Hromada
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Hromada (Ukrainian: Громада) is a Ukrainian term for community or public, more precise an association of the people united by mutual interest, position or goal, widely known in Ukraine. Similar terms could be found in Poland and Belarus.
In history of Ukraine and Belarus such associations appeared first as peasant communes, which gathered their meetings for discussing and resolving current issues. In the 19th century there were number of political organization with the same name.
Hromada means not only social association of some people, but in broader sense a symbolic unity of any territorial population or the whole national society.
Name "hromada" was frequently used by political and social organizations, newspapers in Ukraine.
At present, the term is more often applied in Ukraine, as a "territorial commune" (Ukrainian: Територіальна громада) naming the population of any region. The Constitution of Ukraine and some other laws, including the "Law on local self-governance", delegate certain rights and obligations for "hromada". But "hromada" does not have the rights of a legal entity. In his draft constitutional amendments of June 2014 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed changing the administrative divisions of Ukraine, which should include regions, districts and "hromadas".[1]
Other uses
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In the History of Ukraine the word was used to denote medieval communes in Ukraine. There also were several political entities such as Hromada (political party) (modern Ukraine) and Hromada (secret society) (in Russian Empire).
Mykhailo Drahomanov in his exile was publishing Hromada magazine in Switzerland.