Cyprus - Wikipedia

This article is about the state. For other uses, see Cyprus ( disambiguation ) not to be confused with Cypress
Island state in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

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Cyprus [ farad ] ( ), formally called the Republic of Cyprus, [ deoxyguanosine monophosphate ] is an island state in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is the third base largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean [ 12 ] [ 13 ] and is located south of Turkey ; west of Syria ; northwest of the Gaza Strip, Israel, and Lebanon ; north of Egypt ; and southeast of Greece. The nation ‘s capital and largest city is Nicosia. The earliest know homo activity on the island dates to around the tenth millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic greenwich village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. [ 14 ] Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. As a strategic location in the eastern Mediterranean, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short-circuit period, the french Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 ( de jure until 1914 ). [ 15 ] Cyprus was placed under the UK ‘s government based on the Cyprus Convention in 1878 and was formally annexed by the UK in 1914. The future of the island became a matter of discrepancy between the two big heathen communities, greek Cypriots, who made up 77 % of the population in 1960, and turkish Cypriots, who made up 18 % of the population. From the nineteenth hundred onwards, the Greek Cypriot population pursued enosis, marriage with Greece, which became a greek national policy in the 1950s. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] The turkish Cypriot population initially advocated the lengthiness of the british rule, then demanded the annexation of the island to Turkey, and in the 1950s, together with Turkey, established a policy of taksim, the division of Cyprus and the creation of a turkish polity in the north. [ 18 ] Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. [ 19 ] The crisis of 1963–64 brought further intercommunal ferocity between the two communities, displaced more than 25,000 turkish Cypriots into enclaves [ 20 ] : 56–59 [ 21 ] and brought the end of turkish Cypriot theatrical performance in the democracy. On 15 July 1974, a coup d’état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists [ 22 ] [ 23 ] and elements of the greek military military junta [ 24 ] in an try at enosis. This action precipitated the turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July, [ 25 ] which led to the capture of the contemporary territory of Northern Cyprus and the displacement of over 150,000 greek Cypriots [ 26 ] [ 27 ] and 50,000 turkish Cypriots. [ 28 ] A separate Turkish Cypriot country in the north was established by unilateral resolution in 1983 ; the move was widely condemned by the external community, with Turkey alone recognising the new state. These events and the leave political position are matters of a continuing quarrel. The Republic of Cyprus has de jure sovereignty over the entire island, including its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, with the exception of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which remain under the UK ‘s control according to the London and Zürich Agreements. however, the Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into two main parts : the area under the effective dominance of the Republic, located in the south and west and comprising about 59 % of the island ‘s area, and the north, [ 29 ] administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, covering about 36 % of the island ‘s area. Another about 4 % of the island ‘s sphere is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the northern part of the island to be territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by turkish forces. [ h ] The occupation is viewed as illegal under international law and amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. [ 35 ] Cyprus is a major tourist address in the Mediterranean. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ] With an boost, [ 39 ] high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index, [ 40 ] [ 41 ] the Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1961 and was a initiation member of the Non-Aligned Movement until it joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. [ 42 ] On 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. [ 43 ]

etymology

A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. The earliest attest character to Cyprus is the fifteenth hundred BC Mycenaean Greek ????, ku-pi-ri-jo, [ 44 ] mean “ Cypriot ” ( greek : Κύπριος ), written in Linear B syllabic script. [ 45 ] The classical greek shape of the appoint is Κύπρος ( Kýpros ). The etymology of the name is stranger. Suggestions include :

the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos)
the Greek name of the henna tree (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros)
an Eteocypriot word for copper. It has been suggested, for example, that it has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or for bronze (kubar), from the large deposits of copper ore found on the island.[46]

Through oversea trade, the island has given its name to the Classical Latin bible for copper through the phrase aes Cyprium, “ metallic of Cyprus ”, late shortened to Cuprum. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] The standard demonym relating to Cyprus or its people or culture is Cypriot. The terms Cypriote and Cyprian ( later a personal name ) are besides used, though less frequently. The country ‘s official diagnose in Greek literally translates to “ Cypriot Republic ” in English, but this translation is not used formally ; “ Republic of Cyprus ” is used alternatively .

history

Archeologic site of Khirokitia with early remains of human inhabitancy during Aceramic Neolithic period ( reconstruction )

Prehistoric and Ancient Cyprus

The earliest confirmed site of human action on Cyprus is Aetokremnos, situated on the south slide, indicating that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from around 10,000 BC, [ 48 ] with fall village communities dating from 8200 BC. The arrival of the foremost humans correlates with the extinction of the gnome hippo and gnome elephants. [ 49 ] Water wells discovered by archaeologists in western Cyprus are believed to be among the oldest in the populace, dated at 9,000 to 10,500 years old. [ 14 ] Remains of an 8-month-old cat were discovered buried with a human body at a freestanding Neolithic site in Cyprus. [ 50 ] The scratch is estimated to be 9,500 years old ( 7500 BC ), predating ancient egyptian civilization and pushing back the earliest known feline-human association significantly. [ 51 ] The unusually well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating to approximately 6800 BC. [ 52 ] During the late Bronze Age, the island experienced two waves of greek colonization. [ 53 ] The foremost wave consisted of Mycenaean Greek traders who started visiting Cyprus around 1400 BC. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] [ 56 ] A major wave of greek liquidation is believed to have taken place following the belated Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece from 1100 to 1050 BC, with the island ‘s predominantly greek character dating from this menstruation. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] The first recorded name of a Cypriote king is “ Kushmeshusha ” as appears on letters sent to Ugarit in the 13th c. BCE. [ 58 ] Cyprus occupies an crucial character in Greek mythology being the birthplace of Aphrodite and Adonis, and home to King Cinyras, Teucer and Pygmalion. [ 59 ] Literary evidence suggests an early on phoenician presence at Kition which was under Tyrian rule at the begin of the tenth century BC. [ 60 ] Some phoenician merchants who were believed to come from Tyre colonised the area and expanded the political determine of Kition. After c. 850 BC the sanctuaries [ at the Kathari site ] were rebuilt and reused by the Phoenicians. ” Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum cyprus is at a strategic location in the Middle East. [ 61 ] [ 62 ] [ 63 ] It was ruled by the Neo-Assyrian Empire for a hundred starting in 708 BC, before a brief spell under egyptian rule and finally Achaemenid rule in 545 BC. [ 56 ] The Cypriots, led by Onesilus, king of Salamis, joined their fellow Greeks in the ionian cities during the abortive ionian Revolt in 499 BC against the Achaemenids. The revolt was suppressed, but Cyprus managed to maintain a senior high school degree of autonomy and remained slope towards the Greek universe. [ 56 ] The island was conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. Following his death, the division of his empire, and the subsequent Wars of the Diadochi, Cyprus became contribution of the Hellenistic empire of Ptolemaic Egypt. It was during this period that the island was amply Hellenized. In 58 BC Cyprus was acquired by the Roman Republic. [ 56 ]

Middle Ages

The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman assail Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians When the Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and western parts in 395, Cyprus became share of the East Roman, or Byzantine Empire, and would remain so until the Crusades some 800 years late. Under Byzantine dominion, the greek orientation that had been big since antiquity developed the hard Hellenistic-Christian quality that continues to be a hallmark of the greek Cypriot community. [ 64 ] Beginning in 649, Cyprus endured several attacks launched by raiders from the Levant, which continued for the following 300 years. many were agile piratical raids, but others were large-scale attacks in which many Cypriots were slaughtered and bang-up wealth carried off or destroyed. [ 64 ] There are no Byzantine churches which survive from this period ; thousands of people were killed, and many cities – such as Salamis – were destroyed and never rebuilt. [ 56 ] Byzantine predominate was restored in 965, when Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas scored decisive victories on land and ocean. [ 56 ] In 1191, during the Third Crusade, Richard I of England captured the island from Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus [ 65 ] He used it as a major add free-base that was relatively condom from the Saracens. A class subsequently Richard sold the island to the Knights Templar, who, following a bloody rebellion, in bend sold it to Guy of Lusignan. His brother and successor Aimery was recognised as King of Cyprus by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. [ 56 ] Following the death in 1473 of James II, the last Lusignan king, the Republic of Venice assumed restraint of the island, while the late king ‘s venetian widow, Queen Catherine Cornaro, reigned as figurehead. Venice formally annexed the Kingdom of Cyprus in 1489, following the abdication of Catherine. [ 56 ] The Venetians fortified Nicosia by building the Walls of Nicosia, and used it as an important commercial hub. Throughout venetian rule, the Ottoman Empire frequently raided Cyprus. In 1539 the Ottomans destroyed Limassol and so fearing the worst, the Venetians besides fortified Famagusta and Kyrenia. [ 56 ] Although the Lusignan French gentry remained the dominant social class in Cyprus throughout the medieval menstruation, the erstwhile assumption that Greeks were treated only as serf on the island [ 56 ] is no long considered by academics to be accurate. It is nowadays accepted that the medieval period saw increasing numbers of greek Cypriots elevated to the upper berth classes, a growing greek middle ranks, [ 66 ] and the Lusignan imperial family evening marrying Greeks. This included King John II of Cyprus who married Helena Palaiologina. [ 67 ]

