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Cyprus
Republic of Cyprus National
name: Kypriaki Dimokratia—Kibris Cumhuriyeti President: Dimitris Christofias (2008)
Current government officials
Land area: 3,568 sq mi (9,241 sq km);
total area: 3,571 sq mi () Population (2008 est.): 792,604 (growth
rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 12.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.7/1000;
life expectancy: 78; density per sq km: 85
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Lefkosia (Nicosia) (in government-controlled
area), 197,600 Monetary unit:
Euro
Languages:
Greek, Turkish (both official); English
Ethnicity/race:
Greek 77%, Turkish 18% (each concentrated almost
exclusively in separate areas); other 5% (2001)
National Holiday:
Independence Day, October 1
Religions:
Greek Orthodox 78%, Islam 18%, Maronite, other
(includes Maronite and Armenian Apostolic) 4% Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP: Greek Cypriot
area (2007 est.): $21.41 billion; $27,100 per capita; Turkish Cypriot
area (2007 est.): $4.54 billion; $7,135 per capita (2007 est.).
Real growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 3.9%; Turkish Cypriot
area: 10.6%. Inflation: Greek Cypriot area: 2.3% (2007 est.);
Turkish Cypriot area: 9.1% (2004 est.). Unemployment: Greek
Cypriot area: 3.8% (2005 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 5.6% (2004
est.). Arable land: 10.8%. Agriculture: citrus,
vegetables, barley, grapes, olives, vegetables; poultry, pork, lamb;
dairy, cheese. Labor force: Greek Cypriot area: 380,000;
Turkish Cypriot area: 95,025 (2006 est.); Greek Cypriot area:
agriculture 7.4%, industry 38.2%, services 54.4%; Turkish Cypriot
area: agriculture 14.5%, industry 29%, services 56.5% (2004 est.).
Industries: tourism, food and beverage processing, cement and
gypsum production, ship repair and refurbishment, textiles, light
chemicals, metal products, wood, paper, stone, and clay products.
Natural resources: copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber,
salt, marble, clay earth pigment. Exports: Greek Cypriot area:
$1.5 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): citrus, potatoes, pharmaceuticals,
cement, clothing and cigarettes; Turkish Cypriot area: $69 million
f.o.b. (2007 est.): citrus, potatoes, textiles. Imports: Greek
Cypriot area: $6.9 billion (f.o.b., 2007 est.): consumer goods,
petroleum and lubricants, intermediate goods, machinery, transport
equipment; Turkish Cypriot area: $415.2 million (f.o.b., 2007 est.):
vehicles, fuel, cigarettes, food, minerals, chemicals, machinery.
Major trading partners: UK, Greece, Germany, UAE, France,
Italy, Japan, Israel, Netherlands, China (2006).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main
lines in use: Greek Cypriot area: 408,300 (2006); Turkish Cypriot
area: 86,228 (2002); mobile cellular: Greek Cypriot area: 777,500
(2006); Turkish Cypriot area: 143,178 (2002). Radio broadcast
stations: Greek Cypriot area: AM 5, FM 76, shortwave 0 (2004);
Turkish Cypriot area: AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 1 (2004). Television
broadcast stations: Greek Cypriot area: 8; Turkish Cypriot area: 2
(plus 4 relay) (2004). Internet hosts: 36,964 (2007).
Internet users: 356,600 (2006). Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: Greek Cypriot area: 12,280 km; Turkish Cypriot
area: 2,350 km; paved: Greek Cypriot area: 7,979 km; Turkish Cypriot
area: 1,370 km; unpaved: Greek Cypriot area: 4,301 km (2005); Turkish
Cypriot area: 980 km (2006). Ports and harbors: Famagusta,
Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, Vasilikos. Airports: 16
(2007). International disputes:
hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous
entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a
Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN
Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964
and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; March 2003
reunification talks failed, but Turkish-Cypriots later opened their
borders to temporary visits by Greek Cypriots; on 24 April 2004, the
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities voted in simultaneous
and parallel referenda on whether to approve the UN-brokered Annan
Plan that would have ended the thirty-year division of the island by
establishing a new "United Cyprus Republic," a majority of Greek
Cypriots voted "no"; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the European Union
still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis
communitaire) suspended in the north.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
The third-largest island in the Mediterranean
(one and one-half times the size of Delaware), Cyprus lies off the
southern coast of Turkey and the western shore of Syria. The highest peak
is Mount Olympus at 6,406 ft (1,953 m).
