Cyprus

Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, transliterated: Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾo̞s]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, French: Chypre), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, [cipɾiaˈci ðimo̞kɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti), is a European island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, east of Greece, and north of Egypt.

Cyprus is the Mediterranean's third largest island, and one of its most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year.^[7] A former British colony, it became an independent republic in 1960^[3] and a member of the Commonwealth in 1961. The Republic of Cyprus is one of the advanced economies in the region,^[8] and has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004.

In 1974, following 11 years of intercommunal violence (1963–1974) between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,^[9] and an attempted coup d'état by Greek Cypriot nationalists^[9][10] who aimed at annexing the island to Greece and were backed by the Greek military junta then in power in Athens,^[10][11] Turkey invaded and occupied 37% of the island. The Turkish military intervention was secretly backed by the United States^[12][13] and NATO.^[12] This led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north. This event and its resulting political situation are matters of ongoing dispute.

The Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognised state, has de jure sovereignty over the entire island of Cyprus and its surrounding waters except small portions that are allocated by treaty to the United Kingdom as sovereign military bases. The island is de facto partitioned into four main parts:

• the area under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus, comprising about 59% of the island's area in the south;
• the Turkish-occupied area in the north,^[14] calling itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, covering about 37% of the island's area and recognised only by Turkey;
• the United Nations-controlled Green Line, separating the two, covering about 3% of the island's area; and
• two British Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia),^[15] covering about 3% of the island's area.

• 1 Etymology
• 2 Geography
• 3 History
  • 3.1 Ancient times
  • 3.2 Middle Ages
  • 3.3 Ottoman and British rule
  • 3.4 Independence
  • 3.5 Division
  • 3.6 Recent history
• 4 Government
  • 4.1 Districts
  • 4.2 Exclaves and enclaves
  • 4.3 Human rights
• 5 Military
• 6 Economy
• 7 Demographics
• 8 Religion
• 9 Education
• 10 Culture
  • 10.1 Art
  • 10.2 Music
  • 10.3 Literature
  • 10.4 Cuisine
  • 10.5 Sports
  • 10.6 Media
• 11 Numismatics
• 12 Infrastructure
  • 12.1 Transportation
  • 12.2 Health care
  • 12.3 Telecommunications
• 13 International membership
• 14 International rankings
• 15 See also
• 16 Further reading
• 17 References
• 18 External links

Capital (and largest city)		Nicosia (Λευκωσία, Lefkoşa) 35°08′N 33°28′E / 35.133°N 33.467°E / 35.133; 33.467
Official languages		Greek and Turkish[1]
Ethnic groups		77% Greek, 18% Turkish, 5% other (2001 est.)[2]
Demonym		Cypriot
Government		Presidential republic
-	President	Dimitris Christofias
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Date	16 August 1960[3]
-	Independence Day	1 October[4]
EU accession		1 May 2004
Area
-	Total	9,251 km2 (167th) 3,572 sq mi
-	Water (%)	negligible
Population
-	1.1.2009 estimate	793,963[5]
-	Density	85/km2 (85th) 221/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2008 estimate
-	Total	$22.703 billion[6] (107th)
-	Per capita	$29,830[6] (29th)
GDP (nominal)		2008 estimate
-	Total	$24.943 billion[6] (86th)
-	Per capita	$32,772[6] (26th)
Gini (2005)		29 (low) (19th)
HDI (2008)		▲ 0.912 (high) (30th)
Currency		Euro2 (EUR)
Time zone		EET (UTC+2)
-	Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Drives on the		left
Internet TLD		.cy3
Calling code		357