The hryvnia () has been the national currency of Ukraine since 1996.

Introduction

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The hryvnia replaced the karbovanets, the currency Ukraine used after the breakup of the Soviet Union (karbovanets is equivalent to ruble in Ukrainian). One hryvnia equalled 100,000 karbovanets. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiyok (genitive plural, singular kopiyka); see kopek.

Hryvnia is often transliterated as hryvna or hryvnya, also from Russian: grivna. The nominative plural name of the currency is hryvni, but amounts may be transliterated directly in the genitive plural, for example 100 hryven’, instead of using the constructed English plural hryvnias.

The hryvnia symbol is a cursive Ukrainian letter He, with a double horizontal stroke symbolizing stability. Hryvnia is abbreviated "грн." (hrn.) in Ukrainian. The hryvnia is represented by the ISO 4217 currency code UAH, or 980. The hryvnia symbol not be rendered in all browsers has been accepted for encoding as U+20B4 in Unicode 4.1 released in 2005. The specific design of the hryvnia sign is a result of a public contest held by National Bank of Ukraine in 2003.

As of February 21, 2006, there were 5.05000 hryvnias to the US dollar or 6.012530 to the euro at official exchange rate of National Bank of Ukraine.

History

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Hryvnia was used as currency in Kievan Rus' in the 11th century. The word hryvnia (or grivna) was derived from the Slavic hryva. Originally the word meant neck as opposed to the current mane. Hryvnia meant something valuable worn around the neck, usually made of silver or gold. Later the word was used to describe silver or gold ingots of a certain weight. The other lesser currency units were nogata — a fur of a large animal such as a bear or a wolf, kuna — a fur of smaller animals, like mink or sable (compare Croatian kuna), and the cheapest was veksha — a fur of a squirrel.

In 2004 the National Bank of Ukraine has officially recommended to distinguish between hryvnia and hryvna in both historical and practical means. Linguistic research was cited as proof that hryvnia refers to medieval currency and hryvna to the female decoration of that time. The proper name for modern Ukrainian currency is гривня (hryvnia).

Coins

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|| 1 kopiyka || 15.5 mm || 1.5 g || Stainless steel ||rowspan=2| Plain ||rowspan=3| Value ||rowspan=3| Ukrainian Trident ||rowspan=3| 1992 || 2 kopiyky || 15.5 mm || 0.64 or 1.8 g || Aluminum or stainless steel || 5 kopiyok || 15.5 mm || 4.3 g || Stainless steel || Grained || 10 kopiyok || 15.5 mm || 1.7 g ||rowspan=4|Brass or Aluminum bronze || Grained || rowspan=4|Value ||rowspan=4| Ukrainian Trident ||rowspan=4| 1992 || 25 kopiyok || 15.5 mm || 2.9 g ||rowspan=2|With grained sectors || 50 kopiyok || 15.5 mm || 4.2 g || 1 hryvnia || 15.5 mm || 7.1 or 6.9 g || Inscription

Currently Circulating Coins *
Image	Value	Diameter	Weight	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	First Minted Year

Banknotes

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|| 1-Hryvnia-2003-back.jpg || 1 hryvnia ||rowspan=3|63 x 118 mm || Gray-green || Portrait depicting dukeVolodymyr the Great || The fortress wall of Volodymyr in Kiev. || December 1, 2004 || 2-grivni-back.jpg || 2 hryvni || Brown || Portrait depicting duke Yaroslav the Wise || The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. || September 28, 2004 || 5-Hryvnia-2004-back.jpg || 5 hryven || Blue || Portrait depicting hetmanBohdan Khmelnytsky || A church in the selo (village) of Subotovy. || June 14, 2004 || align="left"|10-Hryvnia-2005-back.jpg || 10 hryven || 66 x 124 mm || Crimson || Portrait depicting hetman Ivan Mazepa || The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kievo-Pecherska Lavra || November 1, 2004 || 20-Hryvnia-2003-back.jpg || 20 hryven || 69 x 130 mm ||Green || Portrait depicting poet Ivan Franko || The Lviv Opera Theatre || December 1, 2003 ||50-Hryvnia-Hrushevsky-back.gif || 50 hryven || 72 x 136 mm ||Violet || Portrait depicting historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky || The building of the UkrainianVerkhovna Rada || March 29, 2004 || 100-Hryvnia-Franko-back.jpg || 100 hryven || 75 x 142 mm || Olive || Portrait depicting poet Taras Shevchenko || The Chernecha landscape near Cherkasy and the figures of a kobzar and a guide boy || February 20, 2006

Newest series (2000's) *
Image		Value	Dimensions	Color	Obverse	Reverse	Printed Date

See also

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• Vadym Hetman
• Viktor Yushchenko

External links

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• History of Hryvnia
• National Bank of Ukraine announcement of Hryvnia Sign
• Proposed symbols for hryvnia during design competition
• Pictures of hryvnia bills introduced in 1997
• First Ukrainian Money

Circulating currencies | Currencies of Europe | Economy of Ukraine | History of Ukraine | Kievan Rus | Currency signs

Гривна | Hrívnia | Hryvnia | Hrywnja | Γρίβνα | Hryvnia | Hryvnia | Hryvnia | הריבניה | გრივნა | hrivnya | Grivna | グリブナ | Hryvnia | Hrywna | Hryvnia | Grivnă | Гривна | Hryvnja | Hryvnia | Гривня | 格里夫尼亚