About Cyprus

Ø      General

Ø      Public Holidays in Cyprus

Ø      Weather

Ø      Temperatures

Ø      Golf In Cyprus 

Ø      Currency

Ø      Terminology

Ø      Prehistoric and Ancient Cyprus

Ø      Cyprus in ancient myth

Ø      Post-Classical and Modern Cyprus

Ø      Post-independence

Ø      Geography

Ø      Politics

Ø      Political division

Ø      Exclaves and enclaves

Ø      Reunification, the 'Annan Plan' and EU entry

Ø      Economy

Ø      Demographics

Ø      Education

General

     The Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros; Turkish: Kıbrıs) is an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, 113 kilometers (70 miles) south of Turkey and around 120 km west of the Syrian coast.

Geographical Position of Cyprus

Satellite picture of Cyprus

Administrative Division of Cyprus

 Public Holidays in Cyprus

Weather

     One of the benefits of being a Mediterranean island is plentiful sunshine throughout the year, and Cyprus is no exception. Summer stretches from mid-May to mid-October and means high temperatures, normally cloudless skies and cooling breezes from the sea. Even in the height of summer when it's 32°C at the beach (and warmer inland), temperatures are refreshingly cooler in the Troodos, making the mountains ideal for hiking or simply relaxing.

December to February are the winter months, bringing the possibility of rain, but still an average of six hours of bright sunshine a day. At this time of year smaller Mediterranean destinations shut down for the season, but not so Cyprus. The many important heritage sites and museums are all at their least crowded in winter. Into early February there is occasional rain, and often snow in the Troodos mountains - ideal for skiing!

     The first orchids bloom in January, and by mid-February the countryside is alive with fresh green meadows and almond trees in bloom. March days can still be cool (daytime temperatures around 18°C) but steadily moderate. Early spring is a wonderful time to visit to Cyprus, with pleasant daytime temperatures and many of the ancient ruins framed by a carpet of red anemones and other wildflowers. If in summer Cyprus is the place to bask in the sun, then spring is the time to savour the natural beauty of the island in bloom.

Temperatures  

Golf in Cyprus

     Cyprus is a superb place to play golf. The island's good weather means that you can play almost all year round.  There are three (18-hole) championship golf courses in the Paphos area of Cyprus and another 12 coming soon.  

     The Tsada Golf Club was the first grass course to be built in Cyprus, and was completed in 1994. Located about 20 minutes from Paphos on the Polis Road near Tsada Village, it is about 550 metres from sea level. Historically the setting was part of the 12th-century monastery of Stavros tis Minthis.
    

     The 18-hole course at Tsada was designed by Donald Steel in two loops of nine. It plays to a par 72 and measures 6,060 metres. The club house facilities include a restaurant, bar, changing rooms with showers, a swimming pool, tennis, a driving range and a putting green. The pro-shop offers an array of golfing accessories, a boutique, electronically powered golf carts and a PGA professional offers tuition and guidance. Prices start from CY£23 for 18 holes.  

Currency

     The currency in Cyprus is the Cyprus pound, with 100 cents making a pound.

Terminology

     The name Cyprus has a somewhat uncertain etymology. One suggestion is that it comes from the Greek word 'κυπάρισσος (kyparissos)' meaning 'cypress tree' or even from the Greek name of the plant Lawsonia alba (henna), 'κύπρος (kypros)'. Another school suggests that it stems from the eterocyprian word for copper. Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots to the Sumerian word for copper, 'zubar' or even the word 'kubar' (bronze), due to the large deposits of copper ore found on the island. Through overseas trade, the island has already given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal, which appears in the phrase aes Cyprium , 'metal of Cyprus', later shortened to cuprum. From there the word passed into European languages as 'copper' in the English language, 'cuivre' in French, 'Kupfer' in German and 'cobre' in Portuguese and in Spanish.

     Another probable suggestion is that it was named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite which was also called 'Κυπρίς (kipris)'. Note that Cyprus was the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite. Homer in his epics Iliad and Odyssey refers to the island of 'Kύπρον (kypron)': 'Μούσα μοι έννεπε έργα πολυχρύσου Αφροδίτης Κύπριδος' – 'Muse sing to me the works of golden haired Aphrodite Cypridos'. It is also characteristic that in ancient times the name 'Κύπρος (Cyprus)' in Greek was the first or second synthetic of names, such as: Αριστόκυπρος, Φιλόκυπρος, Κυπράνορας, Κυπροθέμης.