Cyprus under the Ottoman Empire

In 1570, a all-out Ottoman assail with 60,000 troops brought the island under Ottoman control, despite stiff resistance by the inhabitants of Nicosia and Famagusta. Ottoman forces capturing Cyprus massacred many Greek and armenian Christian inhabitants. [ 68 ] The previous Latin elite were destroyed and the inaugural significant demographic deepen since antiquity took place with the constitution of a Muslim community. [ 69 ] Soldiers who fought in the conquest settled on the island and turkish peasants and craftsmen were brought to the island from Anatolia. [ 70 ] This new community besides included banish Anatolian tribe, “ undesirable ” persons and members of assorted “ troublesome ” Muslim sects, vitamin a well as a number of new converts on the island. [ 71 ]
The Ottomans abolished the feudal system previously in position and applied the millet system to Cyprus, under which non-Muslim peoples were governed by their own religious authorities. In a reverse from the days of Latin rule, the head of the Church of Cyprus was invested as drawing card of the Greek Cypriot population and acted as mediator between Christian Greek Cypriots and the Ottoman authorities. This status ensured that the Church of Cyprus was in a position to end the constant encroachments of the Roman Catholic Church. [ 72 ] Ottoman rule of Cyprus was at times inert, at times oppressive, depending on the temperaments of the sultans and local officials, and the island began over 250 years of economic refuse. [ 73 ] The ratio of Muslims to Christians fluctuated throughout the period of Ottoman domination. In 1777–78, 47,000 Muslims constituted a majority over the island ‘s 37,000 Christians. [ 74 ] By 1872, the population of the island had risen to 144,000, comprising 44,000 Muslims and 100,000 Christians. [ 75 ] The Muslim population included numerous crypto-Christians, [ 76 ] including the Linobambaki, a crypto-Catholic community that arose due to religious persecution of the Catholic community by the Ottoman authorities ; [ 76 ] [ 77 ] this community would assimilate into the turkish Cypriot community during british rule. [ 78 ] equally soon as the Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821, respective Greek Cypriots left for Greece to join the greek forces. In reply, the Ottoman governor of Cyprus arrested and executed 486 big greek Cypriots, including the Archbishop of Cyprus, Kyprianos, and four other bishops. [ 79 ] In 1828, modern Greece ‘s inaugural president Ioannis Kapodistrias called for union of Cyprus with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings took target. [ 80 ] Reaction to Ottoman misgovernment led to uprisings by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, although none were successful. After centuries of negligence by the Ottoman Empire, the poverty of most of the people and the ever-present tax collectors fuelled greek nationalism, and by the twentieth century the theme of enosis, or union, with newly autonomous Greece was firm rooted among greek Cypriots. [ 73 ] Under Ottoman rule, numeracy, school registration and literacy rates were all low. They persisted some fourth dimension after Ottoman principle ended, and then increased quickly during the twentieth hundred. [ 81 ]

Cyprus under the british conglomerate

Hoisting the british sag at Nicosia In the consequence of the Russo-Turkish War ( 1877–1878 ) and the Congress of Berlin, Cyprus was leased to the british Empire which de facto took over its administration in 1878 ( though, in terms of sovereignty, Cyprus remained a de jure Ottoman district until 5 November 1914, in concert with Egypt and Sudan ) [ 15 ] in exchange for guarantees that Britain would use the island as a floor to protect the Ottoman Empire against possible russian aggression. [ 56 ]
The island would serve Britain as a key military establish for its colonial routes. By 1906, when the Famagusta harbor was completed, Cyprus was a strategic naval outpost overlooking the Suez Canal, the all-important main route to India which was then Britain ‘s most important oversea monomania. Following the outbreak of the First World War and the decision of the Ottoman Empire to join the war on the side of the Central Powers, on 5 November 1914 the british Empire formally annexed Cyprus and declared the Ottoman Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan a Sultanate and british protectorate. [ 15 ] [ 56 ] In 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Greece, ruled by King Constantine I of Greece, on condition that Greece join the war on the side of the british. The offer was declined. In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, the nascent Turkish democracy relinquished any call to Cyprus, [ 82 ] and in 1925 it was declared a british crown colony. [ 56 ] During the second World War, many Greek and Turkish Cypriots enlisted in the Cyprus Regiment. The greek Cypriot population, meanwhile, had become aspirant that the british presidency would lead to enosis. The mind of enosis was historically share of the Megali Idea, a greater political ambition of a greek country encompassing the territories with greek inhabitants in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire, including Cyprus and Asia Minor with a capital in Constantinople, and was actively pursued by the Cypriot Orthodox Church, which had its members educated in Greece. These religious officials, in concert with greek military officers and professionals, some of whom still pursued the Megali Idea, would late found the guerrilla constitution Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston or National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters ( EOKA ). [ 83 ] [ 84 ] The greek Cypriots viewed the island as historically Greek and believed that union with Greece was a natural right. [ 85 ] In the 1950s, the avocation of enosis became a part of the greek national policy. [ 86 ]
Βritish soldier taking aim at Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia, 1956 initially, the turkish Cypriots favoured the good continuation of the british rule. [ 87 ] however, they were alarmed by the greek Cypriot calls for enosis, as they saw the union of Crete with Greece, which led to the exodus of Cretan Turks, as a precedent to be avoided, [ 88 ] [ 89 ] and they took a pro-partition stance in response to the militant bodily process of EOKA. [ 90 ] The turkish Cypriots besides viewed themselves as a distinct ethnic group of the island and believed in their having a divide right to self-determination from greek Cypriots. [ 85 ] meanwhile, in the 1950s, turkish leader Menderes considered Cyprus an “ extension of Anatolia ”, rejected the partition of Cyprus along heathen lines and favoured the annexation of the wholly island to Turkey. chauvinistic slogans centred on the theme that “ Cyprus is turkish ” and the ruling party declared Cyprus to be a separate of the turkish fatherland that was full of life to its security. Upon realising that the fact that the Turkish Cypriot population was only 20 % of the islanders made annexation impracticable, the national policy was changed to favour partition. The motto “ Partition or Death ” was frequently used in turkish Cypriot and turkish protests starting in the former 1950s and continuing throughout the 1960s. Although after the Zürich and London conferences Turkey seemed to accept the universe of the Cypriot department of state and to distance itself from its policy of favouring the partition of the island, the finish of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders remained that of creating an independent turkish state in the northern part of the island. [ 91 ] [ 92 ] In January 1950, the Church of Cyprus organised a referendum under the supervision of clerics and with no turkish Cypriot engagement, [ 93 ] where 96 % of the participating greek Cypriots voted in favor of enosis, [ 94 ] [ 95 ] [ 20 ] : 9 The Greeks were 80.2 % of the sum island ‘ south population at the time ( census 1946 ). Restricted autonomy under a constitution was proposed by the british administration but finally rejected. In 1955 the EOKA organization was founded, seeking union with Greece through armed contend. At the lapp prison term the turkish Resistance Organisation ( TMT ), calling for Taksim, or division, was established by the turkish Cypriots as a counterweight. [ 96 ] british officials besides tolerated the creation of the Turkish belowground organization T.M.T. The Secretary of State for the Colonies in a letter dated 15 July 1958 had advised the Governor of Cyprus not to act against T.M.T despite its illegal actions so as not to harm british relations with the turkish government. [ 92 ]

