The process of uniting Russian lands into a single state begins in the XIV century. It ends mainly by the end of the 15th century, when the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III took the title “Grand Duke of All Russia” (1485). At the end of the 15th century. the unification of a number of Western states (France, England, Spain) is also nearing completion.
In Western Europe, the creation of unified states was facilitated by socio-economic prerequisites, i.e. urban development and trade. In Russia, there were no such prerequisites. However, the unification process in Russia was accelerated by political factors. Chief among them is the desire to overthrow the Horde yoke.
The unification process in the Russian lands took place over two centuries. It is usually divided into three stages:
stage - the end of the XIII - 80s of the XIV century.
stage - 80s of the XIV century. - 1462
stage - 1462 - 1533
The first stage is characterized by the economic upsurge of the Russian lands and the formation of new principalities. At this stage, the struggle for the great Vladimir reign between the Ryazan, Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Tver principalities begins. V
In the course of this struggle, the question was decided which of these principalities would become the center of the unification of the Russian lands.
The main rivals in this struggle were the Tver and Moscow principalities. Both principalities were formed in the 13th century.
Initially, the Moscow principality was small. However, in the XIV century. its rapid rise begins. This was facilitated by two factors: firstly, the advantageous geographical position of Moscow and, secondly, the purposeful and flexible policy of the Moscow princes.
Moscow occupied a central place among the Russian lands and was surrounded by forests. This provided her with relative safety from external intrusions. Therefore, people from other principalities moved here. The increase in population contributed to the economic recovery of the Moscow principality. In addition, Moscow was located at the crossroads of several trade routes. It was an important center for the grain trade. This brought huge profits to the Moscow princes. Thanks to their income, they could expand their possessions not only by seizures, but also by purchasing land from neighboring principalities.

Already under the first Moscow prince, Daniil Alexandrovich (1276-1303), the Moscow principality doubled.

Ivan Kalita significantly expanded the possessions of the Moscow principality. Under him, Moscow became the richest principality in Russia. Unlike his rivals - the princes of Tver - Ivan Kalita preferred to get along with the Horde. And he succeeded with the help of flattery and rich gifts to the Tatar khan and princes. As a result, Ivan Kalita received the right to collect tribute from the Russian principalities and deliver it to the Horde. Under Ivan Kalita, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Russian Church Theognost moved his residence to Moscow. Thus, Moscow became the religious center of Russia.

The support of the Moscow princes by the clergy was one of the reasons for the rise of Moscow.

However, Moscow became a generally recognized center for the unification of Russian lands only under the grandson of Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy. He won an important victory over the Tatars at the Kulikovo field in 1380. This victory finally consolidated the political supremacy of Moscow among the Russian principalities. The Moscow princes received the right to inherit the Great Reign of Vladimir as their "fatherland". Thus, Dmitry D ° nsk ° nd was the unification of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir and Moskovsky.
The second stage of the unification process is characterized by the further unification of the lands around Moscow and the struggle between the great Moscow prince and the Moscow appanage princes.
zey. Districts -

Vasily N Dark

The possessions of the Moscow principality expanded significantly under Dmitry Donskoy and Vasily I (the son of Dmitry Donskoy). These princes pursued a policy of centralizing state power. This policy met with resistance from the appanage princes.
these are the reigns, which were received by the will of the sons of the Grand Duke within the boundaries of his principality. During the reign of Vasily II the Dark (son of Vasily I), a real war broke out in Russia. It was a clash between supporters and opponents of the centralization policy. In the course of this struggle, the question of which of the princes to be great was decided and on what conditions the relationship between him and the appanage princes should be built.
War broke out in 1428 over the question of succession to the throne. The appanage prince Yuri Dmitrievich (uncle of Vasily II) declared his rights to the grand-ducal throne. Together with his sons Vasily Kosy and Dmitry Shemyaka, Prince Yuri began an armed struggle against the great Moscow prince. Several times appanage princes captured Moscow. However, the Moscow boyars and clergy supported Vasily II. As a result, this war ended with the victory of the Grand Duke of Moscow in 1453.
The unification of the Russian lands around Moscow is being completed at

