ukraine. According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, Ukraine's population is gradually decreasing. On the one hand, there is a certain demand for foreign labor, especially for professional and technical talents that cannot be provided by its local government. But on the other hand, Ukraine's unemployment rate remains high, and its average wage level is low, making it limited in attractiveness to foreign labor. The situation is now chaotic, and it’s hard to find a job if you want to find a wife!
In addition, according to the Ukrainian Resident Employment Law, if an enterprise uses foreign labor without the permission of the state employment department, each person employed will be fined 50 times the minimum income of the residents by the state employment department.
9. [Social Customs] If you travel to Ukraine, it is necessary to understand their customs:
After the old man dies, the clergy will preside over the funeral ceremony and a coffin is generally burial.
Most Ukrainians taboo 13 and Friday.
Most Ukrainians like blue and yellow and are also interested in red and white. They taboo black and believe that black is the color of death.
It is impolite to say hello with your left hand, and it is a friendly expression to use your right hand.
likes to give flowers, but special attention should be paid to the number of flowers. Singular numbers are appropriate. Even numbers are taboo (only used in funerals and other occasions), and fake flowers are not suitable. doesn't like chrysanthemums.
Most residents love dogs very much.
generally requires a tip (about 5%-15% of the fee) when dining and accommodation in Ukraine.
10, [Eating Habits] Ukrainian dietary habits are roughly the same as those in Eastern European countries, mainly bread, milk, potatoes, beef, pork and dairy products , "Ukrainian red vegetable soup", "Kiev meat patties", "capital salad" and "fruit dumplings" are all world-famous Ukrainian delicacies. drinks include gawas , tea, coffee, etc. The wine is mainly vodka, wine, and beer. China's black tea, Pu'er , Tieguanyin , etc. are becoming more and more marketable.
Ukrainians pay great attention to the use of tableware, and at the same time pay great attention to dining etiquette, avoid fingering, speaking loudly, and tapping dishes with knife and fork. In addition, everyone needs to toast at a banquet, and the third glass of wine is specially dedicated to wishing women.
Ukrainian traditional snack
11, [Religious customs] mainly believes in Orthodox and Catholicism.
12. [Dressing Customs] Traditional clothing, Ukrainian women mostly wear light-colored shirts, girls tie ribbons or flower headscarves, and wore flower crowns made of flowers and branches during festivals; married women wear hair caps or flower headscarves. Ukrainian men wear shirts and looser pants.
13. [Etiquette and Customs] Ukrainians have different personalities than Russians of the same species and origin. Ukrainians are elegant, while fighting nations Russians are fierce. Reflected in the individual combat capabilities, I guess the Ukrainians will be at a disadvantage.
According to the description of the Chinese ambassador to Ukraine, Ukrainians have a very elegant demeanor. When getting on and off the bus and getting on and off the plane, men should let the ladies go first, husband holds his wife, and lovers like to hold hands. In some places, children should bow to greet their elders when they see their elders. Adults are used to squatting down to talk to their children, and adults try their best to avoid quarrels or losing their composure in front of their children. In Ukraine, when strangers meet, they usually call them lady or gentleman, but only their real name and father name, which makes them seem intimate; many Ukrainians have the same name arrangement as Russians. Handshakes and hugs are the most common greetings for local residents when they meet. If the other party is a lady, wait until the lady reaches out first before you shake hands with her.
Ukrainian wine culture is quite particular. When drinking the third cup, men should toast to the ladies. Interestingly, the men must stand up and the ladies must sit, but drink it all.
14. [Marriage Customs] Excerpted on the Internet on , I don’t know whether it is true or false:
First, the man wants to wash his mother-in-law’s feet before marrying his wife. Second, Ukrainian weddings are usually held in the church first. On the way to the church, the girls' girlfriends cried and said goodbye.
15. [Residence Customs] Most of the Ukrainians’ housing were built in the original Soviet period. Because they taboo even numbers, the highest floors of buildings are mostly 5, 7, and 9. After independence, some high-rise residential buildings with more than 10 floors were built. In addition to owning a house in the city, almost every family has their own villa in the suburbs. Most of these villas are surrounded by small courtyards made of wooden fences, and some fruit trees, vegetables and flowers are planted in the courtyard. From this point of view, Ukrainians are under little pressure to buy a house.
According to Ukraine's "Regulations on Foreign Investment to Obtain Land Ownership and Use Rights", Ukraine allows foreign citizens and non-resident legal persons to obtain real estate in Ukraine, but the following conditions must be met: Ukraine does not allow foreign citizens and enterprises to purchase agricultural land; foreigners and stateless persons must provide a passport and a proof of legal stay in Ukraine when applying for ownership; purchasing real estate in Ukraine must also obtain the consent of the other spouse.
16. [Transportation] Almost every Ukrainian family has a private car. As long as you reach out to "kill" on the side of the road, any private car can act as a taxi. Don't worry about the traffic police "checking the black car". As long as the price is negotiated, you can take you to the destination . Due to insufficient funds and other reasons, more than 90% of Ukraine's highways in the country need to be renovated or renovated, and has always been one of the countries with the worst safety conditions in Europe.
Ukraine's railway density not only ranks first among CIS countries, but also ranks among the top in Europe. There are 6 railway trunk lines in the country, and 3 international railway transportation corridors pass through Ukraine and are connected to neighboring countries. There are three subway lines in Kiev.
Ukraine is the main transit country for Russia to transport natural gas to the EU. The natural gas pipeline is connected to all neighboring countries. The total length of the pipeline is 37,600 kilometers, ranking second in Europe. As mentioned earlier, Ukraine Oil and natural gas resources are relatively scarce , , but Ukraine did not make good use of this condition.
Ukrainian Bridge
17. [Foreign Relations] Uzbek regards the United States and the West as a diplomatic priority and promotes the process of joining the franchise and joining the contract. In February 2019, Ukrainian parliament passed a constitutional amendment, writing "joining the contract" into the Constitution. In June 2020, Ukraine received NATO's opportunity to enhance its status as a partner country.
According to data from the Ukrainian National Statistical Agency, since 2019, China has become Ukraine's largest trading partner for the first time. China is Ukraine's largest commodity export market and Ukraine's largest source of imports.
18. [Public Security] Ukraine's social security is not optimistic. Ukraine allows legal possession of guns, and gun owners must apply for a special license at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
19, [Tourism] The best time to travel in Ukraine is from the end of April to the beginning of June. Ukraine also has an love tunnel . The trees beside the track are lush and leaves are formed, forming a green arch over the track, becoming a place for couples to make love.
20, [Others] 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred in Ukraine, which is the biggest disaster in the history of human nuclear power. The energy released is more than 400 times that of Hiroshima atomic bomb, and it is still deserted here like a ghost city.
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