Prehistoric and Ancient Cyprus

     There are but scanty traces of the Stone Age, but the Bronze Age is characterized by a well-developed and clearly marked civilization. The people quickly learned to work the rich copper mines of the island. The Mycenæan civilization seems to have reached Cyprus at around 1600 B.C. and several Greek and Phœnician settlements that belong to the Iron Age can be found on the island. Cyprus was invaded by Thothmes III of Egypt about 1500 B.C., and was forced to pay tribute.

     Around 1200 B.C. begins the massive arrival of the Mycenaean Greeks as permanent settlers to Cyprus, a process which lasted for more than a century. This migration is remembered in many sagas concerning how some of the Greek heroes that participated in the Trojan war came to settle in Cyprus. The newcomers brought with them their language, their advanced technology and introduced a new outlook for visual arts. Thus from 1220 B.C. Cyprus has remained predominantly Greek in culture, language and population despite various influences resulting from successive conquests. In times Cyprus supplied the rest of the Greeks with timber for their fleets.

     In the 16th century B.C., Amasis of Egypt conquered Cyprus, which soon fell under the rule of the Persians when Cambyses conquered Egypt. In the Persian Empire, Cyprus formed part of the fifth satrapy and in addition to tribute it had to supply the Persians with ships and crews. In their new fate the Greeks of Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia (west coast of Anatolia) with whom they forged closer ties. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against Persia (499 BC) the Cypriots except for the city of Amathus, joined in at the instigation of Onesilos, brother of the king of Salamis, whom he dethroned for not wanting to fight for independence. The Persians reacted quickly sending a considerable force against Onesilos. The Persians finally won despite Ionian help.

     After their defeat, the Greeks mounted various expeditions in order to liberate Cyprus from the Persian yoke, but all their efforts bore only temporary results. Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) finally liberated the island from the Persians. Later, the Greek rulers of Egypt controlled it; finally Rome annexed it in 58-57 BC. No doubt the most important event that occurred in Roman Cyprus was the visit by Apostles Paul and Barnabas accompanied by St Mark who came to the island at the outset of their first missionary journey in 45 AD. After their arrival at Salamis they proceeded to Paphos where they converted the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus to Christianity. In this way Cyprus became the first country in the world to be governed by a Christian ruler.

Cyprus in ancient myth

     Cyprus is the legendary birthplace of the goddess of beauty, love, sex and passion, the beautiful Aphrodite. According to Hesiod's Theogony, the goddess, who was also known as Kypris or the Cyprian, emerged fully grown from the sea where the severed genitals of the god Uranus were cast by his son, Kronos, causing the sea to foam (Greek: Aphros). The legendary site of Aphrodite's birth from the foam is at 'Petra tou Romiou' ('Aphrodite's Rock'), a large stack in the sea close to the coastal cliffs near Paphos. Throughout ancient history, Cyprus was a flourishing centre for the cultic worship of Aphrodite.

     Her birth was famously depicted by the artist Botticelli in The Birth of Venus.

Post-Classical and Modern Cyprus

     Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire after the partitioning of the Roman Empire in 395, and remained so for almost 900 years. The Arabs pillaged the island in 646. In 654 a second, devastating Arab invasion took place. The island negotiated a relatively secure independence, but paid tribute to the Ummayads. After the rule of an independent Emperor (Isaac Comnenus), King Richard I of England captured the island in 1191 during the Crusades. Guy of Lusignan purchased the island from Richard in 1192. The Republic of Venice took control in 1489 after the death of the last Lusignan Queen, after which the Ottoman Empire conquered the Island in 1570.

     Cyprus was placed under British control on 4 June 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which granted control of the island to Britain in return for British support of the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War.

     Famagusta harbour was completed in June 1906; by this time the island was a strategic naval outpost for the British Empire, shoring up influence over the Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India.

     Cyprus was formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1913 in the run-up to the First World War. Many Cypriots, now British subjects, signed up to fight in the British Army, in this and in the Second World War.

