Very interesting facts about Ukraine that you haven’t probably known before.
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1. Most words in the Ukrainian language starts with the letter “п”. The most frequently used letter of the Ukrainian alphabet – “о”. The letters “ф” and “г” are used least often.
2. George Gershwin wrote one of the world’s most famous songs, “Summertime”, after being inspired by an old Ukrainian lullaby called “Sleep Is Tiptoeing About” performed by the Ukrainian National Chorus.
3. The third most visited McDonald’s in the world is located in Kiev, near the train station. This restaurant has always been in the top five most crowded McDonald’s in the world. Last year, it served 2.283.399 visitors.
4. Arsenalnaya Metro Station located in Kiev is the deepest in the world (105 meters). The station was built in 1960, very close to the House of Parliament. According to some reports, the tunnels near Arsenalnaya house secret shelters built specially for the political elite.
5. Ukrainians are the fifth most-drinking nation in the world. Only Moldavians, Russians, Hungarians and Czechs are ahead of them. An average Ukrainian older than 15 drinks 15.6 liters of alcohol a year (it’s a liter more than an Irishman and almost two liters more than a Norwegian).
6. The Ukrainian national anthem consists of only six lines (four in a verse and two in a chorus). The remaining verses of the anthem are considered politically incorrect. (“We’ll stand, brothers, in bloody battle, from the Syan to the Don” implies a claim to the territories of Russia and Poland).
7. In Europe, the police solve 30-40% of crimes, in Ukraine – 90%. This unnaturally good statistics is the result of the reluctance of the Ukrainian policemen to record “hopeless” cases (like thefts of mobile phones) and knock confessions out of suspects.
8. Ukraine has the world’s largest reserves of manganese ore – 2.3 billion tons or about 11% of all deposits of the world.
9. Ukrainians invented a plane with the largest freight-carrying capacity in the world – the An-225 “Mriya”. Originally, it was designed for spacecraft transportation. Now it specializes in freight haulage.
10. In 1710, Ukrainian Hetman Pylyp Orlyk introduced “Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhian Host”, at that time a super-progressive document which meant to separate powers into three branches and regulate the rights and responsibilities of the government and citizens. Some researchers believe that this document is one of the world’s first constitutions.
11. One of the most famous Christmas songs “Schedrik” (a folk song written by a Ukrainian composer, Mykola Leontovich) is known to the rest of the world as “Carol of the Bells” or “Ring Christmas Bells”.
12. Ukraine, on its own initiative, refused the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. At the moment of the declaration of independence, Ukraine had over a thousand nuclear warheads and the third largest nuclear potential after Russia and America. The warheads and missiles were given to Russia, silos were destroyed. In response, Ukraine received the money for disarmament, plus security guarantees from the nuclear powers.
13. The monuments to a famous Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, are set in 1200 places around the world. However, most of them are located in western Ukraine.
14. Following the example of the main hero of a famous folk tale “Levsha” (The Lefthander) by N. Leskov, Ukrainian Nikolai Syadristy decided to shoe a flea. The flea can be seen in the Kiev Museum of Miniatures.
15. In Ukraine, unlike the rest of the world, batteries are not recycled separately. Even in spite of the fact that they contain toxic elements which heavily pollute water and soil.
16. At the moment of the declaration of independence, Ukraine was inhabited by 19.4 million pigs, today there are only 8.3 million. Despite its reputation of a major bacon eater, an average Ukrainian eats only 18 kg of pork a year. This is three times less than a typical German eats.
17. A Ukrainian powerlifter, Dmitry Khaladji, is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the author of more than two dozen records. One of them is called “The Devil’s Forge”. He lies on a bed of nails and is covered with 700-kg plates which are broken with sledgehammers.
18. Ukrainian “Yuzhmash” (Dnepropetrovsk) produces the most environmentally friendly launch vehicles in the world.
19. The oldest map known to scientists, as well as the most ancient settlement of Homo Sapiens were found in Ukraine, in the village of Mezhireche. They are 14.5 – 15 thousand years old. The map is cut out of the bones of a mammoth. The settlement is made of the same material.
