Much of the world's attention was focused on Ukraine in late April and early May, following the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It was the latest in the republic's history of catastrophies, which include a devastating famine in 1933 and repeated foreign conquests.

Ukraine is traditionally referred to as the Soviet Union's "Breadbasket," known for its extremely fertile "black earth" and wheat production. It also has huge quantities of coal and iron, as well as large reserves of oil, natural gas and various minerals.

Its population numbers approximately 50 million people, of which 2.3 million live in the capital, Kiev. Ukraine is bordered on the south by the Black Sea; on the west and southwest by Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania; and on the north and northeast by Byelorussia and Russia. It covers more than 230,000 square miles.

Ukrainians are renowned for being fiercely nationalistic. During the past three centuries, the Russian empire, Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia have ruled all or part of Ukraine with an iron fist. In 1933, a famine, killing an estimated seven million Ukrainian villagers, took place under Stalin's control.

The United States numbers approximately 1 million Ukrainian immigrants, with the heaviest concentration in New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Philadelphia and Chicago. Canada's Ukrainian community, which is about the same size as the United States', wields much greater power in that nation of under 30 million people.