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Cyprus

Republic of Cyprus

Geography
Area: 9,251 sq. km. (3,572 sq. mi.); about the size of Connecticut.
Cities: Capital--Nicosia (pop. 197,800, 2000 fig.). Other cities--Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta, Paphos, Kyrenia, Morphou.
Terrain: Central plain with mountain ranges to the north and south.
Climate: Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Cypriot(s).
Population (2006 est.): government-controlled area 778,700; area administered by Turkish Cypriots 264,172.
Annual population growth rate (2006 est.) government-controlled area: 1.6%; area administered by Turkish Cypriots: 0.98%
Ethnic groups (1960 census): Greek (77%), Turkish (18%), Armenian and other (4%).
Religions: Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Maronite, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox.
Languages: Greek, Turkish, English.
Education: Years compulsory--6 in elementary; 3 in high school. Attendance--almost 100%. Literacy--about 99%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--7.04/1,000. Life expectancy--77 yrs.; males 75 yrs.; females 80 years.
Work force: Government-controlled area (2005), 370,000: agriculture and mining--7.4%; industry--38.2%; and services--54.4%. Turkish Cypriot-administered area (2005), 95,000: agriculture--14.5%; industry--29%; and services--56.5%.

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: August 16, 1960.
Constitution: August 16, 1960.
Branches: Executive--President elected to 5-yr. term. Legislative--unicameral House of Representatives, members elected to 5-yr. terms. Judicial--Supreme Court; six district courts.
Administrative subdivisions: Six.
Political parties: Greek Cypriots--Progressive Party of Working People or Anorthotikon Komma Ergazemenou Laou--AKEL (communist); Democratic Party or Dimokratikon Komma--DIKO (center-right); Democratic Rally or Dimokratikos Synagermos--DISY (right); Movement for Social Democracy or Eleftheron Dimokratikon--EDEK (socialist); United Democrats or Enomeni Dimokrates--ED (center-left). Turkish Cypriots--National Unity Party or Ulusal Birlik Partisi--UBP (right); Democrat Party or Demokrat Partisi--DP (center-right); Republican Turkish Party or Cumhuriyetci Turk Partisi--CTP (center-left); Freedom and Reform Party or Free Party--Ozgurluk ve Reform Partisi--OP (center-right); Peace and Democracy Movement or Baris ve Demokrasi Hareketi--BDH (center-left); Communal Liberation Party or Toplumcu Kurtulus Partisi--TKP (center-left); New Party or Yeni Parti. BDH and TKP merged in May 2007 to form the Communal Democracy Party or Toplumcu Demokrasi Partisi--TDP.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.

Economy*
GDP (2006): $18.23 billion.
Annual GDP real growth rate (2006): government-controlled area: 3.8%.
Per capita GDP income: Greek Cypriots (2006)--$23,672; Turkish Cypriots (2006)--$11,802.
Agriculture and natural resources (2006): 3.2% of GDP. Products--potatoes and other vegetables, citrus fruits, olives, grapes, wheat, carob seeds. Resources--pyrites, copper, asbestos, gypsum, lumber, salt, marble, clay, earth pigment.
Industry and construction (2006): 19.2% of GDP. Types--mining, cement, construction, utilities, manufacturing, chemicals, non-electric machinery, textiles, footwear, food, beverages, tobacco.
Services and tourism (2006): 77.6% of GDP. Trade, restaurants, and hotels 19.5%; transport 8.2%; finance, real estate, and business 24.9%; government, education, and health 20.5%; and community and other services 4.6%.
Trade (2006): Exports--$1,619 billion: citrus, grapes, wine, potatoes, pharmaceuticals, clothing, and footwear. Major markets--EU (especially the U.K. and Greece), Middle East, Russia. Imports--$6,345 billion: consumer goods, raw materials for industry, petroleum and lubricants, food and feed grains. Major suppliers--Greece, Italy, Germany, U.K. (U.S. trade surplus--for 2006: $100.6 million.)

* Section refers to the government-controlled area unless otherwise specified.

PEOPLE AND HISTORY
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided de facto into the government-controlled two-thirds of the island and the remaining one-third of the island, which is administered by Turkish Cypriots. Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain distinct identities based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective "motherlands." Greek is predominantly spoken in the south, Turkish in the north. English is widely used. Cyprus has a well-developed system of primary and secondary education. The majority of Cypriots earn their higher education at Greek, Turkish, British, and other European or American universities. Both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have developed private colleges and state-supported universities.

Cypriot culture is among the oldest in the Mediterranean. By 3700 BC, the island was well inhabited, a crossroads between East and West. The island fell successively under Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, and Roman domination. For 800 years, beginning in 364 AD, Cyprus was ruled by Byzantium. After brief possession by King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) of England during the Crusades, the island came under Frankish control in the late 12th century. It was ceded to the Venetian Republic in 1489 and conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1571. The Ottomans applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Most of the Turks who settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus--although not sovereignty--was ceded to Great Britain in 1878. Many left for Turkey during the 1920s, however. The island was annexed formally by the United Kingdom in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and became a crown colony in 1925.

Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom and established a constitutional republic in 1960, after an anti-British campaign by the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters), a guerrilla group that desired political union, or enosis, with Greece. Archbishop Makarios, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected president.

Shortly after the founding of the republic, serious differences arose between the two communities about the implementation and interpretation of the constitution. The Greek Cypriots argued that the complex mechanisms introduced to protect Turkish Cypriot interests were obstacles to efficient government. In November 1963, President Makarios advanced a series of constitutional amendments designed to eliminate some of these special provisions. The Turkish Cypriots opposed such changes. The confrontation prompted widespread intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish Cypriots ceased to participate in the government. Following the outbreak of intercommunal violence, many Turkish Cypriots (and some Greek Cypriots) living in mixed villages began to move into enclaved villages or elsewhere. UN peacekeepers were deployed on the island in 1964. Following another outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1967-68, a Turkish Cypriot provisional administration was formed.

In July 1974, the military junta in Athens sponsored a coup led by extremist Greek Cypriots against the government of President Makarios, citing his alleged pro-communist leanings and his perceived abandonment of enosis. Turkey, citing the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, intervened militarily to protect Turkish Cypriots.

In a two-stage offensive, Turkish troops took control of 38% of the island. Almost all Greek Cypriots fled south while almost all Turkish Cypriots fled north. Since the events of 1974, UN peacekeeping forces have maintained a buffer zone between the two sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents between soldiers in the buffer zone, the island was free of violent conflict from 1974 until August 1996, when violent clashes led to the death of two demonstrators and escalated tension. The situation has been quiet since 1996.

Cyprus