Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
, originally used in
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
, as one of several terms for
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
. It is also used to refer to the
East Slavic and
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
regions of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
and the
Kingdom of Poland, and later the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, corresponding to the territories of modern
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, and some of western
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
Historically, the term was used to refer to all the territories of the East Slavs.
The
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772–1918), corresponding to parts of
Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...
, was referred to as ''Ruthenia'' and its people as ''
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
''.
As a result of a
Ukrainian national identity gradually dominating over much of present-day Ukraine in the 19th and 20th centuries, the endonym ''
Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn l ...
'' is now mostly used among a minority of peoples on the territory of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
, including
Carpathian Ruthenia.
Etymology
The word ''Ruthenia'' originated as a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
designation of the region its people called
''Rus. During the Middle Ages, writers in English and other Western European languages applied the term to lands inhabited by
Eastern Slavs.
''Rusia'' or ''Ruthenia'' appears in the 1520 Latin treatise ''Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium, per Ioannem Boëmum, Aubanum, Teutonicum ex multis clarissimis rerum scriptoribus collecti'' by
Johann Boemus. In the chapter ''De Rusia sive Ruthenia, et recentibus Rusianorum moribus'' ("About Rus', or Ruthenia, and modern customs of the Rus'"), Boemus tells of a country extending from the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
to the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
and from the
Don River to the northern ocean. It is a source of
beeswax
Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...
, its
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s harbor many animals with valuable
fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
, and the capital city
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(''Moscovia''), named after the
Moskva River
The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through centra ...
(''Moscum amnem''), is 14 miles in circumference.
Danish diplomat
Jacob Ulfeldt, who traveled to Russia in 1578 to meet with
Tsar Ivan IV, titled his posthumously (1608) published memoir ''Hodoeporicon Ruthenicum''
("Voyage to Ruthenia").
Early Middle Ages
European manuscripts dating from the 11th century used the name ''Ruthenia'' to describe
Rus', the wider area occupied by the early Rus' (commonly referred to as ''Kievan Rus''). This term was also used to refer to the Slavs of the island of
Rügen
Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
or to other Baltic Slavs, whom 12th-century chroniclers portrayed as fierce pirate pagans—even though
Kievan Rus' had converted to Christianity by the 10th century:
Eupraxia, the daughter of ''Rutenorum rex''
Vsevolod I of Kiev, had married the Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV in 1089. After the devastating
Mongolian occupation of the main part of Ruthenia which began in the 13th century, western Ruthenian principalities became incorporated into the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
, after which the state became called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Ruthenia. The
Polish Kingdom also took the title King of Ruthenia when it annexed Galicia. These titles were merged when the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
was formed. A small part of Rus' (
Transcarpathia
Transcarpathia may refer to:
Place
* relative term, designating any region beyond the Carpathians (lat. ''trans-'' / beyond, over), depending on a point of observation
* Romanian Transcarpathia, designation for Romanian regions on the inner or ...
, now mainly a part of
Zakarpattia Oblast in present-day Ukraine), became subordinated to the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
in the 11th century. The Kings of Hungary continued using the title "King of Galicia and Lodomeria" until 1918.
Late Middle Ages
By the 15th century, the
Moscow principality had established its sovereignty over a large portion of Ruthenian territory and began to fight with Lithuania over the remaining Ruthenian lands. In 1547, the Moscow principality adopted the title of
The Great Principat of Moscow and Tsardom of the Whole Rus and claimed sovereignty over
"all the Rus'" — acts not recognized by its neighbour Poland. The Muscovy population was
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
and preferred to use the Greek transliteration ''Rossiya'' (Ῥωσία)
rather than the Latin "Ruthenia".
In the 14th century, the southern territories of Rus', including the principalities of
Galicia–Volhynia and
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, became part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
, which in 1384 united with
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in a union which became the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
in 1569. Due to their usage of the
Latin script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...
rather than the
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...
, they were usually denoted by the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
name ''Ruthenia''. Other spellings were also used in Latin,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and other languages during this period. Contemporaneously, the
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: ''Palatinatus russiae'', Polish: ''Województwo ruskie'', Ukrainian: ''Руське воєводство'', romanized: ''Ruske voievodstvo''), also called Rus’ voivodeship, was a voivodeship of the Crown of ...
was established in the territory of
Galicia-Volhynia and existed until the 18th century.
These southern territories include:
*
Galicia–Volhynia or the
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
, conventional_long_name = Principality of Galicia–VolhyniaKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
, common_name = Galicia–Volhynia
, status = Vassal state of the Golden Horde (from 1246)
, era = Middle Ages
, year_start = 1199
, year_end = 1349
, ...