independence and inter-communal violence

cultural map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census. On 16 August 1960, Cyprus attained independence after the Zürich and London Agreement between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey. Cyprus had a total population of 573,566 ; of whom 442,138 ( 77.1 % ) were Greeks, 104,320 ( 18.2 % ) Turks, and 27,108 ( 4.7 % ) others. [ 97 ] The UK retained the two Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, while government posts and public offices were allocated by cultural quotas, giving the minority Turkish Cypriots a permanent veto, 30 % in fantan and administration, and granting the three mother-states guarantor rights. however, the division of power as envision by the united states constitution soon resulted in legal impasses and discontent on both sides, and patriot militants started training again, with the military defend of Greece and Turkey respectively. The greek Cypriot leadership believed that the rights given to Turkish Cypriots under the 1960 constitution were excessively extensive and designed the Akritas plan, which was aimed at reforming the constitution in favor of Greek Cypriots, persuading the international community about the correctness of the changes and violently subjugating turkish Cypriots in a few days should they not accept the plan. [ 98 ] Tensions were heightened when Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios III called for constitutional changes, which were rejected by Turkey [ 20 ] : 17–20 and opposed by turkish Cypriots. [ 98 ] Intercommunal ferocity erupted on 21 December 1963, when two turkish Cypriots were killed at an incident involving the greek Cypriot police. The ferocity resulted in the death of 364 turkish and 174 greek Cypriots, [ 99 ] destruction of 109 turkish Cypriot or blend villages and shift of 25,000–30,000 turkish Cypriots. The crisis resulted in the end of the Turkish Cypriot participation in the administration and their claim that it had lost its legitimacy ; [ 20 ] : 56–59 the nature of this event is still controversial. In some areas, Greek Cypriots prevented turkish Cypriots from travelling and entering government buildings, while some turkish Cypriots willingly withdrew due to the calls of the Turkish Cypriot government. [ 100 ] turkish Cypriots started living in enclaves. The democracy ‘s structure was changed, unilaterally, by Makarios, and Nicosia was divided by the green Line, with the deployment of UNFICYP troops. [ 20 ] : 56–59 In 1964, Turkey threatened to invade Cyprus [ 101 ] in response to the continuing Cypriot intercommunal ferocity, but this was stopped by a strongly worded telegram from the US President Lyndon B. Johnson on 5 June, warning that the US would not stand beside Turkey in case of a consequential soviet invasion of turkish territory. [ 102 ] interim, by 1964, enosis was a greek policy and would not be abandoned ; Makarios and the Greek prime minister Georgios Papandreou agreed that enosis should be the ultimate aim and King Constantine wished Cyprus “ a rapid union with the mother nation ”. Greece dispatched 10,000 troops to Cyprus to counter a possible turkish invasion. [ 103 ]

1974 coup, turkish invasion, and division

Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control On 15 July 1974, the greek military military junta under Dimitrios Ioannides carried out a coup d’etat d’état in Cyprus, to unite the island with Greece. [ 104 ] [ 105 ] [ 106 ] The coup d’etat ousted president of the united states Makarios III and replaced him with pro- enosis nationalist Nikos Sampson. [ 107 ] In reply to the coup, [ one ] five days later, on 20 July 1974, the turkish army invaded the island, citing a right to intervene to restore the constituent order from the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. This justification has been rejected by the United Nations and the external community. [ 113 ] The Turkish air force began bombing greek positions in Cyprus, and hundreds of paratroopers were dropped in the area between Nicosia and Kyrenia, where well-armed turkish Cypriot enclaves had been long-established ; while off the Kyrenia coast, Turkish troop ships landed 6,000 men a well as tanks, trucks and armored vehicles. [ 114 ] [ 115 ] Three days late, when a ceasefire had been agreed, [ 116 ] Turkey had landed 30,000 troops on the island and captured Kyrenia, the corridor linking Kyrenia to Nicosia, and the turkish Cypriot one-fourth of Nicosia itself. [ 116 ] The military junta in Athens, and then the Sampson government in Cyprus fell from exponent. In Nicosia, Glafkos Clerides temporarily assumed the presidency. [ 116 ] But after the peace negotiations in Geneva, the turkish government reinforced their Kyrenia bridgehead and started a second invasion on 14 August. [ 117 ] The invasion resulted in Morphou, Karpass, Famagusta and the Mesaoria coming under Turkish control. International imperativeness led to a ceasefire, and by then 36 % of the island had been taken over by the Turks and 180,000 greek Cypriots had been evicted from their homes in the north. [ 118 ] At the lapp clock time, around 50,000 turkish Cypriots were displaced to the north and settled in the properties of the move greek Cypriots. Among a variety of sanctions against Turkey, in mid-1975 the US Congress imposed an arms embargo on Turkey for using US-supplied equipment during the turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. [ 119 ] There were 1,534 greek Cypriots [ 120 ] and 502 turkish Cypriots [ 121 ] missing as a solution of the active from 1963 to 1974 .

Post-division

A function showing the division of Cyprus After the restoration of constitutional order and the retort of Archbishop Makarios III to Cyprus in December 1974, turkish troops remained, occupying the northeastern dowry of the island. In 1983, the turkish Cypriot fantan, led by the turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ( TRNC ), which is recognised lone by Turkey. [ 4 ] The events of the summer of 1974 dominate the politics on the island, angstrom good as Greco-Turkish relations. turkish settlers have been settled in the north with the encouragement of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot states. The Republic of Cyprus considers their presence a trespass of the Geneva Convention, [ 20 ] : 56–59 whilst many turkish settlers have since severed their ties to Turkey and their moment coevals considers Cyprus to be their fatherland. [ 122 ]
Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 The turkish invasion, the ensuing occupation and the announcement of independence by the TRNC have been condemned by United Nations resolutions, which are reaffirmed by the Security Council every year. [ 123 ] Attempts to resolve the Cyprus challenge have continued. In 2004, the Annan Plan, drafted by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, was put to a referendum in both Northern Cyprus and the Cypriot Republic. 65 % of turkish Cypriots voted in support of the plan and 74 % greek Cypriots voted against the design, claiming that it disproportionately favoured the turkish english. [ 124 ] In sum, 66.7 % of the voters rejected the Annan Plan. On 1 May 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union, together with nine other countries. [ 125 ] Cyprus was accepted into the EU as a whole, although the EU legislation is suspended in Northern Cyprus until a final examination village of the Cyprus problem. Efforts have been made to enhance exemption of movement between the two sides. In April 2003, Northern Cyprus unilaterally eased border restrictions, permitting Cypriots to cross between the two sides for the first time in 30 years. [ 126 ] In March 2008, a wall that had stood for decades at the boundary between the Republic of Cyprus and the UN buff zone was demolished. [ 127 ] The wall had cut across Ledra Street in the center of Nicosia and was seen as a potent symbol of the island ‘s 32-year division. On 3 April 2008, Ledra Street was reopened in the bearing of Greek and Turkish Cypriot officials. [ 128 ] North and South relaunched reunion talks in 2015, [ 129 ] but these collapsed in 2017. [ 130 ] The European Union issued a warn in February 2019 that Cyprus, an EU extremity, was selling EU passports to russian oligarch, saying it would allow organize crime syndicates to infiltrate the EU. [ 131 ] In 2020 leak documents revealed a across-the-board compass of former and current officials from Afghanistan, China, Dubai, Lebanon, the russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Vietnam who bought a Cypriot citizenship anterior to a change of the jurisprudence in July 2019. [ 132 ] [ 133 ] Cyprus and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones, apparently sparked by vegetable oil and gas exploration in the area. [ 134 ]