20. The official Guinness world record: Ukrainians made the world’s largest glass of champagne – 56.25 liters. How to drink champagne from this glass is unclear, but it’s still great.
via berloga.net
Buran <3
And Ukrainian men are happy to live with the worlds most beautiful women.
Sure they are happy to live with their women but they are also very happy to abandon them, sometimes during pregnancy or with small child. Take a look at divorce rates in Ukraine or how many single-parent families exist…it’s alarming fact number 21.
Don’t be jealous. Many countries have that single parent problem, or worse. Ukrainian women are simply beautiful, and you can’t change that.
Visit Hungary…
Appears to be a very interesting region.
That is a very pretty young lady in the first picture.
Are all Ukrainian women as pretty as this one?
I would love to visit Russia and take a ride on the Trans Siberian Railroad and visit Kamchatka and the Kola peninsular.
I live in the state of South Carolina in the USA.
Thank you for the pictorial essays.
@Kalimba: I almost agree. I dated a girl from Dnepropetrovsk. She was gorgeous, but too skinny. Then I dated a Turkish girl, and she was perfect.
Sibel Kekilly?
1st pic woman is very pleasant-looking.
Nice hair.
A lot of missleading info. An-225 “Mriya” was not “invented” by Ukrainians. The Antonov An-225 was designed for Soviet space program. Oleg Antonov was born in Russia near Moscow. Antonov Design Bureau was founded by Soviets not by Ukrainians.
What’s a Soviet??? Russians and Ukrainians are ethnic group. Soviets were citizens of the USSR, all ~146 ethnic groups. Just like there’s no such thing as a British ethnicity, though there is an English ethnicity, Irish, Welsh and Scottish.
The matter of fact is that the An-225 “Mriya” was not Ukrainian “invention” nor financed by Ukranians. It was product of Soviet engineers and financed by the Soviet govenment in Moscow. The Antonov Design Bureau inherited by independent Ukraine.
I think what he means that the Mirya dates back to Soviet times, not modern Ukraine.
Absolutely wrong! Antonov Construction bureau is located in Kiev as Antonov aircraft factory and 410 aircraft repair factory. Almost every engineer, working on this plant was ukrainian, “Mriya” is our pride. No one in the world can’t repair Antonov aircrafts as good as we do. And there is no other factories for such type of aircrafts all around the world. Yes it was ukrainian tribute to airspace program “Energiya-Buran”. But if you know-Russian part of it “Buran” itself is destroyed and what is left is sold to chinese by russian corrupted officials. Russians, actually destroyed and plundered Baykonur itself. No one has a deal to it’s own people and humanity in general in that country now. It’s reign of money there. And all, what is left of such beautiful and mighty country now rot unclaimed. All their concerns now is to get more money to corrupted pockets by selling oil. We are not like them. And i don’t want to be compared with russians so us i don’t want somebody ton assign merits of Ukraine to Russia and USSR. We are just to separate nations. You should realize that Ukraine was one of the biggest republics in the USSR, we had our own powers and resources to make such a beautiful airplane.And maybe you will be surprised, but we still do.
Champagne comes only from French region of Champagne, therefore, Ukrainians made the world’s largest glass of sparkling wine NOT Champagne!
They could have filled the glass with champagne from the region of Champagne, making it the world’s largest glass of champagne.
The Champagne region has the monopoly on producing Champagne, not on producing Champagne glasses. So it still is the largest Champagne glass in the world.
They made the biggest champagne glass in the world – nothing wrong with that.
Also, America can make sparkling wine and call it ‘champagne’, as they are not bound by legislation brought in in the EU.
The Ukrainian lullaby is beautiful. I had never heard that’s where he got Summertime before, that’s really cool. Excellent Post, Thanks for sharing.
fact 21: one of their most-loved folk heros is stepan bandera
Only in the west. He is hated in the east as a nazi collaborator.
you mean in the western part of ukraine?
this could be true, I’ve only travelled mostly in the west of the country 5 years ago, and wherever I went, I could admire lots of *newly* built bandera-memorials
Yes, in the western part commonly known as Galicia. He is admired a lot there, but nowhere else. Sadly monuments to Galician nazis are built by the dozen with funds that western provinces receive from Kiev (their budgets are heavily subsidized at the expense of provinces in the east).
