Humans have inhabited Ukraine since 32,000 BC. During the
Middle Ages, it was the site of
early Slavic expansion and later became a key centre of
East Slavic culture under the state of
Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. Kievan Rus' became the largest and most powerful realm in Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, but gradually disintegrated into rival regional powers before being destroyed by the
Mongols in the 13th century. For the next 600 years the area was contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers, including the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the
Kingdom of Poland, the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the
Austrian Empire, the
Ottoman Empire, and the
Tsardom of Russia.
