Left-bank Ukraine

{{short description|Historic region in Ukraine}} {{Infobox settlement | native_name = Лівобережна Україна | native_name_lang = uk | settlement_type = Historical region | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 266 | image_style = border:1 | perrow = 2/2/1 | image1 = Р. Десна Новгород-Сіверський.jpg{{!}}Transfiguration monastery in Novhorod-Siverskyi | image2 = Батуринська фортеця Фото 01.jpg{{!}}Baturyn Fortress Citadel | image3 = Будинок земства P1230868 пл. Конституції, 2.jpg{{!}}Poltava Regional Museum | image4 = Чернігівський колегіум (Чернігів).jpg{{!}}Chernihiv Collegium | image5 = Густинcький монастир5.jpg{{!}}Hustynia Monastery | caption1 = Transfiguration Monastery in Novhorod-Siverskyi | caption2 = Baturyn Fortress Citadel | caption3 = Poltava Governorate Zemstvo Building | caption4 = Chernihiv Collegium | caption5 = Hustynia Monastery}} | image_map = Ukraine-Livoberezzhya.png | map_caption = Location on the map of Ukraine | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{UKR}} | seat_type = Largest city | seat = Kyiv | timezone1 = EET | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = EEST | utc_offset1_DST = +3 }} {{History of Ukraine}}

The '''Left-bank Ukraine'''{{efn|{{langx|uk|Лівобережна Україна|Livoberezhna Ukrayina}};<br> {{langx|ru|Левобережная Украина|Levoberezhnaya Ukraina}};<br> {{langx|pl|Lewobrzeżna Ukraina}}}} is a historic region in north-central and central Ukraine. It is located on the left (east) bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv and Poltava, as well as the eastern parts of Kyiv and Cherkasy, and the western part of Sumy.

Left-bank Ukraine is bordered by the historical regions of Right-bank Ukraine to the southwest, Zaporizhzhia to the southeast, Sloboda Ukraine to the east, and Polesia and White Ruthenia to the north.

Largest cities are Kyiv (eastern part), Chernihiv, Poltava and Kremenchuk.

== History == Since the Middle Ages, the region formed part of the Khazar Khanate, Kievan Rus', Mongol Empire, Golden Horde, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.

The term appeared in 1663 with the election of Ivan Bryukhovetsky as the hetman of Ukraine in opposition to Pavlo Teteria. Bryukhovetsky was the first known "left-bank Ukraine" hetman over the area, that was under the Russian influence.<ref>{{cite book|first=M. I︠U︡. |last=Braĭchevs'kyĭ |title=Annexation Or Reunification: Critical Notes on One Conception |publisher=Ukrainisches Institut für Bildungs-politik |year=1974 |page=114}}</ref>

Up until the mid-17th century, the area had belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Treaty of Pereyaslav of 1654 saw the region tentatively come under Russian control, when local Cossack leaders swore allegiance to the Russian monarchy in exchange for military protection. Russian sovereignty over the area was later reaffirmed in the Treaty of Andrusovo (1667), and the Eternal Peace Treaty (1686) between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Tsardom of Russia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Orest |last=Subtelny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC |title=Ukraine History |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2000 |isbn=0-8020-8390-0 |pages=117–148}}</ref>

Under Russian rule, the left-bank Ukraine initially enjoyed a degree of autonomy within the Tsardom (from 1721, Imperial Russia) as the Cossack Hetmanate, which was slowly withdrawn throughout the eighteenth century when the Zaporizhian Sich was destroyed.<ref>{{cite book|first=Orest |last=Subtelny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC |title=Ukraine History |publisher=University of Toronto Press |date=2000 |isbn=0-8020-8390-0 |pages=117–148}}</ref>

==See also== *Right-bank Ukraine *Dnieper Lowland

==Note== {{notelist}}

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Left-Bank Ukraine}} Category:Historical geography of Ukraine Category:Historical regions in Ukraine Category:Early modern history of Ukraine Category:Subdivisions of the Russian Empire Category:Historical regions in Poland Category:Cultural regions