Erm… you are seeing Nazis everywhere, which may very well be the symptom of a progressive paranoid schizophrenia, or simply long-term alcohol poisoning – some see pink elephants, others white mice, you may be seeing Nazis. Anyway, it is high time to see a doctor, maybe it is not too late yet.
I live in Kiev and i hate those, who tells he is a hero. He helped nazis and was just a bandit.
I luv Kiev escort girls!
Pic 5 comment. Need to mention that Moldovans consume mostly wine, not hard liquor like Russians and Polish and Ukies.
West Ukraine differs from East Ukraine with heavy Polish and Austrian influences due to being assimilated into USSR in 1940.
Her name is Anna Belova.
9. Ukrainians invented a plane with the largest freight-carrying capacity in the world – the An-225 “Mriya”.
The plane was invented during the soviet days. The project did not move very far after the independence.
10. In 1710, Ukrainian Hetman Pylyp Orlyk introduced “Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhian Host”, at that time a super-progressive document which meant to separate powers into three branches and regulate the rights and responsibilities of the government and citizens. Some researchers believe that this document is one of the world’s first constitutions.
These “researchers” usually come from the ukrainian diaspora in Canada
This “constitution” was written by a bunch of cossacks in exile (they betrayed Peter the Great and sided with king Charles XII of Sweden, and had to flee after they lost the war). According to this “progressive document” the head of Ukraine was supposed to be the King of Sweden.
Also “Pylyp” signed his name as “Philip”, the more “ukrainian” name Pylyp was given to him by the ukrainian nationalists centuries later.
How about this? Trotsky, Zinoviev, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Chernenko were all born in Ukraine (or Ukrainian S.S.R.).
and Mila Kunis!
And Leonard Nimoy, Jack Palance, Traci Lords (Nora Kuzma) and Mila Jovovich!
Nora’s father was from Ukraine.Nora was born in Steubenville Ohio(USA).
Most would say, theres is more jewish blood in this list, then musicians in odessa…
As a Latin American, I have never understood the European problem with jewish people.
They seem just to envy small population of jewish who could get in high position, cause they invasted lot of money in education.
Mrya was a Soviet intervention with both etnic Russians and Ukraines working on it. You can name everything invented after independence as “Ukrainian” (i can´t remember anything but “Femen”) if you want but before all these republics was very intertwined and certainly Russia & Ukraine…
I saw a dicovery program about huge planes. Every 15 seconds they (the English) where banging in that ´Mrya was a Ukraine intervention who miraculously, i guess, turned up in a vacuum place were Oleg Antonov and Soviet never existed…
And you forgot to mention truly beautiful and stunning Ukrainian girls!
One of the most beautiful in the world (basically as everywhere in Eastern Europe and old Soviet countries). It was one of my best trip to Ukraine few years ago and when I had to go home, I feel tearful living my “ordinary” life in Western Europe, and miss this simple life, great country and good people..
No, it is simply the result of the “effective market economy” in action
Why be jealous? Any person from one country can marry a person from another.My wife was born in the Ukraine and I am American and no she is not a mail order bride.I met her in Germany she was going to college in Germany and I was in the military we have been married for 12 years.What you say is true about single parent problems I would bet that there is a higher ratio in the US.
An-225 is not Ukrainian. it’s Soviet, made mostly by Russian scientists. Well, study aerodynamics, buddies!
You didn’t mentioned that russians invented air, wheel, soil, sun, moon and even night and day were invented by russians. Due to the lack of education you, russians, become a black people of Alabama. Ignorant and superselfish.
When Pylyp Orlyk wrote his “constitution” he was already living in exile in France, so its significance is purely symbolic. Paris suburbs of Orly and its namesake airport are named after Orlyk.
@FoOnt
Kak hoteli by vy vashe razrushenie? Uzhasayushchyee vsyeobshchyee, nikakaya chetvert, dannaya vtorzhenie. Ili yedinstvennoe yadernoe napadenie. Vse s lyubovyu ot teh teh zhe samyh nyeosvedomlennyh, egoistichnyh russkih vysshego kachestva.
Always good to hear & learn positive stuff from random nations!