Map of Austria-Hungary depicting the Duchy of Bukovina, as part of Cisleithania in 1914. Furthermore, Bukovina had been sometimes labeled as ' Switzerland of the East', given its diverse ethnic mosaic and deep forested mountainous landscapes. Bukovina's population was historically 'almost solidly Ukrainian in the north and Romanian in the south, while in the towns there were also a number of Germans, Poles, and Jews.' Today, Bukovina's northern half is part of Ukraine (represented by the Chernivtsi Oblast), while the southern one is part of Romania (represented by Suceava County). Afterwards, the region was temporarily recovered by Romania as an ally of Nazi Germany after the latter invaded the Soviet Union which, however, retook the northern part in 1944. In 1940, the northern half of Bukovina was annexed by the Soviet Union in violation of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. However, the Kingdom of Romania seized the whole province in 1918, pursuing a policy of Romanization in the region. Locals sought to annex the historically Ruthenian north to the Western Ukrainian National Republic in the early 20th century.

The territory of what became known as Bukovina was, from 1774 to 1918, an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria-Hungary. Thereafter, Ukrainians and Moldovans cohabited Bukovina, fighting together against invaders and oppressors. Bogdan of Cuhea came to power in 1359, and removed Moldova from Hungarian control. King Louis I of Hungary appointed Dragoș, Voivode of Moldavia as his deputy, facilitated the migration of the Romanians from Maramureș and Transylvania to the territory. Then, in the 14th century, Bukovina passed to Hungary, and became part of Moldavia. During the 10th century, it became part of the Kievan Rus', and later the Principality of Halych.Ĭonsequently, the culture of the Kievan Rus' spread in the region, with the Bukovinian Church administered from Kyiv until 1302, when it passed to Halych metropoly. Eventually, the early Slavs emerged in Bukovina in the 4th century. The region has been sparsely populated since the Paleolithic, with several now extinct peoples inhabiting it. Settled initially and primarily by Moldavians (Romanians) and subsequently by Ruthenians (Ukrainians), it became part of the Kievan Rus' in the 10th century and then the Principality of Moldavia during the 14th century.

The region is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided between Romania and Ukraine. Bukovina is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).

Slav with gas mask