Ukraine: Flag and Facts
Ukraine's flag has two equal horizontal stripes, blue on top and yellow on the bottom.
- Capital
- Kyiv
- Region
- Eastern Europe
- Population
- 36 million (2024)
- Languages
- Ukrainian
- Currency
- Ukrainian hryvnia
- Area
- 603,500 km² (233,013 sq mi)
- People
- Ukrainian
- Calling code
- +380
- Highest point
- Hora Hoverla 2,061 m
- Independence
- 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
- National symbols
- tryzub (trident), sunflower
About Ukraine
Kyivan Rus, the first eastern Slavic state, was centered here and was the biggest and strongest power in all of Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries. Feuds and Mongol attacks weakened it, and it was later absorbed by Lithuania and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Cossack Hetmanate rose in the mid-17th century and stayed self-governing for more than 100 years before the Russian Empire took most of the land.
A short period of independence followed the fall of czarist Russia in 1917. Under Soviet rule, two famines killed over eight million people. In 1986 the Chernobyl power station suffered the worst nuclear disaster in history. Independence came on 24 August 1991. Fertile steppes and plateaus cover most of the country, with the Carpathians in the west. Kyiv, the capital, has about 3 million residents.
Did you know?
- The sunflower and the tryzub, a trident, are Ukraine's national symbols.
- Hora Hoverla, the highest point, reaches 2,061 meters.
- Farm output earned Ukraine the old nickname of the region's bread basket.
Want to test yourself? The random flag generator has a quiz mode, and the full flags of the world page shows every flag at once.
Questions about Ukraine
What do the colors of the Ukrainian flag mean?
They come from medieval heraldry, though many say they show golden grain fields beneath a blue sky.
What currency does Ukraine use?
The hryvnia, written with the ₴ sign.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.