Ivan III Vasily III

the third stage of the unification process. This is the period of the reign of Ivan III and Vasily III.
Ivan III is one of the key figures in the history of Russia. He was the first to take the title of "Sovereign of All Russia". Under him, the two-headed eagle became the coat of arms of the Russian state, and a red brick Kremlin was erected in Moscow, which has survived to this day. Under Ivan III, the Horde yoke was finally overthrown. This happened in 1480. The adoption of a new set of laws - the Code of Laws of 1497 is associated with the name of Ivan III.
Ivan III managed to almost bloodlessly complete the unification of north-eastern Russia. An important event during the reign of Ivan III was the annexation of Veliky Novgorod in 1478. In 1485, Moscow's old rival, Tver, was also conquered. However, under Ivan III, the Moscow state did not include such outlying lands as Pskov, Smolensk and Ryazan. They were added during the reign of Vasily III.
As a result of the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow, the largest power in Europe was formed, which from the end of the 15th century. began to be called Russia.
Russia in the second half of the 15th - early 16th centuries.

What do the cards show us? ALL European maps of the world (except for a few) before 1390 are so-called maps of the T-O type, depicting only the Mediterranean, the adjacent territories and, in part, the Black Sea region. What was beyond these territories was not known at that time. And this despite the fact that supposedly since the middle of the XIII century, many travelers and clergy of the Catholic Church of various ranks ply between Europe and the capital of China, Khanbalik! Only from the beginning of the 15th century, lands east of the Caspian Sea appear on the maps.

I will be asked: what about, for example, the famous maps of the Pisigano brothers and the Catalan Atlas of 1375? However, this is what Leo Bagrov writes in his encyclopedic book "History of Cartography" about three maps of the world of 1442-1453 by the Venetian Giovanni Leardo: "The three available maps are similar in outline, but in later of them there are more geographical names; The latter is practically indistinguishable from a typical Catalan map, at least as regards the names of individual places.The general network of rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. is also borrowed from Catalan maps. For this reason, the Leardo maps are 80-100 years behind of his time and are considered together with the maps of Dalorto, Pisigano, and the Catalan atlas of 1375. " I translate the above into Russian: the maps of Dalorto, Pisigano and the Catalan atlas of 1375 are drawn in the technique and manner of the 20s - 50s of the 15th century, but for some unknown reason they are dated 80-100 years earlier.

Fig 1. Catalan World Atlas 1375

Many maps do not have any dates at all and are approximately dated. Here is another quote from Bagrov, this time about the map of Albertine de Virga: "As follows from the signature on the map, its author was a native of Venice, but we do not know anything else about him. The last digit [of the year of manufacture] is erased, only 141 are left. ; it is believed that the missing figure was from 1 to 5, so that the map dates from 1411-1415, although the table of Easter dates given on it begins with 1301. If you compare this map with the world map in the Medici atlas, you can notice their close similarity; there is an assumption that the Medici atlas should be attributed to the beginning of the 15th century, and not the date (1351) from which its calendar begins. "

Fig. 2 Map of de Virga.

This is how the cards are dated.

I also note that the clearly dated Freducci d "Ancone card from 1497 is just a replica of the Catalan atlas. When I saw it for the first time, I confused them altogether. You can unmistakably say that this card, if not issued by the same master, is 100% made in one workshop after a short period of time.The only difference between it and the Catalan atlas is that there are no territories east of the Caspian Sea on the Freducci map, and the flags and outlines of the main cities depicted on the maps are different. fell into decay) and changed affiliation (or changed heraldry).

And dating the Catalan atlas in 1375, by and large, contradicts the traditional version of history and common sense. The atlas shows Janibek Khan (with a corresponding inscription that it is he). The time of his reign is 1342-1357. But if the atlas appeared only 20 years after his death, why not later? I would not be very surprised if the real date of publication of the Catalan atlas turned out to be 1475 (more on that below).

Rice. 3 Janibek Khan

And one more note.

Viewing maps of the 15th-16th centuries allows us to make an unambiguous conclusion: at that time the climate on Earth was SIGNIFICANTLY different from the current one. On the maps, we see things that are absolutely unthinkable from our point of view. Greenland is ice-free, with many cities and towns. But now it is impossible to live without steam heating in Greenland. The entire Arabian Peninsula is dotted with a dense network of rivers. Full-flowing rivers in the Sahara. Many maps show the coastline of Antarctica (discovered in 1820 by F.F.Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev), there is already Australia with settlements (discovered in the 17th century). The famous maps of Oronteus Finet of 1531 and 1532 depict Antarctica in detail without ice, with mountain ranges now hidden under a kilometer-long layer of ice. On the maps of the 15th century in Siberia, we see the most densely populated cities of the planet at that time. Judging by the maps, during the 60-80s of the 15th century, some event took place on Earth, as a result of which the earth's face changed beyond recognition.

