re: #137 HappyWarrior

Never understood why Ukraine sometimes is called “The Ukraine.” Wish Sergey were around. I think he’d probably know.

Greetings from the De Young museum. “Ukraina” is a common noun meaning “border region,” so it was called “the Ukraine” to represent a specific one (as I say “the bay” to mean the one I live near). When it became an independent nation, they didn’t want the article used in naming it.