Wiki, in its denial piece, has actually nicely affirmed what I’ve been banging on about since returning … namely that it’s the Ukraine … not without the article … plus it is very important that it be called that, something so-called big pundits constantly get wrong.
“The name of Ukraine is frequently interpreted as coming from the old Slavic term for ‘borderland’ as is the word krajina.”
In Slavic languages, it means the edge, the outer limits, meaning of Russia. Wiki of course, adopting the globopsycho anti-Russian ideology, is in denial over the “the”:
“Another interpretation is that the name of Ukraine means “region” or “country.”
Bollox … the rendering of the transliterated u-kra-ina is “u”, meaning “at”, followed by “kra”, meaning “the edge”, followed by the loose translation “country” or “region”. And therein lie The Troubles for that tract of land.
Globopsycho latched onto the resentment and offered to “help”, plus Britain in particular has been anti-Russia stretching right back past Petra 1. Thus, in 2014, the US and UK, through NATO and the CIA, instigated and facilitated the coup d’etat and installed, appropriately, a clown.
The rest of that text:
“In the English-speaking world during most of the 20th century, Ukraine (whether independent or not) was referred to as “the Ukraine”. This is because the word ukraina means ‘borderland’ so the definite article would be natural in the English language; this is similar to Nederlanden, which means ‘low lands’ and is rendered in English as “the Netherlands”.
However, since Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991, this usage has become politicised and is now rarer, and style guides advise against its use. US ambassador William Taylor said that using “the Ukraine” implies disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty. The official Ukrainian position is that “the Ukraine” is both grammatically and politically incorrect.”
Meaning technically and etymologically correct of course, the position taken by “unherdables”.
“Official” above means the clown world/Zelensky/CIA/NATO position. Just as the autonomous republic I was living in retained its own language and traditions within the Russian Federation, so did the Ukraine and the Krim, or Crimea. Enter globopsycho and the rest you know.
Writers should perhaps be aware of this … that they are making a quite political statement by failing to include the definite article in the Ukraine. Not so much a Russian distinction but a Slavic countries/language distinction.
The Lebanon used to be common. I think I remember The Gambia. Where else? Ghana replaced The Gold Coast.