The physical environment has played a very big role in the settlement patters in Ukraine, as well the economic activities of the people that lived in this area.
The settlement patterns in Ukraine are relatively simple, as most of the settlements have been made on the banks of the large rivers, such as the Dnipro and Dniester, and Don, as well as on the coastlines of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. So we can say that the settlements have been built in close proximity to the larger water bodies.
The location of the settlements around the water bodies was not a coincidence, as these water bodies were used for trade, so the people living in Ukraine were heavily engaged in the trade that was going through their territory. Also, Ukraine is part of the Eurasian steppe, so people were trading a lot on land as well, especially because they were a transition zone between Asia and Europe.