     During the 1940s and 1950s, Cypriots began to demand union with Greece. The Greek community held referenda in support of annexation, while the British sought to quell any movement which could threaten their possession of the island. In 1955 the struggle erupted into guerrilla activity with the foundation of EOKA, and in the closing years of the 1950s the political and intercommunal atmosphere on the island became increasingly fraught.

     Independence was attained in 1960 after exhaustive negotiations between the United Kingdom, as the colonial power, and Greece and Turkey, the cultural 'motherlands' for the two communities on Cyprus. The constitution produced by the negotiations was a biding document allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota. The constitution did not promote a healthy relationship between the residents of the island. The first President was the Greek Cypriot leader Archbishop Makarios III, and his Vice President was the leading Turkish Cypriot politician Dr Fazıl Küçük.

Post-independence

     During the 1960s, Makarios and Küçük pursued a non-aligned foreign policy, cultivating good relations with the Britain, Greece and Turkey and taking a leading role in developing the Non-Aligned Movement. However, by 1974 dissatisfaction among right-wing elements in favour of the long-term goal of Enosis - union with Greece - precipitated a coup d'etat against Makarios which was sponsored by Greece and led by the Cypriot National Guard. The new regime replaced Makarios with Nikos Giorgiades Sampson as president, and Bishop Gennadios as head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. Diplomacy failed to resolve the crisis. Turkey invaded Cyprus by sea and air on 20 July, 1974, asserting its right to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. Talks in Geneva involving Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot factions failed in mid-August, and the Turks subsequently moved to gain control of 37% of the island's territory. Upwards of 200,000 Cypriots were uprooted, with Greek Cypriots forced to flee from the Turkish-controlled north and Turkish Cypriots displaced from the south. Greece made no armed response to the superior Turkish force but bitterly suspended military participation in the NATO alliance. The tension continued after Makarios returned to the presidency on December 7, 1974. He accepted a bizonal        bicommunal federation as the form of a future state, but rejected any solution "involving transfer of populations and amounting to partition of Cyprus." The events of the summer of 1974 have dominated Cypriot politics ever since and have been a major point of contention between Greece and Turkey.

     After 1974 there were near-continual efforts to negotiate a settlement, which met with varying levels of hostility from either side.

    Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state under Rauf Denktash on November 15, 1983, naming it the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” The UN Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of November 18, 1983, declared the action illegal and called for withdrawal. Turkey is to date the only country to recognise the government of northern Cyprus. Conversely, it continues to reject calls to recognise the Republic of Cyprus as the sole legitimate government of Cyprus, and this political point has caused strained relations with the European Union.

     Relations in the eastern Mediterranean were particularly frayed in the mid-1990s, especially after the acquisition by the Cypriot government of Russian missiles in 1997 which were capable of reaching the Turkish coast. The S-300 missiles, in fact, never arrived in Cyprus but stayed on the neighbouring island of Crete.

     In April 2005, Turkish Cypriots elected Mehmet Ali Talat as their leader to succeed the retiring long-time leader Rauf Denktash, who staunchly opposed reunification. In contrast, Talat has been a keen supporter of reunification and subsequently the recently proposed 'Annan Plan'.

Geography

     Cyprus is geographically close to the Middle East (see also Southwest Asia and Near East) and due to the island's geographic proximity is often included in the region, though politically and culturally it is closely aligned with Europe, in particular Greece and to a lesser extent Turkey. Historically, Cyprus has been at the crossroads between Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa, with lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Levantine, Anatolian and British influences.

     The central plain (Mesaoria) with the Kyrenia and Pentadactylos mountains to the north and the Troodos mountain range to the south and west. There are also scattered but significant plains along the southern coast.

     The climate is temperate and Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool, variably rainy winters.

     The capital city, Nicosia, is located to the north-east of the centre of the island. All the other major cities are situated on the coast: Paphos to the south-west, Limassol to the south, Larnaca to the south-east, Famagusta to the east and Kyrenia to the north.

Politics

     After independence Cyprus became a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement despite all three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey and the UK) being NATO members. Cyprus left the Non-Aligned Movement in 2004 to join the EU.

