Boyko or Boiko is the name for a distinctive group of Ruthenians (Ukrainian) montagnards of the Carpathian highlands. The Boykos inhabit the central and the western half of the Carpathians in Ukraine, Dolyna and a part of Rozhniativ raions (districts) of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province), Skoliv, Turka, parts of Drohobych, Sambir and Staryi Sambir raions of Lviv Oblast, Volovets and parts of Velykyi Bereznyi and Mizhhirya raions of Zakarpattia Oblast), and the adjacent areas of southeast Poland and northeast Slovakia. Ruthenians is a name that has been applied to different ethnic groups at different times; for an explanation of the reasons for this, see Ruthenia. ... The Carpathian Convention is a framework type convention pursuing a comprehensive policy and cooperating in the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians. ... See rayon for the textile made of processed cellulose. ... Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (Івано-Франківська область, Ivano-Frankivs’ka oblast’ or Івано-Франківщина, Ivano-Frankivshchyna in Ukrainian) is an oblast of Ukraine. ... Oblast (Czech: oblast, Slovak: oblasť, Russian and Ukrainian: , Belarusian: , Bulgarian: о́бласт) refers to a subnational entity in some countries. ... Drohobych (Ukrainian: ; Polish: Drohobycz, German: Drohobytsch; Russian: ; Yiddish: דראָביטש drobitsh) is a city in the Ukrainian Lviv Oblast. ... Sambir is a city in western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland. ... Lviv Oblast is an oblast of western Ukraine, created on December 4, 1939. ... Districts of Zakarpattia Oblast House of the Council of Zakarpattia Oblast in Uzhhorod with Taras Shevchenko Monument Entrance from Ivano-Frankivsk on route A 265 Zakarpattia Oblast or Transcarpathian Oblast (Ukrainian: ; Hungarian: Kárpátalja) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. ...

Some scholars claim that this ethnic group is a part of Rusyns. Indeed, in the 19th cetury and in the first part of the 20th century Boykos, as well as most of the population of the present day's Western Ukraine called themselves as Ruthenians (Ukrainian: Русини, Rusyny). Then the term "Ukrainian", that replaced the term "Ruthenians" in Eastern Ukraine a century earlier, has became more common among Western Ruthenians/Ukrainians, including Boykos, as well. According to the recent census practically all Boykos declared their ethnicity as Ukrainian. Rusyns, also called Ruthenians, Ruthenes, Rusins, Rysins, Carpatho-Rusins, and Russniaks, are a modern group of ethnic groups that speak the Rusyn language and are descended from the minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt a Ukrainian national identity and become Ukrainians in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Ruthenians is a name that has been applied to different ethnic groups at different times; for an explanation of the reasons for this, see Ruthenia. ...

The name, "Boyko" is thought by some to originate in their patterns of speech, specifically the use of the expression, "bah!".

Most Boykos belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, with a minority belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The distinctive wooden church architecture of the Boyko region is a three-domed church, with the domes arranged in one line, and the middle dome slightly larger than the others. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), also known as the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is one of the successor Churches to the acceptance of Christianity by Grand Prince Vladimir the Great (Ukrainian Volodymyr) of Kiev (Kyiv), in 988. ... The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) is currently separated into three major jurisdictions: that body of Christians from Ukraine who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate - UOC-MP). ...

See also

• Hutsuls
• Lemko
• Ukrainians
• Rusyns
• Ruthenians

Hutsuls or Huculs (Ukrainian: Гуцули, singular Гуцул) are a group of Ukrainian highlanders, considered a subgroup of Rusyns by some references. ... Lemko - one of four major groups of Ruthenian montagnards of the northwest Carpathian mountain chain, having a unique dialect and culture. ... Rusyns, also called Ruthenians, Ruthenes, Rusins, Rysins, Carpatho-Rusins, and Russniaks, are a modern group of ethnic groups that speak the Rusyn language and are descended from the minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt a Ukrainian national identity and become Ukrainians in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Ruthenians is a name that has been applied to different ethnic groups at different times; for an explanation of the reasons for this, see Ruthenia. ...

References

• Anatoliy Ponomariov. "Ethnic groups of Ukrainians" (in Ukrainian). Available online.
• "How Rusyns became Ukrainians", Zerkalo Nedeli (the Mirror Weekly), July, 2005. Available online in Russian and in Ukrainian.