Rice. 4 Map of Oronteus Fine

Fra Mauro's famous 1459 map appears to have been the most recent map to reflect reality prior to these changes. It is on it in central and northern Siberia that the largest cities of that time are accurately depicted - the capital of Katay and the Great Khan, the city of Khanbalik (supposedly the present Beijing), the city of Quancu (Kansai at Marco Polo, the Heavenly City) and others. However, this map is drawn as a planisphere - a circle world. And the farther from the center of this circle, the more distortion, the more difficult it is to determine where these cities really were. And it is also quite possible that the Siberian rivers then had other channels (more on this below). And yet we can say with complete confidence that the capital of Katay was then located somewhere in the middle reaches of the Ob. The possible location of the city is from Surgut to Biysk.

Fig. 5 Fra Mauro map of 1459

So Fra Mauro 1459 is the last card. After its appearance, the following metamorphosis takes place: Khanbalyk, apparently, physically disappears, and on the maps it gradually moves from the Ob region to the east over 150 years. By the middle of the 16th century, on the maps of Mercator, this city generally bifurcates, one remains on the Ob, the other, under a slightly changed name, turns out to be in the Far East approximately in the Okhotsk region. The names of the countries are also bifurcated: Kitai remains on the Ob, and Cathay leaves for Yakutia and Chukotka, and Karakorum is generally transferred to the Arctic Circle. And this despite the fact that Beijing is also on the maps and, of course, is located at its current location. Obviously, the cartographers retained some knowledge about the location of the disappeared capital somewhere in the Ob region, but as Siberia was conquered by Muscovy, with its movement to the east, since the city still "did not meet", but it seems like it should have been, cartographers were forced to draw it along with the river on which it was located, all the way east and east, in areas unexplored at that time. Until the very beginning of the 17th century, no one came up with the idea to identify the legendary Katay, the country of the Great Khan, described by Marco Polo and other travelers, with China, and Khanbalik with Beijing. On all maps until the middle of the 15th century, these are different countries, separated by many thousands of kilometers.

Rice. 6 Afanasy Nikitin

By the way, Afanasy Nikitin in his notes in the middle of the 15th century wrote: "... and from Pevgu to Chini and to Machin it takes a month to go, all that walking is by sea. And from Chini to Kytaa it is dry for 6 months." Six months of the caravan journey! And so it was believed until 1607, when Benedict Goes makes a journey from Kashmir to Western China. Then, obviously, the Jesuits, who actually ruled the China, come up with a brilliant idea, I am not afraid of this word, brazenly appropriating China, by and large, a country that was wild even before the beginning of the 20th century, the history and achievements of that great state, which was gradually disappearing from the maps.

Notes of Marco Polo, allegedly about the 90s of the XIII century, first appear in Europe in German in 1477. They tell about Khan Kubilai, the last Mongol khan in China. And this time of the appearance of the notes (50-70s of the 15th century) is most likely the real time of Khubilai's reign.

Rice. 7 Khubilai accepts gifts from the Venetians. Illustration for the "Book" by Marco Polo. Master from Busico. Around 1412

We read Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari: "Between Bulgar and Akikul, he says, there is a distance of 20 days of ordinary walking. Behind Akikul, he [follow] Siberia and Ibir, then the land of Chulyman follows them. When a traveler travels from Chulyman to the East, he comes to the city of Karakorum, and then to the land of Hatay, in which the Great Kan is [one] of the Chinese lands. Franks and to the inhabitants of the Western Sea. At present, I say, Kan's place of residence is Khanbalyk. The Siberian and Chulym countries, he continued, adjoin the Bashkyrs ... Its length [of Kipchak] from the Irtysh waters - it is larger than the Egyptian Nile and flows over most of the lands Khatayskikh - up to Istanbul, and this length goes a little further to the country called Nemejd. The Land of Nemezhd, he said, lies in the middle between the lands of the Russians and the Franks. The merchants of our countries, Noman said, do not go further than the Bulgar city; the Bulgar merchants dyat to Chulyman, and the Chulymansky merchants travel to the lands of the Yugorsk, which are on the outskirts of the North. "

Let me remind you that Chulyman used to be the name of the Kama River in the Turkic language from its source to the confluence of the Belaya River. So everything is correct - Karakorum is located east of the Kama, and to the east it is already located Katay.