geography

Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after the italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia [ 4 ] ( both in terms of area and population ). It is besides the world ‘s 80th largest by area and global ‘s 51st largest by population. It measures 240 kilometres ( 149 nautical mile ) long from end to end and 100 kilometres ( 62 nautical mile ) across-the-board at its widest item, with Turkey 75 kilometres ( 47 security service ) to the north. It lies between latitudes 34° and 36° N, and longitudes 32° and 35° vitamin e. other neighboring territories include Syria and Lebanon to the east and southeast ( 105 and 108 kilometres ( 65 and 67 security service ), respectively ), Israel 200 kilometres ( 124 mile ) to the southeast, The Gaza Strip 427 kilometres ( 265 michigan ) to the southeast, Egypt 380 kilometres ( 236 mile ) to the south, and Greece to the northwesterly : 280 kilometres ( 174 mi ) to the little Dodecanesian island of Kastellorizo ( Megisti ), 400 kilometres ( 249 michigan ) to Rhodes and 800 kilometres ( 497 mi ) to the greek mainland. Sources alternatively place Cyprus in Europe, [ 135 ] [ 136 ] [ 137 ] or western Asia and the Middle East. [ 138 ] [ 139 ] The physical relief of the island is dominated by two batch ranges, the Troodos Mountains and the smaller Kyrenia Range, and the central plain they encompass, the Mesaoria. The Mesaoria plain is drained by the Pedieos River, the longest on the island. The Troodos Mountains cover most of the southerly and western portions of the island and account for roughly half its area. The highest point on Cyprus is Mount Olympus at 1,952 molarity ( 6,404 foot ), located in the kernel of the Troodos range. The narrow Kyrenia Range, extending along the northern coastline, occupies well less area, and elevations are lower, reaching a maximal of 1,024 meter ( 3,360 foot ). The island lies within the anatolian Plate. [ 140 ] cyprus contains the Cyprus Mediterranean forests ecoregion. [ 141 ] It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean mark of 7.06/10, ranking it 59th globally out of 172 countries. [ 142 ]
Geopolitically, the island is subdivided into four main segments. The Republic of Cyprus occupies the southerly two-thirds of the island ( 59.74 % ). The turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus occupies the northern third base ( 34.85 % ), and the United Nations-controlled Green Line provides a buffer zone zone that separates the two and covers 2.67 % of the island. last, two bases under british sovereignty are located on the island : Akrotiri and Dhekelia, covering the remaining 2.74 % .

climate

Cyprus has a subtropical climate – Mediterranean and semi-arid type ( in the north-eastern part of the island ) – Köppen climate classifications Csa and BSh, [ 143 ] [ 144 ] with very meek winters ( on the coast ) and warm to hot summers. Snow is possible alone in the Troodos Mountains in the cardinal character of island. Rain occurs chiefly in winter, with summer being broadly dry. Cyprus has one of the warmest climates in the Mediterranean part of the European Union. [ citation needed ] The average annual temperature on the coast is around 24 °C ( 75 °F ) during the day and 14 °C ( 57 °F ) at night. Generally, summers end about eight months, beginning in April with average temperatures of 21–23 °C ( 70–73 °F ) during the day and 11–13 °C ( 52–55 °F ) at nox, and ending in November with average temperatures of 22–23 °C ( 72–73 °F ) during the day and 12–14 °C ( 54–57 °F ) at night, although in the remaining four months temperatures sometimes exceed 20 °C ( 68 °F ). [ 145 ] Among all cities in the Mediterranean separate of the European Union, Limassol has one of the warmest winters, in the period January – February average temperature is 17–18 °C ( 63–64 °F ) during the day and 7–8 °C ( 45–46 °F ) at nox, in other coastal locations in Cyprus is generally 16–17 °C ( 61–63 °F ) during the day and 6–8 °C ( 43–46 °F ) at night. During March, Limassol has average temperatures of 19–20 °C ( 66–68 °F ) during the day and 9–11 °C ( 48–52 °F ) at nox, in other coastal locations in Cyprus is by and large 17–19 °C ( 63–66 °F ) during the day and 8–10 °C ( 46–50 °F ) at nox. [ 145 ] The middle of summer is hot – in July and August on the seashore the average temperature is normally around 33 °C ( 91 °F ) during the day and around 22 °C ( 72 °F ) at night ( inland, in the highlands average temperature exceeds 35 °C ( 95 °F ) ) while in the June and September on the slide the average temperature is normally about 30 °C ( 86 °F ) during the day and around 20 °C ( 68 °F ) at night in Limassol, while is normally about 28 °C ( 82 °F ) during the sidereal day and around 18 °C ( 64 °F ) at night in Paphos. big fluctuations in temperature are rare. Inland temperatures are more extreme, with cold winters and hot summers compared with the slide of the island. [ 145 ] average annual temperature of sea is 21–22 °C ( 70–72 °F ), from 17 °C ( 63 °F ) in February to 27–28 °C ( 81–82 °F ) in August ( depending on the location ). In entire 7 months – from May to November – the average ocean temperature exceeds 20 °C ( 68 °F ). [ 146 ] Sunshine hours on the coast are around 3,200 per class, from an average of 5–6 hours of fair weather per day in December to an average of 12–13 hours in July. [ 146 ] This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europe ; for comparison, London receives about 1,540 per year. [ 147 ] In December, London receives about 50 hours of cheerfulness [ 147 ] while coastal locations in Cyprus about 180 hours ( about equally much as in May in London ) .

Water supply

Cyprus suffers from a chronic deficit of water. The country relies heavily on rain to provide family water, but in the by 30 years average annually precipitation has decreased. [ 148 ] Between 2001 and 2004, exceptionally heavy annual rain pushed water system reserves up, with supply exceeding demand, allowing total repositing in the island ‘s reservoir to rise to an all-time high by the begin of 2005. however, since then demand has increased annually – a leave of local population growth, foreigners moving to Cyprus and the number of visiting tourists – while provide has fallen as a result of more frequent droughts. [ 148 ] Dams remain the star reservoir of water both for domestic and agrarian practice ; Cyprus has a entire of 107 dams ( plus one presently under construction ) and reservoirs, with a entire water storehouse capacitance of about 330,000,000 m3 ( 1.2×1010 copper foot ). [ 149 ] Water desalination plants are gradually being constructed to deal with recent years of drawn-out drought. The Government has invested heavily in the creation of water system desalination plants which have supplied about 50 per penny of domestic water since 2001. Efforts have besides been made to raise public awareness of the site and to encourage domestic water users to take more duty for the conservation of this increasingly barely commodity. Turkey has built a water grapevine under the Mediterranean Sea from Anamur on its southern seashore to the northerly coast of Cyprus, to supply Northern Cyprus with beverage and irrigation water (see Northern Cyprus Water Supply Project) .

Politics

Cyprus is a presidential republic. The head of submit and of the government is elected by a process of universal right to vote for a five-year term. Executive baron is exercised by the government with legislative world power vested in the House of Representatives whilst the Judiciary is independent of both the executive and the legislature. The 1960 Constitution provided for a presidential system of government with independent executive, legislative and discriminative branches deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as a complex system of checks and balances including a burden power-sharing proportion designed to protect the interests of the turkish Cypriots. The administrator was led by a greek Cypriot president of the united states and a turkish Cypriot vice-president elected by their respective communities for five-year terms and each possessing a right of forbid over certain types of legislation and executive decisions. legislative baron rested on the House of Representatives who were besides elected on the basis of separate voters ‘ rolls. Since 1965, following clashes between the two communities, the Turkish Cypriot seats in the House stay vacant. In 1974 Cyprus was divided de facto when the turkish army occupied the northerly one-third of the island. The turkish Cypriots subsequently declared independence in 1983 as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus but were recognised only by Turkey. In 1985 the TRNC adopted a fundamental law and held its foremost elections. The United Nations recognises the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the entire island of Cyprus .
The House of Representatives presently has 59 members elected for a five-year condition, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 perceiver members representing the armenian, Latin and Maronite minorities. 24 seats are allocated to the Turkish community but remain vacant since 1964. The political environment is dominated by the communist AKEL, the liberal conservative democratic Rally, the centrist [ 150 ] Democratic Party, the social-democratic EDEK and the centrist EURO.KO. In 2008, Dimitris Christofias became the nation ‘s first gear communist head of state. due to his participation in the 2012–13 Cypriot fiscal crisis, Christofias did not run for re-election in 2013. The presidential election in 2013 resulted in democratic Rally campaigner Nicos Anastasiades winning 57.48 % of the vote. As a leave, Anastasiades was sworn in on and has been president since 28 February 2013. Anastasiades was re-elected with 56 % of the vote in the 2018 presidential election. [ 151 ] [ 152 ]

administrative divisions

The Republic of Cyprus is divided into six districts : Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos. [ 153 ]

