Cyprus

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Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία
Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti
Republic of Cyprus

(In Detail) (Full size)
National motto: None
Official languages	Greek, Turkish, English as second language
Capital	Nicosia
President	Tassos Papadopoulos
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 161st 9,250 km² ¹ Negligible
Population  - Total (2002)	Ranked 155th 771,657
Independence  - Date	From the UK 16 August 1960 (Not recognized by Turkey)
Currency	Cyprus Pound
Time zone	UTC +2
National anthem	Imnos pros tin Eleftherian
Internet TLD	.CY
Calling Code	357
¹ 3,355 km² are in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Cyprus (in Greek Kypros Κυπρος; and in Turkish Kıbrıs) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, 113 kilometres (70 miles) south of Turkey.

The English-language "Cyprus" is a Latinized version of the name, which derives from the ancient Greek word for copper, large deposits of which are found on Cyprus.

Cyprus is geographically in Southwest Asia, but Cypriots assert that they are a part of Europe.

Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, with the UK, Greece and Turkey retaining limited rights to intervene in internal affairs.

The Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognized government of most of the island, but controls only the southern two-thirds of that territory. Turkey does not accept its rule over the whole island and calls it Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus. The northern third was occupied by Turkey in a 1974 invasion following a coup sponsored by Greece. The area occupied by the Turkish Army proclaimed its independence in 1975, and The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983, though this government is not recognized by any country except Turkey. In the time since the invasion, the northern third has become almost exclusively Turkish, and the southern two-thirds almost exclusively Greek, so the territories are now sometimes referred to as the "Greek part" and the "Turkish part" of Cyprus.

The other power with territory on Cyprus is the United Kingdom. Under the independence agreement, the UK retained title to two small areas on the southern coast of the island, around Dhekalia and Akrotiri, known collectively as the UK sovereign base areas. They are used to host military bases.

Negotiations have been ongoing for years to reunify the island, but have not as yet seen substantial success. A United Nations plan, announced on 31 March 2004 following talks in Switzerland, was put to both sides in separate referenda on 24 April 2004. It was favoured by the Turkish side by a majority of 2 to 1, but was rejected by the Greek side by a 3 to 1 margin. As a result, while officially the whole of Cyprus entered the European Union on 1 May 2004, the de facto EU border runs along the Green Line, dividing the country between the Greek and Turkish parts. EU law is currently not applied in the Turkish controlled north. See: Annan Plan, 2004 referendum.

The international community was dismayed by the Greek Cypriot rejection of the agreement. The European Union has promised aid and to work towards lifting the embargo, although they have ruled out diplomatic recognition of Northern Cyprus.

• Road to United Cyprus
• History of Cyprus
• Geography of Cyprus
• Demographics of Cyprus
• Politics of Cyprus
• Culture of Cyprus (Music of Cyprus)
• Economy of Cyprus
• Communications in Cyprus
• Transportation in Cyprus
• Military of Cyprus
• Foreign relations of Cyprus

See also

• Cyprus dispute

Reference

• Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.