    The 1960 Cypriot Constitution provided for a presidential system of government with independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as a complex system of checks and balances, including a weighted power-sharing ratio designed to protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriots. The executive, for example, was headed by a Greek Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III, and a Turkish Cypriot vice president, Dr Fazıl Küçük, elected by their respective communities for 5-year terms and each possessing a right of veto over certain types of legislation and executive decisions.

     The House of Representatives was elected on the basis of separate voters' rolls. Since 1964, following clashes between the two communities, the Turkish seats in the House have been vacant after their withdrawal from the government, and the Greek Cypriot Communal Chamber was abolished. The responsibilities of the chamber were transferred to the newfounded Ministry of Education.

     By 1967, when a military junta had seized power in Greece, the political impetus for enosis had faded, partly as a result of the non-aligned foreign policy of Cypriot President Makarios. Enosis remained an ideological goal, despite being pushed significantly further down the political agenda. Dissatisfaction in Greece with Makarios's perceived failure to deliver on earlier promises of enosis convinced the Greek colonels to sponsor the 1974 coup in Nicosia.

     Turkey responded by invading Cyprus in a move not approved by the other two international guarantor powers, Greece and the United Kingdom. Turkey did not use its authority as a guarantor to restore the status quo before the coup. Claiming to be responding to an imminent threat to the Republic of Cyprus and the need to protect the Turkish minority in Cyprus from attacks by Greek militias, it captured the northern third of the island, causing 180,000 Greek Cypriots to flee to the south. 55,000 Turkish Cypriots subsequently relocated from the south to the north (see Cyprus dispute). Many thousands of others, from both sides, left the island entirely.

     Subsequently, the Turkish Cypriots established their own separatist institutions with a popularly elected de facto President and a Prime Minister responsible to the National Assembly exercising joint executive powers. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared an independent "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), an action opposed by the United Nations Security Council. In 1985, the TRNC adopted a constitution and held its first elections.

Political division

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

     Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided, de facto, into the Greek-Cypriot controlled southern two-thirds of the island and the Turkish-occupied northern one-third. The Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognised government of Cyprus, which controls the southern two-thirds of the island. Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognise the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus.

     The Turkish Cypriot administration of the northern part of the island, together with Turkey, does not accept the Republic's rule over the whole island and refer to it as the "Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus". Its territory, the status of which remains disputed, extends over the northern third of the island.

     The north proclaimed its independence in 1975, and the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983. This state was recognised only by Turkey. The Organization of the Islamic Conference granted it observer member status under the name of "Turkish Cypriot State".

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

Exclaves and enclaves

     Cyprus has four exclaves, all in territory that belongs to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dekelia. The first two are the villages of Ormidhia and Xylotimbou. Additionally there is the Dhekelia Power Station, which is divided by a British road into two parts. The northern part is an enclave like the two villages, whereas the southern part is located by the sea and therefore not an enclave —although it has no territorial waters of its own.

     The United Nations (UN) buffer zone separating the territory controlled by the Turkish Cypriot administration from the rest of Cyprus runs up against Dekelia and picks up again from its east side, off of Ayios Nikolaos (connected to the rest of Dekelia by a thin land corridor). In that sense, the buffer zone turns the south-east corner of the island, the Paralimni area, into a de facto, though not de jure, exclave.

Reunification, the Annan Plan and EU entry

     The results of early negotiations between the Greek and Turkish sides resulted in a broad agreement in principle to reunification as a bi-cameral, bi-zonal federation with territory allocated to the Greek and Turkish communities within a united island. However, agreement was never reached on the finer details, and the two sides often met deadlock over the following points, among others:

The Turkish side:

• favoured a weak central government presiding over two sovereign states in voluntary association, a legacy of earlier fears of domination by the majority Greek Cypriots; and

• opposed plans for demilitarisation, citing security concerns.

The Greek side:

• took a strong line on the right of return for refugees to properties vacated in the 1974 displacement of Cypriots on both sides;

• took a dim view of any proposals which did not allow for the repatriation of Turkish settlers from the mainland who had emigrated to Cyprus since 1974; and

• supported a stronger central government.