Exclaves and enclaves

Cyprus has four exclaves, all in district that belongs to the british Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. The first two are the villages of Ormidhia and Xylotymvou. The one-third is the Dhekelia Power Station, which is divided by a british road into two parts. The northerly separate is the EAC refugee colony. The southerly share, even though located by the ocean, is besides an exclave because it has no territorial waters of its own, those being united kingdom waters. [ 154 ] The UN buff zone runs up against Dhekelia and picks up again from its east side off Ayios Nikolaos and is connected to the rest of Dhekelia by a thin state corridor. In that sense the buff zone turns the Paralimni area on the southeast corner of the island into a de facto, though not de jure, exclave .

foreign relations

The Republic of Cyprus is a extremity of the play along external groups : Australia Group, CN, CE, CFSP, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ITUC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITU, MIGA, NAM, NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO. [ 4 ] [ 155 ]

Armed forces

The Cypriot National Guard is the main military institution of the Republic of Cyprus. It is a compound arms force, with down, air and naval elements. historically all men were required to spend 24 months serving in the National Guard after their seventeenth birthday, but in 2016 this period of compulsory overhaul was reduced to 14 months. [ 156 ] per annum, approximately 10,000 persons are trained in recruit centres. Depending on their awarded forte the draftee recruits are then transferred to speciality training camps or to operational units. While until 2016 the armed forces were chiefly conscript based, since then a large Professional Enlisted mental hospital has been adopted ( ΣΥΟΠ ), which combined with the reduction of conscript service produces an approximate 3:1 ratio between draftee and professional enlisted .

law, department of justice and human rights

Supreme Court of Justice The Cyprus Police ( greek : Αστυνομία Κύπρου, turkish : Kıbrıs Polisi ) is the only National Police Service of the Republic of Cyprus and is under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order since 1993. [ 157 ]

economy

A proportional representation of Cyprus ‘s exports, 2019 In the early twenty-first century the Cypriot economy has diversified and become booming. [ 164 ] however, in 2012 it became moved by the Eurozone fiscal and banking crisis. In June 2012, the Cypriot politics announced it would need €1.8 billion in alien help to support the Cyprus Popular Bank, and this was followed by Fitch downgrading Cyprus ‘s credit rate to debris condition. [ 165 ] Fitch said Cyprus would need an extra €4 billion to support its banks and the downgrade was chiefly due to the exposure of Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank and Hellenic Bank, Cyprus ‘s three largest banks, to the greek fiscal crisis. [ 165 ]
The 2012–2013 Cypriot fiscal crisis led to an agreement with the Eurogroup in March 2013 to split the country ‘s second largest bank, the Cyprus Popular Bank ( besides known as Laiki Bank ), into a “ badly ” bank which would be wound down over clock time and a “ good ” bank which would be absorbed by the Bank of Cyprus. In return for a €10 billion bailout from the european Commission, the european Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, much referred to as the “ three ”, the Cypriot politics was required to impose a significant haircut on uninsured deposits, a large proportion of which were held by affluent Russians who used Cyprus as a tax haven. Insured deposits of €100,000 or less were not affected. [ 166 ] [ 167 ] [ 168 ]
Limassol General Hospital According to the 2017 International Monetary Fund estimates, its per head GDP ( adjusted for purchasing world power ) at $ 36,442 is below the average of the European Union. [ 169 ] [ 170 ] Cyprus has been sought as a basis for respective offshore businesses for its low tax rates. tourism, fiscal services and shipping are meaning parts of the economy. economic policy of the Cyprus government has focused on meeting the criterion for admission to the European Union. The cypriot government adopted the euro as the national currency on 1 January 2008. [ 164 ] Cyprus is the last EU extremity amply isolated from energy interconnections and it is expected that it will be connected to european network via EuroAsia Interconnector, 2000 MW HVDC submarine exponent cable television. [ 171 ] EuroAsia Interconnector will connect Greek, Cypriot, and Israeli world power grids. It is a leading plan of common Interest of the European Union and besides priority Electricity Highway Interconnector Project. [ 172 ] [ 173 ] In late years significant quantities of offshore natural gas have been discovered in the area known as Aphrodite ( at the exploratory drill block 12 ) in Cyprus ‘ exclusive economic zone ( EEZ ), [ 174 ] about 175 kilometres ( 109 miles ) south of Limassol at 33°5’40″N and 32°59’0″E. [ 175 ] however, Turkey ‘s offshore drill companies have accessed both natural gasoline and oil resources since 2013. [ 176 ] Cyprus demarcated its nautical border with Egypt in 2003, with Lebanon in 2007, [ 177 ] and with Israel in 2010. [ 178 ] In August 2011, the US-based firm Noble Energy entered into a production-sharing agreement with the Cypriot government regarding the obstruct ‘s commercial development. [ 179 ] Turkey, which does not recognise the border agreements of Cyprus with its neighbours, [ 180 ] threatened to mobilise its naval forces if Cyprus proceeded with plans to begin drilling at Block 12. [ 181 ] Cyprus ‘ drill efforts have the accompaniment of the US, EU, and UN, and on 19 September 2011 boring in Block 12 began without any incidents being reported. [ 182 ] Because of the heavy inflow of tourists and foreign investors, the property rental market in Cyprus has grown in recent years. [ when? ] [ 183 ] In belated 2013, the Cyprus Town Planning Department announced a serial of incentives to stimulate the property market and increase the number of property developments in the area ‘s township centres. [ 184 ] This followed earlier measures to quickly give immigration permits to third area nationals investing in Cyprus place. [ 185 ]

transport

A1 Motorway between Agios Athanasios junction and Mesa Ghetonia junction in Limassol available modes of transport are by road, sea and air. Of the 10,663 kilometer ( 6,626 nautical mile ) of roads in the Republic of Cyprus in 1998, 6,249 kilometer ( 3,883 myocardial infarction ) were paved, and 4,414 kilometer ( 2,743 mi ) were unpaved. In 1996 the Turkish-occupied area had a alike proportion of paved to unpaved, with approximately 1,370 km ( 850 mile ) of paved road and 980 kilometer ( 610 michigan ) unpaved. [ citation needed ] Cyprus is one of only three EU nations in which vehicles drive on the left-hand english of the road, a end of british colonization ( the others being Ireland and Malta ). A serial of motorways runs along the coast from Paphos east to Ayia Napa, with two motorways running inland to Nicosia, one from Limassol and one from Larnaca. Per head private car possession is the 29th-highest in the world. [ 186 ] There were approximately 344,000 privately owned vehicles, and a total of 517,000 register motive vehicles in the Republic of Cyprus in 2006. [ 187 ] In 2006, plans were announced to improve and expand bus services and early public transportation throughout Cyprus, with the fiscal back of the European Union Development Bank. In 2010 the new busbar net was implemented. [ 188 ] Cyprus has respective heliports and two international airports : Larnaca International Airport and Paphos International Airport. A third airport, Ercan International Airport, operates in the turkish Cypriot administered area with direct flights only to Turkey ( turkish Cypriot ports are closed to international traffic apart from Turkey ). Nicosia International Airport has been closed since 1974. The main harbor of the island are Limassol and Larnaca, which service cargo, passenger and cruise ships .