In the Tatar folk epic "Idegei" there are such words that belong to Janika, Tokhtamysh's wife:

Four parts - do you understand, my khan?

Irtysh, Yaik, Idil, Chulman

Cut the edge into four pieces.

It describes the boundaries of the lands of Tokhtamysh at that time - the Irtysh, Ural, Volga and Kama rivers.

On the map of N. Witsen - S. Loputsky in 1674, the Ob and Yenisei rivers are called China, and the water area of ​​the Kara Sea is called the China Sea. The desire of the British to pave the way to China through the Ob in the 16th century becomes understandable: "... sailing to China by the Northeast Passage is very convenient and easy ... because behind the Vaigach Island and Novaya Zemlya there is a large bay ... into which large rivers flow , which must be irrigating the whole of China ... they can be penetrated by large ships into the very depths of the country. " This statement belongs to the greatest cartographer of the Middle Ages, Gerard Mercator.

Rice. 9 Witsen's map

Bayi in his 23rd letter to Voltaire wrote: "The Tatars say that once their ancestors, sailing on Lake Kytai, from where the Ob River originates, they saw in the distance majestic buildings, partly flooded." According to archaic legends of the Khanty (formerly known as Ostyaks) and Nenets (formerly Samoyeds), in the places of their settlement along the banks of the middle reaches of the Ob and Irtysh in ancient times there were cities covered with copper domed roofs.

Rice. ten

In different languages, Khanbalyk was called differently: Kanbaluk, Kabalut, Gambala, Kanbalu, Kambalut, Garibalu, Kam-bakluk, Kambaluk, Shamblay. In Russian - Shambhala. For several centuries, various mystics have been unsuccessfully searching for this city in Tibet, Chin and Mongolia.

They are looking in the wrong place where they can be found. The Portuguese Jesuit missionary Jacques Cabral wrote in 1625: "Shambhala is by no means China, but what is marked on our maps as Great Tartary." Among the persistent seekers of Shambhala is our famous traveler Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888). He adhered to the northern version of the location of Shambhala, bringing it closer, first of all, to the Polar Land of Happiness. "... A very interesting legend concerns Shambhala, an island located on the edge of the North Sea," wrote Przhevalsky. "There is a lot of gold, and wheat reaches an amazing height. Poverty is unknown in this country; indeed, milk and honey flow in this country."

On the maps of the first half of the 15th century, Khanbalik is located in the LOW LANDS of a very large river, practically on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. At the same time, other large cities are located to the east of it on other rivers (and most of them on the shores of the Arctic Ocean). Fra Mauro's Khanbalik is also located in the lower reaches of a very large river, and to the east of this river there is another very large river (or, more precisely, across one river - there is a smaller river between them) called QUIAM - i.e. HEM, KEM or HAM. The most ancient name of the Yenisei is "Kem" or "Khem", "big river" in translation. The origin of this word is traced to the ancient Indian "whom" - water. Let me remind you that the sources and tributaries of the Yenisei are called Kyzyl-Khem, Balyktyg-Khem, Kham-Sary, Khemchik, Biy-Khem (Big Yenisei), Ka-Khem (Small Yenisei). Biy-Khem and Ka-Khem merge and form Ulug-Khem (literally great or great Khem).

Rice. 11 Enisey

On old maps, Katai-China is a territory that starts almost from Central Asia and goes to the Arctic Ocean. Let's look at the names of the Siberian rivers: Katun, Kotuy, Kheta (separately by itself, as well as Bolshaya and Malaya), Ket, Khatanga, Kotuykan, Golden Kitat. These hydronyms clearly have a common origin and make it possible to unmistakably determine the true location of the legendary Katai-China - this is the territory located to the left and right of the imaginary line drawn from the sources of the Ob to Taimyr. It is very, very possible that the people of the local Kets (this is a self-name, "Ket" is a person; then is China a country of people, a populated area?) Are the descendants of the Katai-Chinese.

