Ukrainian Colombians

Ukrainian Colombians (Spanish: Ucraino-colombianos; Ukrainian: Українські колумбійський, Ukrayins'ki kolumbiysʹkyy) are Colombian citizens of full or partial Ukrainian descent, or Ukrainian-born person residing in Colombia. Ukrainian Colombians form a small community compared to other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Argentina received the highest number of Ukrainian emigrants.

History
In the late 19th century, most of the Ukrainian immigrants came from Galicia, when it was once a bankrupted not developed countryside region that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many ethnic Ukrainians were farmers who absorbed small portions of land. As the population began increasing, some agricultural families had less land to reinforce themselves. The Ukrainians from the Galicia region once belonged to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The high society in Galicia were primarily ethnically Polish, and struggling against them the ethnic Ukrainian priests and small farmers developed a strong perception of Ukrainian patriotism and disposition to resist assimilation.

The majority of Ukrainians in Colombia are descended from immigrants arrived in the country prior to World War I, while others came from the Soviet Union rule. Although the small waves of Ukrainian immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled Galicia began coming to Colombia. In 1895, most of the Ukrainian immigrants began arriving through the port of Barranquilla. They were given plots of uncleared land to stay away from civilization and were not given any support. The immigrants were unfamiliar with the strange climate and how to plow it, yield to diseases without any medical help, and experienced multiple executions. After news of their difficulty spread throughout western Ukraine. Until 1912, only several hundred came to Colombia from western Ukraine every year.

During World War ll, 6,000 more Ukrainians immigrated to Colombia. The group was in a smaller diverse, coming not only from the Galicia region in Ukraine but other Ukrainian immigrants also came from Volhynia, Polesia, Transcarpathia and Bukovina. Among the members were some with a higher knowledge of education and greater level of political enterprise.

Religion
Most Ukrainians who arrived in Colombia and settled in Atlántico came from a region where Catholicism was common in Galicia, Ukraine. However, the Roman Catholic Church was hostile to the creation of a separate Ukrainian Catholic Church. Correspondingly, the first eight years of their settlement in the nation, Ukrainian Colombians who are Catholic did not have their independent Eastern-rite Catholic priests, and were the subjects to high minister activities by Polish Catholics. In response, many Ukrainians modified to Eastern Orthodoxy, whose traditions are identical to those of Ukrainian Catholicism. Without any support of their Mother Church in Galicia, the Ukrainians built their own churches, chapels, and homes, and requested church powers in Galicia to transmit priests to them.

Education
The Ukrainian language can be taught in elementary and secondary schools, all classes are taught in Spanish and follow the Colombian curriculum but also have Ukrainian subjects several times per week, exist in the cities of Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali and Pereira. All schools are run by the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Language
Most Ukrainians have been living in Colombia for 2-5 generations. Although the Ukrainian language can be still spoken at home and church but it is not usual for Ukrainian children having the ability to speak Spanish until they attend school.

Notable Ukrainian Colombians

 * Juan Friede, historian.
 * Andy Lassner, television producer.