Portal:Cyprus

The Cyprus Portal

Cyprus (/ˈsaɪprəs/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is geographically a part of West Asia, but its cultural ties and geopolitics are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is east of Greece, north of Egypt, south of Turkey, and west of Lebanon and Syria. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus also shares land borders with Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a dependent territory of the United Kingdom. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming settlements emerging a few thousand years later. During the late Bronze Age, Cyprus, known in contemporary sources as Alashiya, developed an urbanised society closely connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Cyprus experienced waves of settlement by Mycenaean Greeks at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. 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 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). Cyprus was placed under the United Kingdom's administration 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 disagreement between the two prominent ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. From the 19th century onwards, the Greek Cypriot population pursued enosis, union with Greece, which became a Greek national policy in the 1950s. The Turkish Cypriot population initially advocated the continuation 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 partition of Cyprus and the creation of a Turkish polity in the north. Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. The crisis of 1963–64 brought further intercommunal violence between the two communities, displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots into enclaves and brought the end of Turkish Cypriot representation in the republic. On 15 July 1974, a coup d'état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta. This action precipitated the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July, which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus and the displacement of over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was established by unilateral declaration in 1983; the move was widely condemned by the international community, with Turkey alone recognising the new state. These events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. (Full article...)

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The Republic of Cyprus (Cyprus) and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones (EEZ), ostensibly sparked by oil and gas exploration in the area. Turkey objects to Cypriot drilling in waters that Cyprus has asserted a claim on. The present maritime zones dispute touches on the perennial Cyprus and Aegean disputes; Turkey is the only member state of the United Nations that does not recognise Cyprus, and is one of the countries which are not signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Cyprus has signed and ratified.

Turkey claims a portion of Cyprus' EEZ based on Turkey's definition that no islands, including Cyprus, can have a full 200 nautical mile EEZ authorized to coastal states and should only be entitled to their 12 nautical mile territorial seas. Turkey's definition creates a dispute over the rights to waters south of Cyprus containing an offshore gas field. This definition is not shared by most other states. Furthermore, the internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which was created as result of the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus, which took place in response to 1974 Cypriot coup d'état, also claims portions of Cypriot EEZ. Cyprus and other countries including Israel, France, Russia and Greece view these claims on Cyprus' land and sea as illegal under international law and urge Turkey to refrain from illegal drilling for gas in the island's EEZ. The European Union has threatened Turkey with economic and political sanctions for violating the Cypriot EEZ. (Full article...)

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Cyprus news

3 October 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: A Hellenic Air Force plane evacuates Greek and Cypriot nationals from Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport in Lebanon. (Ekathimerini)
24 September 2024 – Israel–Hezbollah conflict: The United Kingdom deploys 700 troops to Cyprus ahead of a planned evacuation of thousands of British nationals from Lebanon. The UK has advised all of its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately if they can. (Reuters)

General images

The following are images from various Cyprus-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. (from Cyprus)
Image 2Khirokitia archeological site. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 3Greek Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (union with Greece) in 1930 (from Cyprus)
Image 4Population growth, 1961–2003 (numbers for the entire island, excluding Turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus) (from Cyprus)
Image 5Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol (from Cyprus)
Image 6Cypriot cult image. 'Red Polished Ware', 2100–2000 BC. Museum zu Allerheiligen (from History of Cyprus)
Image 7
Accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 8Cypriot meze (from Cyprus)
Image 9The Troodos Mountains experience heavy snowfall in winter. (from Cyprus)
Image 10Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus since February 2023 (from Cyprus)
Image 112010 population by age and gender (from Cyprus)
Image 12Faneromeni School is the oldest all-girl primary school in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 13
  Under the control of the Republic of Cyprus
  The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
  Turkey
  Greece
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 14Cypriot Halloumi (from Cyprus)
Image 15Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 16Limassol General Hospital (from Cyprus)
Image 17Opening of Ledra Street in April 2008 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 18Büyük Han, a caravanserai in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 19Ioannis Kigalas (c. 1622–1687) was a Nicosia born Greek Cypriot scholar and professor of philosophy who was largely active in the 17th century. (from Cyprus)
Image 20Ayia Paraskevi Byzantine church in Yeroskipou, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 21Base ring vessel of Late Bronze Age (from History of Cyprus)
Image 22Street close to the Nicosia border (from Cyprus problem)
Image 23Cyprus in 1482 (from History of Cyprus)
Image 24A Sentinel-2 image of Cyprus taken in 2022 (from Cyprus)
Image 25Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 26Street in the divided capital of Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 27Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music (from Cyprus)
Image 28Cypri insvla nova descript 1573, Ioannes á Deutecum f[ecit]. Map of Cyprus newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom, 1573. (from Cyprus)
Image 29Central Bank of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 30Red-polished ceramics from Enkomi, 1900–1725 BC. St. Barnabas Archaeological Museum, Salamis, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 31Zeus Keraunios, 500-480 BC, Nicosia museum (from History of Cyprus)
Image 32A Greek Cypriot demonstration in the 1930s in favour of Enosis (union) with Greece (from Cyprus problem)
Image 33Typical Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 34A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956) (from Cyprus)
Image 35Turkish rally in Nicosia in January 1958 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 36A map showing the division of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 37Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and the Turkish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioğlu, in Ankara, within the scope of the 2014 Cyprus talks (from Cyprus problem)
Image 38Kouris Dam overflow in April 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 39Cypriot style café in an arcade in Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 40The Armenian Alphabet at the Melkonian Educational Institute. Armenian is recognised as a minority language in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 41Atatürk Square, North Nicosia in 2006 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 42Sea caves at Cape Greco (from Cyprus)
Image 43Cyprus is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue) and of the EU single market. (from Cyprus)
Image 44Archaeological site of Khirokitia with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction) (from Cyprus)
Image 45Welcoming ceremony of the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev by the soldiers of the Cypriot National Guard (from Cyprus)
Image 46Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 47Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, consecrated in 1328, the largest medieval building in Famagusta, where the Kings of Cyprus were crowned also as Kings of Jerusalem. In 1571 having fallen to the Ottoman Empire it became the Mosque of Mağusa, and remains a mosque today (from History of Cyprus)
Image 48Dhekelia Power Station (from Cyprus)
Image 49The north–south checkpoint has been open since 2003. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 50"TAKSİM" (division) graffiti on a wall in Nicosia in the late 1950s (from Cyprus problem)
Image 51Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 52Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum (from Cyprus)
Image 53Presidential Palace, Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 54Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control. (from Cyprus)
Image 55The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack. (from Cyprus)
Image 56Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the creator of the Annan plan. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 57Supreme Court of Justice (from Cyprus)
Image 58Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census (from Cyprus)
Image 59Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy (from Cyprus)
Image 60The "Green Line" in Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 61Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians. (from Cyprus)
Image 62UN tower in the buffer zone (from Cyprus)
Image 63The entrance of the historic Pancyprian Gymnasium (from Cyprus)
Image 64Statue of Liberty symbolising the independence of Cyprus. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 65Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis' historical map of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)