Fig. 12 Ket

The language of this tiny people (about 1084 people according to the 1989 census), the bulk of which lives in the middle reaches of the Yenisei, and most of all the Kets in the Turukhansk region, is absolutely unique for these places. It has nothing to do with the languages ​​of the surrounding peoples. Structurally and morphologically, it is close to the language of the TIBETS, BIRMANTS, GEORGIANS, BASKS and NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. Transport reindeer husbandry by the Kets was borrowed from the Nenets, but part of the people (a group of Zemshaks in the lower reaches of the Podkamennaya Tunguska) never adopted it. That is, initially the chum salmon were not reindeer breeders, but, it seems, because of the climate, they must have been, like all the surrounding peoples.

Rice. 13 Modern chum salmon

Remezov has an interesting message for 1713: "The Chinese embassy traveling through the Siberian cities to Moscow, in which the main ambassador was Tulishen of the Mungal breed, as it was in Yeniseisk, such a rumor spread falsely: the ambassadors, as if, asked the voivode for permission to bow to Krasnoyarsk district to the coffins of their ancestors ... ". It turns out that these "mungals" of Yenisei-Krasnoyarsk origin ?!

Christopher Columbus once sailed to Katay, to the Great Khan. Andres Bernaldes, chaplain of the Grand Inquisitor and Archbishop of Seville, Diego de Desa, the closest adviser to Queen Isabella, wrote in his History of Catholic Kings:

“Thus, Admiral [Columbus], following from the east and leaving the land of Juana on his right hand, set off on a journey, suggesting to go around it, and then go further to see the object of his desires, and he wanted to find the region and the city of Cathay. that Katay is the possession of the great khan and that this country can be found in the direction [where he went].

This is the richest land in the world, which can be read about from Juan de Mandeville and others who have seen this country; gold and silver are there in the greatest abundance, as well as all kinds of metals and silk. But all the inhabitants of Katay are pagans and warlocks, people of a subtle mind, knowledgeable in all crafts, and chivalrous. Much has been written about them, worthy of surprise, judging by the story of the noble English gentleman Juan de Mandeville, who went there, saw the great Khan and spent some time in his domain. And whoever wishes to know all this for certain, let him read about it in his book, in chapters 85, 87 and 88, and he will be convinced that the city of Katay is very rich and famous and that the whole region is called the same. And the city of Katay and the region of Katay are part of Asia, which lies close to the lands of Presbyter John of India, on the side that dominates in the north and faces to the north. And that's why the admiral was looking for her in the north.

So, it took a long time to find this country, because the great khan in ancient times was the ruler of the Tatars. And the great Tataria is located on the outskirts of Rusha and Bahia, and we can say that the great Tataria begins from Hungary [Ugra], and that if you look from Andalusia, its lands will be located in the direction where the sun rises in the month with the longest days in year, and in this way (to the east) merchants usually go to that land. "

A small note from me:
I have long been worried about the obvious injustice that befell the great country. We don't even really know its real name. "Great Tartary" - a name taken from the British Encyclopedia and old maps, too much in common with the mythical Tartarus and the small people of the Tatars. What did the inhabitants of the greatest country in the world call themselves? This is all the more important for us, because it looks like they are our direct ancestors. And it is no coincidence that in all cultures of all peoples of the world it is customary to honor ancestors and know their history. Our great-great-great-grandfathers, being in the world of Navi, and in a modern way, in another dimension of space, filled with energy hundreds of orders of magnitude more than ours, can give our people strength only if we know the truth about them and honor them ... That is, to have a connection with them.
And we do not even know the self-name of a great country, and even more so, the foundations of its culture, ideology, principles of life and social structure. This fact deprives our people of energy, ability to unite, pride, fire in the soul, which helps to win.
A. Pushkarev came close to the discovery of the self-designation of Great Tartary. Most likely, they called their homeland - Ketay... It is with the letter "e". The spellings of names on ancient maps are full of errors and inaccuracies. In addition, in the past it was common to shorten vowels or write them differently. Apparently, the Kets are the remnants of a mighty people, those who did not want to leave their homeland, despite the terrible catastrophe that destroyed the great country and a sharp deterioration in the climate. The Goths, the Huns, the Scythians, and other numerous peoples also left. Only chum salmon remained.
It happened not so long ago. Pay attention to the photo (I illustrated the article by Pushkarev) - among modern Kets, Mongoloid features are already strong. And in the first photo, from the beginning of the 20th century, one might think that this is a Russian person. He is very similar to the Pomor or the Old Believer, those who, hiding in the vastness of Siberia, preserved our ancient genetics. But only 60-70 years have passed. How quickly the races mix!
They took away our history, took away the memory of our ancestors and even the name of the Motherland. With the light hand of the Jesuits, Ketai turned into Chyna, jumped 2 thousand km, gave them his history and achievements. Everyone knows that the Chinese are not capable of even primitive inventions. They are excellent copyists, very hardworking, but coming up with something new is not possible for them. Where does the porcelain, tassels, gunpowder, silk, etc. come from? And the ancient history of Chyna is also a complete fake, as well as their terracotta figures together with the pyramids. I am sure that if we rummaged through ancient Chinese sources, we would find stories about Ketai, and about who built the Great Chinese (Ketai) Wall and why. But this is already a topic for another large article, and even a book.
Let's believe our eyes, read what is written, understand correctly, without blinders. And then many truths will be revealed to us. Why is there a China city in Moscow, why China is China in all languages, but only we have China, and so on.