Communications

Cyta, the state-owned telecommunication company, manages most telecommunications and Internet connections on the island. however, following deregulation of the sector, a few private telecommunication companies emerged, including epic, Cablenet, OTEnet Telecom, Omega Telecom and PrimeTel. In the Turkish-controlled sphere of Cyprus, two different companies administer the mobile earphone network : Turkcell and KKTC Telsim. [ citation needed ]

Demographics

Population increase, 1961–2003 ( numbers for the entire island, excluding turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus ) . 2010 population by long time and sex According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2001 greek Cypriots comprised 77 %, turkish Cypriots 18 %, and others 5 % of the Cypriot population. [ 189 ] At the time of the 2011 government census, there were 10,520 people of russian origin living in Cyprus. [ 190 ] [ 191 ] [ 192 ] [ 193 ] According to the inaugural population census after the declaration of independence, carried out in December 1960 and covering the stallion island, Cyprus had a full population of 573,566, of whom 442,138 ( 77.1 % ) were Greeks, 104,320 ( 18.2 % ) turkish, and 27,108 ( 4.7 % ) others. [ 97 ] [ 194 ] due to the inter-communal heathen tensions between 1963 and 1974, an island-wide census was regarded as impossible. however, the Cypriot government conducted one in 1973, without the turkish Cypriot populace. [ 195 ] According to this census, the Greek Cypriot population was 482,000. One class late, in 1974, the Cypriot politics ‘s Department of Statistics and Research estimated the sum population of Cyprus at 641,000 ; of whom 506,000 ( 78.9 % ) were Greeks, and 118,000 ( 18.4 % ) turkish. [ 196 ] After the partition of the island in 1974, the government of Cyprus conducted four more censuses : in 1976, 1982, 1992 and 2001 ; these excluded the Turkish population which was resident in the northerly character of the island. [ 194 ] According to the Republic of Cyprus ‘s latest estimate, in 2005, the number of Cypriot citizens presently living in the Republic of Cyprus is about 871,036. In summation to this, the Republic of Cyprus is home to 110,200 alien permanent residents [ 197 ] and an estimated 10,000–30,000 undocumented illegal immigrants presently living in the south of the island. [ 198 ]

Nationality	Population (2011)
Largest groups of foreign residents
	29,321
	24,046
	23,706
	18,536
	9,413
	8,164
	7,269
	7,028
	3,054
	2,933

According to the 2006 census carried out by Northern Cyprus, there were 256,644 ( de jure ) people living in Northern Cyprus. 178,031 were citizens of Northern Cyprus, of whom 147,405 were born in Cyprus ( 112,534 from the north ; 32,538 from the south ; 371 did not indicate what part of Cyprus they were from ) ; 27,333 born in Turkey ; 2,482 hold in the UK and 913 born in Bulgaria. Of the 147,405 citizens born in Cyprus, 120,031 say both parents were born in Cyprus ; 16,824 say both parents born in Turkey ; 10,361 have one parent born in Turkey and one parent born in Cyprus. [ 199 ] In 2010, the International Crisis Group estimated that the full population of Cyprus was 1.1 million, [ 200 ] of which there was an estimate 300,000 residents in the north, possibly half of whom were either born in Turkey or are children of such settlers. [ 201 ] The villages of Rizokarpaso ( in Northern Cyprus ), Potamia ( in Nicosia zone ) and Pyla ( in Larnaca District ) are the only settlements remaining with a desegregate Greek and Turkish Cypriot population. [ 202 ] Y-Dna haplogroups are found at the following frequencies in Cyprus : J ( 43.07 % including 6.20 % J1 ), E1b1b ( 20.00 % ), R1 ( 12.30 % including 9.2 % R1b ), F ( 9.20 % ), I ( 7.70 % ), K ( 4.60 % ), A ( 3.10 % ). [ 203 ] J, K, F and E1b1b haplogroups consist of lineages with differential gear distribution within Middle East, North Africa and Europe while R1 and I are typical in european populations. outside Cyprus there are significant and thriving diasporas – both a greek Cypriot diaspora and a turkish Cypriot diaspora – in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the United States, Greece and Turkey .

functional urban areas

religion

The majority of greek Cypriots name as Christians, specifically greek Orthodox, [ 206 ] [ 207 ] [ 208 ] whereas most turkish Cypriots are adherents of Sunni Islam. According to Eurobarometer 2005, [ 209 ] Cyprus was the second most religious country in the European Union at that time, after Malta ( although in 2005 Romania was n’t in the European Union ; presently Romania is the most religious country in the EU ) (see Religion in the European Union). The first President of Cyprus, Makarios III, was an archbishop, and the Vice President of Cyprus was Fazıl Küçük. The stream leader of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus is Archbishop Chrysostomos II. Hala Sultan Tekke, situated near the Larnaca Salt Lake is an object of pilgrimage for Muslims. According to the 2001 census carried out in the Government-controlled area, [ 210 ] 94.8 % of the population were Eastern Orthodox, 0.9 % Armenians and Maronites, 1.5 % Roman Catholics, 1.0 % Church of England, and 0.6 % Muslims. There is besides a jewish community on Cyprus. The remaining 1.3 % adhered to other religious denominations or did not state their religion .

Languages

Cyprus has two official languages, Greek and Turkish. [ 211 ] armenian and Cypriot Maronite Arabic are recognised as minority languages. [ 212 ] [ 213 ] Although without official condition, English is wide spoken and it features widely on road signs, populace notices, and in advertisements, etc. [ 214 ] English was the lone official linguistic process during british colonial govern and the tongue franca until 1960, and continued to be used ( de facto ) in courts of law until 1989 and in legislation until 1996. [ 215 ] 80.4 % of Cypriots are technical in the english language as a second linguistic process. [ 216 ] Russian is widely spoken among the country ‘s minorities, residents and citizens of post-Soviet countries, and Pontic Greeks. Russian, after English and Greek, is the third lyric used on many signs of shops and restaurants, particularly in Limassol and Paphos. In addition to these languages, 12 % speak french and 5 % speak German. [ 217 ] The everyday talk language of greek Cypriots is Cypriot Greek and that of turkish Cypriots is Cypriot Turkish. [ 215 ] These vernaculars both differ from their standard registers importantly. [ 215 ]

education

Cyprus has a highly evolve system of basal and secondary education offering both public and secret education. The high quality of teaching can be attributed in share to the fact that closely 7 % of the GDP is spent on department of education which makes Cyprus one of the crown three spenders of education in the EU along with Denmark and Sweden. [ 218 ] express schools are by and large seen as equivalent in quality of education to private-sector institutions. however, the value of a state high-school diploma is limited by the fact that the grades obtained score for only about 25 % of the final examination grade for each subject, with the remaining 75 % assigned by the teacher during the semester, in a minimally transparent way. Cypriot universities ( like universities in Greece ) ignore high school grades about wholly for admissions purposes. While a high-school diploma is mandatary for university attendance, admissions are decided about entirely on the basis of scores at centrally administered university entrance examinations that all university candidates are required to take. The majority of Cypriots receive their higher education at Greek, British, Turkish, other european and north american universities. Cyprus presently [ when? ] has the highest share of citizens of working old age who have higher-level education in the EU at 30 % which is ahead of Finland ‘s 29.5 %. In addition, 47 % of its population aged 25–34 have tertiary education, which is the highest in the EU. The body of Cypriot students is highly mobile, with 78.7 % studying in a university outside Cyprus .

culture

greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots share a bunch in common in their culture due to cultural exchanges but besides have differences. respective traditional food ( such as souvla and halloumi ) and beverages are like, a well as expressions and ways of life. cordial reception and buying or offer food and drinks for guests or others are common among both. In both communities, music, dance and art are integral parts of social life and many artistic, verbal and nonverbal expressions, traditional dances such as tsifteteli, similarities in dance costumes and importance placed on social activities are shared between the communities. [ 219 ] however, the two communities have distinct religions and religious cultures, with the greek Cypriots traditionally being greek Orthodox and Turkish Cypriots traditionally being Sunni Muslims, which has partially hindered cultural central. [ 220 ] Greek Cypriots have influences from Greece and Christianity, while turkish Cypriots have influences from Turkey and Islam. The Limassol Carnival Festival is an annual carnival which is held at Limassol, in Cyprus. The consequence which is very popular in Cyprus was introduced in the twentieth century .