( or ; or )
*
Galicia ( or ; )
*
White Ruthenia
White Ruthenia ( cu, Бѣла Роусь, Bela Rous'; be, Белая Русь, Biełaja Ruś; pl, Ruś Biała; russian: Белая Русь, Belaya Rus'; ukr, Біла Русь, Bila Rus') alternatively known as Russia Alba, White Rus' or W ...
, (eastern part of modern
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
; ; )
*
Black Ruthenia
Black Ruthenia ( la, Ruthenia Nigra), or Black Rus' ( be, Чорная Русь, translit=Čornaja Ruś; lt, Juodoji Rusia; pl, Ruś Czarna), is a historical region on the Upper Nemunas, including Novogrudok (Naugardukas), Grodno (Gardinas) a ...
(a western part of modern Belarus; )
* Galicia, or
Red Ruthenia, western
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and southeast Poland; ; )
*
Carpathian Ruthenia (; )
The
Russian Tsardom was officially called ''Velikoye Knyazhestvo Moskovskoye (Великое Княжество Московское),'' the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
, until 1547, although
Ivan III (1440–1505, ) had earlier borne the title "Great Tsar of All Russia".
Early modern period
During the early modern period, the term ''Ruthenia'' started to be mostly associated with the
Ruthenian lands of the Polish Crown and the
Cossack Hetmanate
The Cossack Hetmanate ( uk, Гетьманщина, Hetmanshchyna; or ''Cossack state''), officially the Zaporizhian Host or Army of Zaporizhia ( uk, Військо Запорозьке, Viisko Zaporozke, links=no; la, Exercitus Zaporoviensis) ...
.
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...
declared himself the ruler of ''the Ruthenian state'' to the Polish representative
Adam Kysil
Adam Kisiel also Adam Kysil, ( pl, Adam Kisiel ; 1580 or 1600-1653) was a Ruthenian nobleman, the Voivode of Kyiv (1649-1653) and castellan or voivode of Czernihów (1639-1646). Kisiel has become better known for his mediation during the Khmel ...
in February 1649.
The
Grand Principality of Ruthenia was the project name of the Cossack Hetmanate integrated into the
Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów, Republic of Three Nations) was a proposed European state in the 17th century that would have replaced the existing Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth although ...
.
Modern period
Ukraine
The use of the term ''Rus/Russia'' in the lands of Rus' survived longer as a name used by
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
for Ukraine. When the
Austrian monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
made the vassal state of
Galicia–Lodomeria into a province in 1772, Habsburg officials realized that the local
East Slavic people
The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Hud ...
were distinct from both
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
and
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
and still called themselves ''Rus.'' This was true until the empire fell in 1918.
In the 1880s through the first decade of the 20th century, the popularity of the
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
''Ukrainian'' spread, and the term ''Ukraine'' became a substitute for ''Malaya Rus among the Ukrainian population of the empire. In the course of time, the term ''Rus'' became restricted to western parts of present-day Ukraine (
Galicia/Halych,
Carpathian Ruthenia), an area where Ukrainian nationalism competed with
Galician Russophilia
Galician Russophilia ( uk, Галицьке русофільство) or Moscophiles ( uk, Москвофіли) were participants in a cultural and political movement largely in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (currently we ...
. By the early 20th century, the term ''Ukraine'' had mostly replaced ''Malorussia'' in those lands, and by the mid-1920s in the Ukrainian diaspora in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
as well.
''Rusyn'' (the Ruthenian) has been an official self-identification of the Rus' population in Poland (and also in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
). Until 1939, for many Ruthenians and Poles, the word ''Ukrainiec'' (Ukrainian) meant a person involved in or friendly to a nationalist movement.
Modern Ruthenia
![Subcarpathia Carpatho-Ukraine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Subcarpathia_Carpatho-Ukraine.svg)
After 1918, the name ''Ruthenia'' became narrowed to the area south of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
in the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, also called
Carpathian Ruthenia (, including the cities of
Mukachevo,
Uzhhorod, and
Prešov
Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn language, Rusyn and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros Cou ...
) and populated by
Carpatho-Ruthenians, a group of East Slavic highlanders. While Galician Ruthenians considered themselves Ukrainians, the Carpatho-Ruthenians were the last East Slavic people who kept the historical name (''Ruthen'' is a Latin form of the Slavic ''rusyn''). Today, the term ''
Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn l ...
'' is used to describe the ethnicity and language of
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
, who are not compelled to adopt the
Ukrainian national identity.