The first attempts at the administrative-territorial division of our lands can be considered the existence of lands-principalities during the times of Kievan Rus.

In the IX-XII centuries, the territory of modern Ukraine was divided into, Chernigov-Severskaya, Pereyaslavskaya, Volyn and Galician lands. All of them were part of the Kiev state.

From the middle of the XII century, the process of the decline of the Kiev state began. The Galicia-Volyn principality became the heir to the political and cultural traditions of Kievan Rus. In the XIII - the first half of the XIV century. the Galicia-Volyn principality included a significant part of the Ukrainian ethnic territory.

With the death of Yuri II Boleslav in 1340, the decline of the Galicia-Volyn state began. In the second half of the XIV century. most of the Ukrainian lands were captured by foreign powers. For example, Lithuania conquered part of Volhynia, Brest and Dorogochinsk lands, Chernigov-Severshchina, Kiev and Podolsk lands.

In 1387, as a result of a long-term war between Poland, Hungary and Lithuania, Galicia was annexed to the Kingdom of Poland.

At the beginning. 1440s Volyn and Kiev principalities were restored. However, in the second half of the 15th century, after the death of Svidrigail and Semyon Olelkovich, they were finally liquidated and transformed into Lithuanian provinces. In their place, the Kiev, Bratslav and Volyn provinces were created, which were ruled by the grand princes' governors - voivods.

After the conclusion of the Union of Lublin between Poland and Lithuania in 1569, all Ukrainian lands, with the exception of Brest and Dorogochinskaya, Transcarpathia, Bukovina and Chernigov region, fell under the direct authority of the Kingdom of Poland.

Portolan of the Black Sea Basin. Written by Agnes Battista, 1550. On the map - Rus, Tataria and Muscovy

Since 1608, for about 300 years, Ukraine has appeared on the political map of the world sporadically.

In particular, in 1608-1615, the borders of the Cossack independent state at that time were not stable, and after a while it generally went to Muscovy. In 1618, Chernigov-Sivershchyna came under the rule of Poland.

At the beginning of the 17th century. the territory of what is now Ukraine was divided between Poland and Russia. Over the next 35 years, the territory of Poland continued to expand, but the division between the two states still persists.

"Typus Generalis Vkraine" (General description of Ukraine). Author - Johann Jansonius, 1649

Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine are part of the Commonwealth. Author - Carlo Alard, 1670

"Vkraine ou Pays des Cosaques" (Ukraine - the state of the Cossacks). Author - Guillaume Sanson, 1674

"Ukraine grand pays de la Russie Rouge avec une partie de la Pologne, Moscovie ..." (Big country - Red Russia, bordering on Poland, Russia, Wallachia ...). Author - Pierre van Der, 1710

"Amplissima Ucraniae Regio ..." (Ukraine and regions). By Tobias Conrad Lotter, 1770

During the Russian-Turkish wars of the 18th century. the lands of the "Wild Field" were settled. It was then that the largest cities of modern southern Ukraine were founded: Elizavetgrad (Kirovograd, 1775), Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk, 1776), Kherson (1778), Nikolaev (1789) and Odessa (1794).

As a result of the second and third partitions of Poland in 1793-1795. right-bank Ukraine and Volhynia were annexed to Russia. Galicia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia remained part of Austria-Hungary.

And in 1812, Bessarabia (Moldavia and Burjak) was annexed in Russia.