Government
Republic. Mediation efforts by the UN seek to
reunify the Greek and Turkish areas of the island under one federated
system of government.
History
Cyprus was the site of early Phoenician and
Greek colonies. For centuries its rule passed through many hands. It fell
to the Turks in 1571, and a large Turkish colony settled on the
island.
In World War I, at the outbreak of hostilities
with Turkey, Britain annexed the island. It was declared a Crown colony in
1925. The Greek population, which regarded Greece as its mother country,
sought self-determination and union (enosis) with Greece. In 1955,
a guerrilla war against British rule was launched by the National
Organization of Cypriot Combatants (EOKA). In 1958, Greek Cypriot
nationalist leader Archbishop Makarios began calling for Cypriot
independence rather than union with Greece. During this period, Turkish
Cypriots began demanding that the island be partitioned between the Greek
and Turkish populations.
Cyprus became an independent nation on Aug. 16,
1960, after Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed on a constitution, which
excluded both the possibility of partition as well as of union with
Greece. Makarios became the country's first president.
Fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots
flared up in the early 1960s, and a UN peacekeeping force was sent to the
island in 1965. On July 15, 1974, Archbishop Makarios was overthrown in a
military coup led by the Cypriot National Guard. On July 20, Turkey
invaded Cyprus, asserting its right to protect the Turkish Cypriot
minority. Turkey gained control of 30% of northern Cyprus and displaced
some 180,000 Greek Cypriots. A UN-sponsored cease-fire was established on
July 22, and Turkish troops were permitted to remain in the north. In Dec.
1974, Makarios again assumed the presidency. The following year, the
island was partitioned into Greek and Turkish territories separated by a
UN-occupied buffer zone.
Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state
under Rauf Denktash in the northern part of the island on Nov. 15, 1983,
naming it the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” The UN
Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of Nov. 18, 1983, declared this
action illegal and called for withdrawal. No country except Turkey has
recognized this entity.
In 1988, George Vassiliou, a conservative and
critic of UN proposals to reunify Cyprus, became president. The purchase
of missiles capable of reaching the Turkish coast evoked threats of
retaliation from Turkey in 1997, and Cyprus's plans to deploy more
missiles in Aug. 1999 again raised Turkey's ire.
The continued strife between Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots threatened Cyprus's potential EU membership—it had
met all the economic standards—and provided a great incentive to
both sides to resolve their differences. UN-sponsored talks between the
Greek and Turkish leaders, Kleridas and Denktash, continued intensively in
2002, but without resolution. In Dec. 2002, the EU invited Cyprus to join
in 2004, provided the UN plan was accepted by February 2003. Without
reunification, only Greek Cyprus was to be welcomed into the EU. But just
weeks before the UN deadline, President Kleridas was defeated by
right-wing candidate Tassos Papadopoulos, a hard-liner on reunification.
The UN deadline passed, and the UN declared that the talks had failed. In
April 2004, dual referendums were held, with the Greek side overwhelmingly
rejecting the most recent UN reunification plan, and the Turkish side
voting in favor. In May, Greek Cyprus alone became a part of the EU.
In April 2005, Turkish Cyprus elected
pro-reunification leader Mehmet Ali Talat as their president, ousting
longtime leader Rauf Denktash, who staunchly opposed reunification. In
July 2006, the UN sponsored talks between President Papadopolous and
Talat.
In the second round of presidential elections in
February 2008, Community Party leader Dimitris Christofias won 53.4% of
the vote, defeating right-wing candidate Ioannis Kasoulidis, who took
46.6%. Christofias, who is Cyprus's first Commnunist president, vowed to
work toward reunification and said he would meet with the Turkish Cypriot
president, Talat. Papadopoulos was eliminated in the first round of
voting.
On March 21, 2008, President Christofias started
talks of reunification with Turkish Cypriot president, Talat, as
promised.
On April 4, 2008, Ledra Street Crossing was torn
down—an important symbolic step towards reunification. The
checkpoint divided Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the capital city of
Nicosia for decades.
See also Encyclopedia: Cyprus. U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Cyprus
Department of Statistics and Research www.pio.gov.cy/dsr/index.html .
Information Please® Database, © 2008 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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