An Indo-European language and a member of the East Slavonic group of languages, spoken by c. 50 million people, chiefly in Ukraine, where it is the official language, as well as in some larger communities in nearby parts of Rumania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Belarus and Russia. A substantial number of immigrant speakers can be found in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.
Ukrainian derives from the Slavonic languages spoken in the early Middle Ages in the area between the Black Sea and the Baltic. The earliest traces of the language date from the 12th century, while the modern literary language did not emerge until the late 18th century. There are three main dialects: Northern, South-Western and South-Eastern. Modern standard Ukrainian is based on the Middle Dnepr dialect and Kyiv (Kiev) usage.
CLASSIFICATION = Indo-European family, SCRIPT = Cyrillic
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