XX century was marked by the appearance of Ukraine on the political map of the world.

Historical map of the Ukrainian State during the times of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, October 1918

The limits of Ukraine, which were announced by the UPR at the Paris Peace Conference. 1919 year

1923 - the eastern part of Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union, and in 1939 the western territories joined it.

"The modern division of the Eastern Slavs by language". Atlas of Kudryashov as part of the "Russian Historical Atlas", 1928

Map of the Ukrainian SSR, 1931

Map of Ukraine between the two world wars

Map of the USSR, 1940. Pocket Atlas of the USSR, 11th ed.

In 1954, in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, it became part of the Ukrainian SSR.

What a modern map of Ukraine looks like:

You can also watch the infographic of changes in the borders of Ukraine in the video:

For our ancient ancestors, the world was often limited to the land that surrounded and nourished them. But even the earliest human civilizations still tried to measure the scale of this world and made the first attempts at mapping.

It is believed that the first such map was created in Babylon more than 2,500 years ago, and it shows the world outside the Babylonian kingdom in the form of poisonous waters and dangerous islands, where (they believed) people could not survive.

Over time, the maps gradually became larger in scale as people grew more knowledgeable about what lay outside the Mediterranean. With the beginning of the era of wandering and exploration in the 15th century, the concept of the vision of the world changed, the East began to appear on the maps, a huge unexplored ocean appeared in the place of America. And with the return of Columbus, the maps of the world began to take on a form that is already understandable to us, modern people.

1. The oldest known map of the world from Babylon (6th century BC). At the center of the world is the Babylonian kingdom itself. There is a "bitter river" around him. Seven points across the river are islands that cannot be reached.

2. World map of Hecateus of Miletus (5-6 century BC). Hecateus divides the world into three parts: Europe, Asia and Libya, located around the Mediterranean Sea. His world is a round disc surrounded by an ocean.

3. World map of Posidonius (2nd century BC). This map expands on the early Greek vision of the world, including the conquests of Alexander the Great.

4. World map of Pomponius Mela (43 AD)

5. Ptolemy's world map (150 AD). He was the first to add lines of latitude and longitude to the world map.

6. Peitinger's Tablet, 4th century Roman map showing the road network of the Roman Empire. The complete map is very long, showing lands from Iberia to India. In the center of the world, of course, Rome.

7. World map of Kozma Indikoplov (6th century AD). The world is depicted as a flat rectangle.

8. Later Christian map in the form of a multi-colored clover leaf, compiled by Heinrich Banting (Germany, 1581). In fact, she does not describe the world, or rather, according to this map, the world is a continuation of the Christian trinity, and Jerusalem is its center.

9. World map of Mahmud al-Kashgari (11th century). The world is centered around the ancient city of Balasagun, now the territory of Kyrgyzstan. This also includes places (countries) that are predicted to appear at the end of the world, such as Gog and Magog.

10. Map "Book of Roger" Al-Idrisi, compiled in 1154. It was created on the basis of information received from Arab traders who traveled around the world. At the time, it was the most accurate and extensive map of the world. Europe and Asia are already well visible, but from Africa so far there is only its northern part.

11. Hereford map of the world of the 14th century by a certain Richard of Haldingham. Jerusalem is in the center, East is above. The circle on the south side of the map is the Garden of Eden.

12. Chinese map "Da Ming Hunyi Tu" of the late 14th century. The World Through the Eyes of the Ming Dynasty Chinese. China, of course, dominates, and all of Europe is squeezed into a small space in the west.

13. Genoese map, compiled in 1457 based on the descriptions of Niccolò da Conti. This is how Europeans see the world and Asia after the opening of the first trade routes to Mongolia and China.

14. Projection of the Erdapfel Globe ("Earth Apple") by Martin Begeim (Germany, 1492). Erdapfel is the oldest known globe, showing the world as a sphere, but without America - instead of it there is still a huge ocean.

15. World map of Johann Ruysch, compiled in 1507. One of the first images of the New World.

16. Map of Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann of 1507. It was the first map to call the New World "America". America looks like a thin strip of the east coast.

17. World map of Gerard van Shagen in 1689. By this time, most of the world has already been mapped, and only small parts of America are still empty.

18. Samuel Dunn's world map of 1794. By mapping the discoveries of Captain James Cook, Dunn became the first cartographer to depict our world as accurately as possible.