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I still keep reading "the Ukraine" when reference is made to Ukraine. For what it's worth, in 1993, the Government of Ukraine asked us (the West) to drop the definite article when referring to their country. Interestingly enough, in Ukrainian, there are no articles (no "a" or "the").
As an illustration of the implications of the definite article when used to refer to a place, the implication is that place is part of a larger region. For example, we refer to the Maritimes, the Prairies, the Sudetenland, the Balkans, etc. Yes, it is "the United States" and "The United Kingdom", because a noun is used as part of its name. But it's not "the England", or "the Ireland".
So, when you refer to "the Ukraine", you are implying that it's part of a larger region, in this case, of the U.S.S.R. or even the Commonwealth of Independent States...
/rant
As an illustration of the implications of the definite article when used to refer to a place, the implication is that place is part of a larger region. For example, we refer to the Maritimes, the Prairies, the Sudetenland, the Balkans, etc. Yes, it is "the United States" and "The United Kingdom", because a noun is used as part of its name. But it's not "the England", or "the Ireland".
So, when you refer to "the Ukraine", you are implying that it's part of a larger region, in this case, of the U.S.S.R. or even the Commonwealth of Independent States...
/rant