Ukraine, which means "frontier land" in Russian, can be translated as "frontier", "frontier" or "frontier". However, the treasure land of Ukraine is not a remote place, but the richest land in the whole of Eastern Europe. Since ancient times, Ukraine has been a place of contention, which shows the importance of its geographical location. So what are the specialties of Ukraine in terms of its geographical location?
First of all, Ukraine is located in the lower reaches of the Dnieper River, on the coast of the Black Sea, and has been the main passage to the sea in Eastern Europe since ancient times. The Dnieper is the second largest river in Eastern Europe, after the Volga, but its position in the history of Rus' is far superior to that of the Volga. The Dnieper River is 2,200 km long and stretches almost as far as the plains of Eastern Europe. Historically, the Dnieper was the Baltic-Black Sea trade route.
In the Middle Ages, the most economically developed areas in Europe were the North Sea-Baltic Sea area and the Italy-Byzantium area, and the Dnieper River was the great passage and corridor of the two major business circles. Many Baltic goods passed through the Dnieper into the Black Sea and were then transported to Byzantium. Thus, the Slavic civilization of the Eastern European Plain was influenced by both Baltic and Byzantine cultures.
To add, southwest ukraine is close to the Danube, the largest river in Western Europe. Through the Danube, Goods from Byzantium and the Black Sea could be transported to the interior of Western Europe. The Danube and Rhine rivers are now intermodal, forming the largest water transport network in Western Europe.
In 862, the Rus' from the Baltic Sea conquered the nomadic and forest peoples along the Dnieper Plain and established the Rurik dynasty, the first dynasty in Russian history. The princes of the Rurik dynasty shipped the levy tribute to Byzantium for trade, which made a lot of profits. In 882, the Rurik dynasty moved its capital from Novgorod to Kiev in order to strengthen its ties with Byzantium. Later people referred to the Rurik dynasty as "Kievan Rus'" (Kievan Rus').
Map of Kievan Rus'
After the relocation of the capital to Kiev, the area around Ukraine became the forefront of exchanges between the Rus' nation and Byzantium, and also a front for absorbing Eastern Roman civilization. Kiev became the cultural and religious center of the whole of Rus'.
This is ukraine from the perspective of north-south business exchanges. From the perspective of the East and the West, Ukraine is located on the dark north shore, which is a necessary place for the ancient Eastern nomads to move west to Europe, and the historical Scythians, Huns, Rourans, Turks, Mongols, etc. have all entered Central Europe from here.
Since Ukraine is the southernmost land in Eastern Europe, it has become a corridor for the migration of peoples from east to west. Therefore, we can say that Ukraine is the "crossroads" of Europe, the core region of Europe.
Because of ukraine's very important geographical location, it has become a region of contention among European powers. When the Mongols invaded, they occupied the coastal areas of Ukraine and came under the direct jurisdiction of the Golden Horde, which after the collapse of the Crimean Khanate. The interior of Ukraine, on the other hand, belongs to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the early modern period, the Russian Empire competed with Poland-Lithuania, the Crimean Khanate, and the Turkish Empire in Ukraine.
Peter the Great launched a war against Crimea in order to open up the outlet of the Black Sea, which ended in failure. After Catherine came to power, she established the Black Sea Fleet, annexed the Crimean Khanate, and acquired the Black Sea coastal region of Ukraine. Through the partition of Poland three more times, the interior of Ukraine was acquired. From the Tsarist era to the Soviet era, Poland and Russia fought for Ukraine until the demise of Poland in 1939.
Ukraine's mineral resources are also very rich, with more than 4,000 minerals here, of which iron ore reserves are 27.5 billion tons, accounting for half of the total Production of the Soviet Union in the Soviet era. Manganese ore reserves exceed 2.1 billion tons, accounting for three-quarters of the total Production of the Soviet Union in the Soviet era. Coal reserves of 45 billion tons, including the world-famous Lviv-Warren coalfield in the Donbass region of Wudong Province.
Given Ukraine's mineral abundance, the Soviets built the area into a base for heavy industry as well as a military industrial base. At the end of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had 3594 military enterprises, 3 million employees, production categories covering rockets, large transport aircraft, military ships, armored vehicles and other land, sea and air equipment, and most of its product performance is still in the forefront of the world or even the top level. It produced 30 percent of soviet tanks, 25 percent of warships, and one-third of aviation products.
Because Ukraine is at the southernmost tip of the Eastern European Plain, the climate in Ukraine is relatively warm. Ukraine has a temperate oceanic climate in the west, a mediterranean climate close to subtropical in the south, and a continental climate in the west. The climate is warm, which is very suitable for the growth of crops such as wheat. The land of Ukraine is very fertile and is one of the three black lands in the world. Coupled with the large number of rivers in Ukraine, the rainfall is relatively abundant. These conditions have made Ukraine the "granary of Europe", and Ukraine's grain export volume ranks third in the world.
In the Tsarist era, the russian peasants lived in misery, but the Ukrainian nobles and peasants lived relatively well. During the Soviet era, Stalin promoted the collectivization of agriculture, and the grain of Ukraine provided a huge food guarantee for the industrialization of the country. But a large number of Ukrainian peasants lost their land, and their passive resistance caused the great famine of the 30s. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, due to the shortage of materials, the army chose to go south to Ukraine for supply and recuperation, and the Ukrainians actually welcomed it.
From the above, it can be seen that Ukraine can really be regarded as a "treasure land". In terms of transportation, it is a necessary place for Eastern Europe to pass through the Mediterranean Sea, and it is also a bridge for communication between east and west. The terrain is flat and the climate is warm, making it the "granary" of Europe; it is rich in minerals and is the base of heavy industry and the center of military industry in the Soviet Union. If Ukraine can give full play to these advantages, it will be able to become the economic center of the entire Eastern European region and join the ranks of developed countries.
However, after independence, Ukraine failed to maintain these advantages, and eventually gradually became one of the least developed countries in Europe, and today Ukraine has a per capita GDP of only $3700, the second lowest in Europe. It is clear that Ukraine has not found its own path to development. Ukraine's emergence as one of the least developed countries in Europe, holding a cornucopia, is also worth reflecting on.