“When I lived in the Ukraine”
Is that like living in ‘the’ America?
I am just used to that. I still refer to Istanbul as Constantinople. I need to be re-educated.
“The Ukraine” used to be a frequently used form in English throughout the 20th century, but since the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, “the Ukraine” has become less common in the English-speaking world, and style-guides warn against its use in professional writing. According to U.S. ambassador William Taylor, “the Ukraine” now implies disregard for the country’s sovereignty. The official Ukrainian position is that the usage of “’the Ukraine’ is incorrect both grammatically and politically.