THC Science

The Cyprus Portal

Cyprus (/ˈsaɪprəs/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, north of the Sinai Peninsula, south of the Anatolian Peninsula, and west of the Levant. 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. The northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains include the well-preserved ruins from the Hellenistic period such as Salamis and Kourion, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. 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 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, who made up 77% of the population in 1960, and Turkish Cypriots, who made up 18% of the population. 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. (Full article...)

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An international embargo against Northern Cyprus is currently in place in several areas. The embargo is supported by the policy of the United Nations and its application by the European Union is in line with a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision taken in 1994.

Northern Cyprus, a state solely recognised by Turkey has been under severe embargoes since its unilateral declaration of independence in 1983, and the embargoes are actively promoted by a Greek Cypriot campaign. Among the institutions that refuse to deal with the Turkish Cypriot community are the Universal Postal Union, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association. The economic embargo was greatly exacerbated upon the ruling of the ECJ in 1994, when the food certificates issued by Northern Cyprus were deemed unacceptable for the European Union. Exports and flights from Northern Cyprus take place through Turkey, with direct flights being banned internationally. Turkish Cypriots face embargoes in the areas of sports and culture as well; Turkish Cypriot teams cannot play international matches, Turkish Cypriot athletes may not compete internationally unless they represent another country and some concerts by international musicians or bands in Northern Cyprus have been blocked. (Full article...)

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Cyprus news

14 April 2024 –: Cyprus suspends Syrian asylum applications as there are increasing numbers of refugees. (Reuters)

General images

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

Image 1Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the creator of the Annan plan. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 2The Troodos Mountains experience heavy snowfall in winter. (from Cyprus)
Image 3Cathedral 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 4Büyük Han, a caravanserai in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 5
Accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 6Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol (from Cyprus)
Image 7Greek Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (union with Greece) in 1930 (from Cyprus)
Image 8Presidential Palace, Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 9Dhekelia Power Station (from Cyprus)
Image 10Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus since February 2023 (from Cyprus)
Image 11Street in the divided capital of Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 12Cypriot Halloumi (from Cyprus)
Image 13Cyprus in 1482 (from History of Cyprus)
Image 14Ayia Paraskevi Byzantine church in Yeroskipou, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 15The north–south checkpoint has been open since 2003 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 16Limassol General Hospital (from Cyprus)
Image 17A Sentinel-2 image of Cyprus taken in 2022 (from Cyprus)
Image 182010 population by age and gender (from Cyprus)
Image 19Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum (from Cyprus)
Image 20Base ring vessel of Late Bronze Age (from History of Cyprus)
Image 21Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 22Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census (from Cyprus)
Image 23A map showing the division of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 24A Greek Cypriot demonstration in the 1930s in favour of Enosis (union) with Greece (from Cyprus problem)
Image 25Archaeological site of Khirokitia with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction) (from Cyprus)
Image 26Opening of Ledra Street in April 2008 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 27Turkish rally in Nicosia in January 1958 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 28Kouris Dam overflow in April 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 29Supreme Court of Justice (from Cyprus)
Image 30Central Bank of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 31The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack. (from Cyprus)
Image 32The "Green Line" in Nicosia, Cyprus. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 33Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 34The entrance of the historic Pancyprian Gymnasium (from Cyprus)
Image 35Cypriot meze (from Cyprus)
Image 36Red-polished ceramics from Enkomi, 1900–1725 BC. St. Barnabas Archaeological Museum, Salamis, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 37Cypri insvla nova descript 1573, Ioannes á Deutecum f[ecit]. Map of Cyprus newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom, 1573. (from Cyprus)
Image 38Typical Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 39Cypriot style café in an arcade in Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 40A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. (from Cyprus)
Image 41Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy (from Cyprus)
Image 42"TAKSİM" (division) graffiti on a wall in Nicosia in the late 1950s (from Cyprus problem)
Image 43Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music (from Cyprus)
Image 44Cypriot cult image. 'Red Polished Ware', 2100–2000 BC. Museum zu Allerheiligen (from History of Cyprus)
Image 45Statue of Liberty symbolising the independence of Cyprus. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 46Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians. (from Cyprus)
Image 47Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis' historical map of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 48Atatürk Square, North Nicosia in 2006 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 49Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 50Sea caves at Cape Greco (from Cyprus)
Image 51Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control. (from Cyprus)
Image 52Welcoming ceremony of the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev by the soldiers of the Cypriot National Guard (from Cyprus)
Image 53The Armenian Alphabet at the Melkonian Educational Institute. Armenian is recognised as a minority language in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 54Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 55Population growth, 1961–2003 (numbers for the entire island, excluding Turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus) (from Cyprus)
Image 56Greek 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 57A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956) (from Cyprus)
Image 58Faneromeni School is the oldest all-girl primary school in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 59Zeus Keraunios, 500-480 BC, Nicosia museum (from History of Cyprus)
Image 60Khirokitia archeological site. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 61Ioannis 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 62Cyprus is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue) and of the EU single market. (from Cyprus)
Image 63Street close to the Nicosia border (from Cyprus problem)
Image 64
  Under the control of the Republic of Cyprus
  The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
  Turkey
  Greece
(from Cyprus problem)