Ruthenia

Ruthenia is a name applied to parts of Eastern Europe which were populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to various states that existed in this territory in the past. Essentially, the word is a Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus. See Etymology of Rus and derivatives.

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Today the historical territory of Rus, in the broadest sense, forms part(s) of the territories of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, a small part of north-eastern Slovakia and a narrow strip of eastern Poland.

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Due to the continuous political instability of this territory, the term Ruthenia may mean significantly different things, depending on who applies this term, when, why and to which period.

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The term "Ruthenia" may refer to one or more of the following entities, appearing roughly in chronological order:

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Eastern Europe: Eastern Europe as a region has several alternative definitions, whereby it can denote:...

Slavic peoples: The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples currently living in Europe. They are defined by speaking Slavic languages and reside chiefly in Central and Eastern Europe, but are also found in Asia. The idea that the Slavic people have more in common than their origin...

Latin: Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The ...