     The continued difficulties in finding a settlement presented a potential obstacle to Cypriot entry to the European Union, for which the government had applied in 1997. UN-sponsored talks between the Greek and Turkish leaders, Glafkos Klerides and Rauf Denktash, continued intensively in 2002, but without resolution. In December 2002 the EU formally invited Cyprus to join in 2004, insisting that EU membership would apply to the whole island and hoping that it would provide a significant enticement for reunification resulting from the outcome of ongoing talks. However, weeks before the UN deadline, Klerides was defeated in presidential elections by right-wing candidate Tassos Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos had a reputation as a hard-liner on reunification and had rejected previous UN attempts to reunify the island. By mid-March, the UN declared that the talks had failed.

     A United Nations plan sponsored by Secretary-General Kofi Annan was announced on 31 March 2004, based on what progress had been made during the talks in Switzerland and fleshed out by the UN, was put to both sides in separate referenda on 24 April 2004. The Greek side overwhelmingly rejected the Annan Plan, and the Turkish side voted in favour.

     In May 2004, Cyprus entered the EU, although in practice membership only applies to the southern part of the island. In acknowledgement of the Turkish Cypriot community's support for reunification, however, the EU made it clear that trade concessions would be reached to stimulate economic growth in the north, and remains committed to reunification under acceptable terms.

Economy

     Economic affairs in Cyprus are dominated by the division of the country into the southern (Greek) area controlled by the Cyprus Government and the northern Turkish Cypriot-administered area.

     The Greek Cypriot economy is prosperous but highly susceptible to external shocks. Erratic growth rates in the 1990s reflect the economy's vulnerability to swings in tourist arrivals, caused by political instability on the island and fluctuations in economic conditions in Western Europe. Economic policy in the south in the years leading up to 2005 focused on meeting the criteria for admission to the European Union. As in the Turkish sector, water shortage is a growing problem, and several desalination plants are planned.

     Recently, oil has been discovered in the sea South of Cyprus (between Cyprus and Egypt) and talks are under way with Egypt to reach an agreement as to the exploitation of these resources. The level of the oil field in terms of production (barrels per day) that the two countries will be able to produce is still a matter of speculation.

     The Turkish Cypriot economy has about one-fifth the population and one-third the per capita GDP of the south. Because it is recognised only by Turkey, it has had much difficulty arranging foreign financing, and foreign firms have hesitated to invest there. The economy remains heavily dependent on agriculture and government service, which together employ about half of the work force. Moreover, the small, vulnerable economy has suffered because the Turkish lira is legal tender. To compensate for the economy's weakness, Turkey provides direct and indirect aid to tourism, education, industry, etc.

     Eventual adoption of the Euro currency is required of all new countries joining the European Union, and the Cyprus government currently intends to adopt the currency on 1 January 2008.

Demographics

     Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain their ethnicity based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective motherlands.

      The major part of Greek Cypriots is Eastern Orthodox Christians, whereas Turkish Cypriots are Muslims.

     Greek is the predominant language in the south, Turkish in the north. This delineation is only reflective of the post-1974 division of the island, which involved an expulsion of Greek Cypriots from the north and the analoguous move of Turkish Cypriots from the south. Historically however, Greek and Turkish (the Cypriot dialects) were largely evenly distributed throughout the island, although Greek-speakers were in a substantial majority (82%).

     English is widely understood, and is taught in schools from primary age.

Education

     Cyprus has a well-developed system of primary and secondary education offering both public and private education. Unlike in other countries, state schools are generally seen as equivalent or better in quality of education than private sector institutions.

     The majority of Cypriots receive their higher education at Greek, British, EU & US universities, while there are also sizeable emigrant communities in the United Kingdom and Australia. Private colleges and state-supported universities have been developed by the Greeks.

     According to the 1960 constitution, education is under the control of the two communities (the communal chambers). State education was based on nationalisation of existing community supported schools from the colonial period. Thus following 1974 the Cypriot system follows the Greek system in the south, in other words providing their students with an 'apolytirion', and the Turkish system in the north. A large number of students after sitting for A-levels and/or SATs study abroad, mainly in English speaking countries such as the US or UK, but also in other European destinations such as France and Germany. Traditionally the left wing party AKEL provided scholarships for its members to study in Eastern Europe. Eastern European countries, especially Bulgaria and Hungary, are still popular destinations for students.