Arts

distinctive Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus The art history of Cyprus can be said to stretch spinal column up to 10,000 years, following the discovery of a series of Chalcolithic period carved figures in the villages of Khoirokoitia and Lempa. [ 222 ] The island is the home to numerous examples of high quality religious icon paint from the Middle Ages a well as many painted churches. Cypriot architecture was heavily influenced by french Gothic and italian rebirth introduced in the island during the era of Latin domination ( 1191–1571 ). A well known traditional artwork that dates at least from the fourteenth century is the Lefkara Lace ( besides known as “ Lefkaratika ”, which originates from the village Lefkara. Lefkara spike is recognised as an intangible cultural inheritance ( ICH ) by Unesco, and it is characterised by distinct design patterns, and its intricate, time-consuming output summons. A actual Lefkara lace with fully embellishment can take typically hundreds of hours to be made, and that is why it is normally priced quite high. Another local form of art the originated from Lefkara is the production of Cypriot Filigree ( locally known as Trifourenio ), a type of jewelry that is made with twist threads of silver. In Lefkara village there is government funded center named Lefkara Handicraft Center the deputation of which is to educate and teach the art of making the embroidery and silver jewelry. There ‘s besides the museum of traditional Embroidery and Silversmithing located in the greenwich village which has large collection of local handmade art. In modern times Cypriot art history begins with the painter Vassilis Vryonides ( 1883–1958 ) who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. [ 223 ] arguably the two founding fathers of modern Cypriot art were Adamantios Diamantis ( 1900–1994 ) who studied at London ‘s Royal College of Art and Christopheros Savva ( 1924–1968 ) who besides studied in London, at Saint Martin ‘s School of Art. [ 224 ] In 1960, Savva founded, together with Welsh artist Glyn Hughes, Apophasis [ Decision ], the first independent cultural focus on of the newly established Republic of Cyprus. In 1968, Savva was among the artists representing Cyprus in its inaugural pavilion at the 34th Venice Biennale. English Cypriot Artist Glyn HUGHES 1931–2014. [ 225 ] In many ways these two artists set the template for subsequent Cypriot art and both their aesthetic styles and the patterns of their education remain influential to this day. In particular the majority of Cypriot artists still train in England [ 226 ] while others train at artwork schools in Greece and local artwork institutions such as the Cyprus College of Art, University of Nicosia and the Frederick Institute of Technology. One of the features of Cypriot art is a tendency towards figurative paint although conceptual art is being rigorously promoted by a number of artwork “ institutions ” and most notably the Nicosia Municipal Art Centre. Municipal artwork galleries exist in all the main towns and there is a big and lively commercial art scene. Cyprus was due to host the external art festival Manifesta in 2006 but this was cancelled at the concluding moment following a quarrel between the Dutch organizers of Manifesta and the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture over the location of some of the Manifesta events in the Turkish sector of the capital Nicosia. [ 227 ] [ 228 ] There were besides complaints from some Cypriot artists that the Manifesta administration was importing international artists to take part in the consequence while treating members of the local art community in Cyprus as ‘ignorant ‘ and ‘uncivilized natives ‘ who need to be teach ‘how to make proper artwork ‘. [ 229 ] other luminary greek Cypriot artists include Helene Black, Kalopedis syndicate, Panayiotis Kalorkoti, Nicos Nicolaides, Stass Paraskos, Arestís Stasí, Telemachos Kanthos, Konstantia Sofokleous and Chris Achilleos, and Turkish Cypriot artists include İsmet Güney, Ruzen Atakan and Mutlu Çerkez .

music

Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music. The traditional family music of Cyprus has several common elements with Greek, Turkish, and Arabic Music, all of which have descended from Byzantine music, including greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot dances such as the sousta, syrtos, zeibekikos, tatsia, and karsilamas deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as the Middle Eastern-inspired tsifteteli and arapies. There is besides a form of musical poetry known as chattista which is often performed at traditional feasts and celebrations. The instruments normally associated with Cyprus tribe music are the violin ( “ fkiolin ” ), lute ( “ laouto ” ), Cyprus flute ( pithkiavlin ), oud ( “ outi ” ), kanonaki and percussions ( including the “ tamboutsia “ ). Composers associated with traditional Cypriot music include Solon Michaelides, Marios Tokas, Evagoras Karageorgis and Savvas Salides. Among musicians is besides the applaud pianist Cyprien Katsaris, composer Andreas G. Orphanides, and composer and artistic conductor of the European Capital of Culture enterprise Marios Joannou Elia. popular music in Cyprus is generally influenced by the greek Laïka fit ; artists who play in this genre include international platinum star Anna Vissi, [ 230 ] [ 231 ] [ 232 ] [ 233 ] Evridiki, and Sarbel. Hip hop and R & B have been supported by the egress of Cypriot rap and the urban music view at Ayia Napa, while in the last years the reggae fit is growing, specially through the engagement of many Cypriot artists at the annual Reggae Sunjam festival. Is besides noted Cypriot rock music and Éntekhno rock candy is often associated with artists such as Michalis Hatzigiannis and Alkinoos Ioannidis. Metal besides has a little come in Cyprus represented by bands such as Armageddon ( rev.16:16 ), Blynd, Winter ‘s Verge, Methysos and Quadraphonic .

literature

literary production of the antiquity includes the Cypria, an epic poem, credibly composed in the late seventh century BC and attributed to Stasinus. The Cypria is one of the inaugural specimens of Greek and european poetry. [ 234 ] The Cypriot Zeno of Citium was the fall through of the Stoic school of doctrine. Epic poetry, notably the “ acritic songs ”, flourished during Middle Ages. Two chronicles, one written by Leontios Machairas and the other by Georgios Boustronios, cover the entire Middle Ages until the end of frankish rule ( 4th century–1489 ). Poèmes d’amour written in medieval greek Cypriot date back from the sixteenth century. Some of them are actual translations of poems written by Petrarch, Bembo, Ariosto and G. Sannazzaro. [ 235 ] many Cypriot scholars fled Cyprus at trouble times such as Ioannis Kigalas ( c. 1622–1687 ) who migrated from Cyprus to Italy in the seventeenth century, respective of his works have survived in books of other scholars. [ 236 ]
Hasan Hilmi Efendi, a turkish Cypriot poet, was rewarded by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II and said to be the “ sultan of the poem ”. [ 238 ] modern Greek Cypriot literary figures include the poet and writer Kostas Montis, poet Kyriakos Charalambides, poet Michalis Pasiardis, writer Nicos Nicolaides, Stylianos Atteshlis, Altheides, Loukis Akritas [ 239 ] and Demetris Th. Gotsis. Dimitris Lipertis, Vasilis Michaelides and Pavlos Liasides are tribe poets who wrote poems chiefly in the Cypriot-Greek dialect. [ 240 ] [ 241 ] Among leading turkish Cypriot writers are Osman Türkay, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, [ 242 ] Özker Yaşın, Neriman Cahit, Urkiye Mine Balman, Mehmet Yaşın and Neşe Yaşın. There is an increasingly solid bearing of both impermanent and permanent emigrant Cypriot writers in world literature, arsenic well as writings by second and one-third -generation Cypriot writers born or raised overseas, frequently writing in English. This includes writers such as Michael Paraskos and Stephanos Stephanides. [ 243 ] Examples of Cyprus in alien literature include the works of Shakespeare, with most of the bet Othello by William Shakespeare located on the island of Cyprus. british writer Lawrence Durrell lived in Cyprus from 1952 until 1956, during his time working for the british colonial government on the island, and wrote the book Bitter Lemons about his time in Cyprus which won the second base Duff Cooper Prize in 1957 .