Carpathian Ruthenia ( hu, Kárpátalja, uk, Закарпаття, translit=Zakarpattia) became
part of the newly founded Hungarian Kingdom in 1000. In May 1919, it was incorporated with nominal autonomy into the provisional
Czechoslovak state
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
as ''Subcarpathian Rus. Since then, Ruthenian people have been divided into three orientations:
Russophiles, who saw Ruthenians as part of the Russian nation;
Ukrainophiles
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrain ...
, who like their Galician counterparts across the Carpathian Mountains considered Ruthenians part of the Ukrainian nation; and Ruthenophiles, who claimed that Carpatho-Ruthenians were a separate nation and who wanted to develop a native
Rusyn language
Rusyn (; rue, label=Rusyn language#Carpathian Rusyn, Carpathian Rusyn, русиньскый язык, translit=rusîn'skyj jazyk; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, руски язик, translit=ruski jazik),http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011Bapt ...
and culture.
In 1938, under the Nazi regime in Germany, there were calls in the German press for the independence of a greater Ukraine, which would include Ruthenia, parts of Hungary, the Polish Southeast including Lviv, the Crimea, and Ukraine, including Kyiv and Kharkiv. (These calls were described in the French and Spanish press as "troublemaking".)
On 15 March 1939, the Ukrainophile president of Carpatho-Ruthenia,
Avhustyn Voloshyn
The Rt Rev. Avgustyn Ivanovych Monsignor Voloshyn ( uk , Авґустин Волошин, Августин Волошин, cs, Augustin Monsignore Vološin, 17 March 1874 – 19 July 1945), also called Augustin Voloshyn, was a Carpatho-Ukrain ...
, declared its independence as
Carpatho-Ukraine. On the same day, regular troops of the Royal Hungarian Army occupied and annexed the region. In 1944 the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
occupied the
territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, and in 1945 it was annexed to the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
. Rusyns were not an officially recognized ethnic group in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, as the Soviet government considered them to be Ukrainian.
A Rusyn minority remained, after World War II, in eastern
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
(now
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
). According to critics, the Ruthenians rapidly became
Slovakized. In 1995 the Ruthenian written language became standardized.
Following
Ukrainian independence and dissolution of the Soviet Union (1990–91), the official position of the government and some Ukrainian politicians has been that the Rusyns are an integral part of the Ukrainian nation. Some of the population of
Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine have identified as Rusyn (or Boyko, Hutsul, Lemko etc) first and foremost; a subset of this second group has, nevertheless, considered Rusyns to be part of a broader Ukrainian national identity.
Ruthenium
The
Baltic German naturalist and chemist
Karl Ernst Claus, member of the
Russian Academy of Science, was born in 1796 in
Dorpat (Tartu), then in the
Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire, now in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. In 1844, he isolated the element
ruthenium from
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
ore found in the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
and named it after ''Ruthenia'', which was meant to be the Latin name for
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
Gallery
File:Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132) en.svg, Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132)
File:Korolivstvo Ruske 13-14 stolittia.png, Kingdom of Ruthenia (13th-14th century)
File:RON województwo ruskie map.svg, Ruthenian Voivoideship (14th-18th century)
File:Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów w roku 1658.png, Grand Principality of Ruthenia shown in dark yellow (1658 project)
File:Linguistic and political map of Eastern Europe, Casimir Delamarre, 1868.jpg, "ruthenian languages and people" mentioned in the linguistic and political map of Eastern Europe by Casimir Delamarre (1868)
File:Austria hungary 1911.jpg, 1911 map of Austro-Hungary showing ethnic Ruthenians in light-green in eastern Galicia
See also
*
Grand Principality of Ruthenia
*
Ruthenian Voivodeship
The Ruthenian Voivodeship (Latin: ''Palatinatus russiae'', Polish: ''Województwo ruskie'', Ukrainian: ''Руське воєводство'', romanized: ''Ruske voievodstvo''), also called Rus’ voivodeship, was a voivodeship of the Crown of ...
*
Names of Rusʹ, Russia and Ruthenia
*
Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów, Republic of Three Nations) was a proposed European state in the 17th century that would have replaced the existing Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth although ...
*
Kingdom of Ruthenia
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
*
Ruthenian (disambiguation)
Ruthenian or Ruthene may refer to:
Places
* Ruthenia, a name applied to various East Slavic inhabited lands
** White Ruthenia, an East Slavic historical region
** Black Ruthenia, an East Slavic historical region
** Red Ruthenia, an East Slavic ...
*
Ruthenian nobility
*
Polish National Government (January Uprising)
*
Lemkos
Notes
References
Sources
*
Norman Davies
Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at ...
, ''
Europe: A History''.
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1996.
*
*
External links
*
Why is the "Russia" White? - a book review of Ales Biely's ''Chronicle of Ruthenia Alba''
{{Ruthenian lands
Historical regions