Portal:Cyprus

The Cyprus Portal

Cyprus (/ˈsaɪprəs/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Although it is geographically located in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical make-up are overwhelmingly Southeast European. It is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located southeast of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, and north of Egypt. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus hosts the British-controlled military bases Akrotiri and Dhekelia, whilst the northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is separated from the Republic of Cyprus by the United Nations Buffer Zone.

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 (then called 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 empires, including the Assyrians, Ancient 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, the French Lusignans, 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 for the continuation of British rule, then demanded the annexation of the island to Turkey; in the 1950s, together with Turkey, they established a policy of taksim (the partition of Cyprus and the creation of a Turkish polity in the north of the island). 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, which was widely condemned by the international community and led to Turkey being the only country to recognise the new state. These events and the resulting political situation are matters of an ongoing dispute. (Full article...)

Selected article - show another

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus. Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Cyprus news

No recent news

General images

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

Image 1UN tower in the buffer zone (from Cyprus)
Image 2Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control. (from Cyprus)
Image 3A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. (from Cyprus)
Image 4Typical Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 5Faneromeni School is the oldest all-girl primary school in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 6
Accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 7Ayia Paraskevi Byzantine church in Yeroskipou, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 8Presidential Palace, Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 9Supreme Court of Justice (from Cyprus)
Image 10Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians. (from Cyprus)
Image 11Base ring vessel of Late Bronze Age (from History of Cyprus)
Image 12Ioannis 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 13Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus since February 2023 (from Cyprus)
Image 14Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy (from Cyprus)
Image 15Limassol General Hospital (from Cyprus)
Image 16Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 17The entrance of the historic Pancyprian Gymnasium (from Cyprus)
Image 18Cypriot meze (from Cyprus)
Image 19Atatürk Square, North Nicosia in 2006 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 20Welcoming ceremony of the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev by the soldiers of the Cypriot National Guard (from Cyprus)
Image 21A Sentinel-2 image of Cyprus taken in 2022 (from Cyprus)
Image 22Khirokitia archeological site. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 23The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack. (from Cyprus)
Image 24Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis' historical map of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 25Street close to the Nicosia border (from Cyprus problem)
Image 26Büyük Han, a caravanserai in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 27A map showing the division of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 28Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol (from Cyprus)
Image 29"TAKSİM" (division) graffiti on a wall in Nicosia in the late 1950s (from Cyprus problem)
Image 30
  Under the control of the Republic of Cyprus
  The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
  Turkey
  Greece
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 31Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 32Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 33Turkish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioğlu (Left) and the Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis (Right), in Ankara, within the scope of the 2014 Cyprus talks (from Cyprus problem)
Image 34Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music (from Cyprus)
Image 35The north–south checkpoint has been open since 2003. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 36Greek Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (union with Greece) in 1930 (from Cyprus)
Image 37Cyprus in 1482 (from History of Cyprus)
Image 382010 population by age and gender (from Cyprus)
Image 39Central Bank of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 40Street in the divided capital of Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 41Statue of Liberty symbolising the independence of Cyprus. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 42Zeus Keraunios, 500-480 BC, Nicosia museum (from History of Cyprus)
Image 43Sea caves at Cape Greco (from Cyprus)
Image 44Dhekelia Power Station (from Cyprus)
Image 45Cathedral 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 46Opening of Ledra Street in April 2008 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 47Kouris Dam overflow in April 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 48Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 49Red-polished ceramics from Enkomi, 1900–1725 BC. St. Barnabas Archaeological Museum, Salamis, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 50The "Green Line" in Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 51A Greek Cypriot demonstration in the 1930s in favour of Enosis (union) with Greece (from Cyprus problem)
Image 52Cypriot cult image. 'Red Polished Ware', 2100–2000 BC. Museum zu Allerheiligen (from History of Cyprus)
Image 53Cypriot style café in an arcade in Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 54Cypri insvla nova descript 1573, Ioannes á Deutecum f[ecit]. Map of Cyprus newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom, 1573. (from Cyprus)
Image 55The Armenian Alphabet at the Melkonian Educational Institute. Armenian is recognised as a minority language in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 56Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the creator of the Annan plan. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 57Cypriot Halloumi (from Cyprus)
Image 58Turkish rally in Nicosia in January 1958 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 59Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census (from Cyprus)
Image 60Cyprus is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue) and of the EU single market. (from Cyprus)
Image 61Population growth, 1961–2003 (numbers for the entire island, excluding Turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus) (from Cyprus)
Image 62The Troodos Mountains experience heavy snowfall in winter. (from Cyprus)
Image 63Archaeological site of Khirokitia with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction) (from Cyprus)
Image 64Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum (from Cyprus)
Image 65A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956) (from Cyprus)