Not only do I play a mean game of Risk, but I also have a coworker from “the place.” I was shoot him an e-mail today and found myself using the name of “the place,” but wanted to get the proper usage.

A quick Google found me the following site: http://www.infoukes.com/faq/the_ukraine/

The quick answer? Don’t use “the Ukraine.” “The” is a vestigial (can that be used for words?) article leftover from poor translation.