Mass media

In the 2015 Freedom of the Press report of Freedom House, the Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus were ranked “ free ”. The Republic of Cyprus scored 25/100 in press freedom, 5/30 in Legal Environment, 11/40 in political environment, and 9/30 in Economic Environment ( the lower scores the better ). [ 244 ] Reporters Without Borders rank the Republic of Cyprus 24th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 15.62 [ 245 ] The law provides for freedom of actor’s line and wardrobe, and the government by and large respects these rights in drill. An independent imperativeness, an effective judiciary, and a serve democratic political system blend to ensure freedom of lecture and of the press. The law prohibits arbitrary hindrance with privacy, family, home, or commensurateness, and the politics broadly respects these prohibitions in drill. [ 246 ] local anesthetic television receiver companies in Cyprus include the department of state owned Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation which runs two television channels. In addition on the greek side of the island there are the secret channels ANT1 Cyprus, Plus TV, Mega Channel, Sigma TV, Nimonia TV ( NTV ) and New Extra. In Northern Cyprus, the local channels are BRT, the turkish Cypriot equivalent to the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, and a count of private channels. The majority of local arts and cultural program is produced by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation and BRT, with local anesthetic arts documentaries, review programmes and filmed play series .

film

The most global known Cypriot conductor, to have worked overseas, is Michael Cacoyannis. In the former 1960s and early 1970s, George Filis produced and directed Gregoris Afxentiou, Etsi Prodothike i Kypros, and The Mega Document. In 1994, Cypriot movie production received a boost with the establishment of the Cinema Advisory Committee. In 2000, the annual sum set aside for filmmaking in the national budget was CYP£ 500,000 ( about €850,000 ). In addition to government grants, Cypriot co-productions are eligible for funding from the Council of Europe ‘s Eurimages Fund, which finances european film co-productions. To date, four feature films on which a Cypriot was an executive manufacturer have received fund from Eurimages. The first was I Sphagi tou Kokora ( 1996 ), followed by Hellados ( unreleased ), To Tama ( 1999 ), and O Dromos gia tin Ithaki ( 2000 ). [ 247 ] only a small number of alien films have been made in Cyprus. This includes Incense for the Damned ( 1970 ), The Beloved ( 1970 ), and Ghost in the Noonday Sun ( 1973 ). [ 248 ] Parts of the John Wayne film The Longest Day ( 1962 ) were besides filmed in Cyprus .

cuisine

meze cypriot During the medieval period, under the french Lusignan sovereign of Cyprus an detailed form of courtly cuisine developed, fusing french, Byzantine and Middle Eastern forms. The Lusignan kings were known for importing syrian cooks to Cyprus, and it has been suggested that one of the key routes for the import of Middle Eastern recipes into France and other western european countries, such as blancmange, was via the Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus. These recipes became known in the West as Vyands de Chypre, or Foods of Cyprus, and the food historian William Woys Weaver has identified over one hundred of them in English, french, italian and german recipe books of the Middle Ages. One that became particularly popular across Europe in the chivalric and early modern periods was a stew made with chicken or pisces called malmonia, which in English became mawmeny. [ 249 ] Another example of a Cypriot food ingredient entering the western european canon is the cauliflower, still popular and used in a variety of ways on the island today, which was associated with Cyprus from the early on Middle Ages. Writing in the 12th and 13th centuries the arab botanists Ibn al-‘Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar claimed the vegetable had its origins in Cyprus, [ 250 ] [ 251 ] and this affiliation with the island was echoed in Western Europe, where cauliflowers were primitively known as Cyprus pilfer or Cyprus colewart. There was besides a long and extensive barter in cauliflower seeds from Cyprus, until well into the sixteenth hundred. [ 252 ] Although much of the Lusignan food acculturation was lost after the fall of Cyprus to the Ottomans in 1571, a number of dishes that would have been familiar to the Lusignans exist today, including versatile forms of tahini and houmous, zalatina, skordalia and pickled crazy song birds called ambelopoulia. Ambelopoulia, which is today highly controversial, and illegal, was exported in huge quantities from Cyprus during the Lusignan and Venetian periods, peculiarly to Italy and France. In 1533 the English traveler to Cyprus, John Locke, claimed to have seen the pickle fantastic birds packed into boastfully jars, or which 1200 jars were exported from Cyprus annually. [ 253 ] besides conversant to the Lusignans would have been Halloumi cheese, which some food writers today claim originated in Cyprus during the Byzantine period [ 254 ] [ 255 ] [ 256 ] although the name of the tall mallow itself is thought by academics to be of Arabic origin. [ 257 ] There is no surviving written objective attest of the cheese being associated with Cyprus before the year 1554, when the italian historian Florio Bustron wrote of a sheep-milk cheese from Cyprus he called calumi. [ 257 ] Halloumi ( Hellim ) is normally served sliced, grilled, fried and sometimes fresh, as an appetizer or meze cup of tea .
Cypriot stylus café in an arcade in Nicosia seafood and pisces dishes include squid, octopus, loss mullet, and sea bass. Cucumber and tomato are used wide in salads. Common vegetable preparations include potatoes in olive vegetable oil and parsley, pickled cauliflower and beets, asparagus and taro. other traditional delicacies are meat marinated in dry coriander seeds and wine, and finally dried and smoked, such as lountza ( smoked pork barrel loin ), charcoal-grilled lamb, souvlaki ( pork barrel and chicken cooked over charcoal ), and sheftalia ( mince meat wrapped in mesentery ). Pourgouri ( bulgur, cracked pale yellow ) is the traditional reference of carbohydrate other than bread, and is used to make the airiness koubes. fresh vegetables and fruits are coarse ingredients. frequently use vegetables include courgettes, green peppers, okra, fleeceable beans, artichokes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and grapeshot leaves, and pulses such as beans, broad beans, peas, black-eyed beans, chick-peas and lentils. The most common fruits and nuts are pears, apples, grapes, oranges, mandarines, nectarines, wild medlar, blackberries, cherry, strawberries, figs, watermelon, melon, avocado, lemon, pistachio, almond, chestnut, walnut, and hazelnut. Cyprus is besides well known for its desserts, including lokum ( besides known as turkish Delight ) and Soutzoukos. [ 258 ] This island has protected geographic indication ( PGI ) for its lokum produced in the village of Geroskipou. [ 259 ] [ 260 ]

Sports

Sport governing bodies include the Cyprus Football Association, Cyprus Basketball Federation, Cyprus Volleyball Federation, Cyprus Automobile Association, Cyprus Badminton Federation, [ 261 ] Cyprus Cricket Association, Cyprus Rugby Federation and the Cyprus Pool Association. noteworthy sports teams in the Cyprus leagues include APOEL FC, Anorthosis Famagusta FC, AC Omonia, AEL Lemesos, Apollon FC, Nea Salamis Famagusta FC, AEK Larnaca FC, AEL Limassol B.C., Keravnos B.C. and Apollon Limassol B.C. . Stadiums or sports venues include the GSP Stadium ( the largest in the Republic of Cyprus-controlled areas ), Tsirion Stadium ( second largest ), Neo GSZ Stadium, Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Ammochostos Stadium and Makario Stadium. In the 2008–09 temper, Anorthosis Famagusta FC was the first Cypriot team to qualify for the UEFA Champions League Group stage. Next temper, APOEL FC qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage, and reached the last 8 of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League after finishing top of its group and beating french Olympique Lyonnais in the Round of 16. The Cyprus home rugby union team known as The Moufflons presently holds the criminal record for most straight international wins, which is specially celebrated as the Cyprus Rugby Federation was only formed in 2006. Tennis player Marcos Baghdatis was ranked 8th in the world, was a finalist at the australian Open, and reached the Wimbledon semi-final, all in 2006. high sweater Kyriakos Ioannou achieved a rise of 2.35 megabyte at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, in 2007, winning the bronze decoration. He has been ranked third base in the universe. In motorsports, Tio Ellinas is a successful race car driver, presently racing in the GP3 Series for Marussia Manor Motorsport. There is besides mix martial artist Costas Philippou, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion ‘s middleweight class. Costas holds a 6–3 record in UFC bouts, and recently defeated “ The Monsoon ” Lorenz Larkin by a hard in the first round of golf. besides noteworthy for a Mediterranean island, the siblings Christopher and Sophia Papamichalopoulou qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were the alone athletes who managed to qualify and frankincense represented Cyprus at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The area ‘s first ever Olympic decoration, a silver decoration, was won by the sailor Pavlos Kontides, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men ‘s Laser class .

Cyprus – Wikipedia