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 Cyprus| Facts & Figures |
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| President: Dimitris Christofias (2008) Land area: 3,568 sq mi (9,241 sq km);
total area: 3,571 sq mi () Population (2009 est.): 796,740 (growth
rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 12.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.6/1000;
life expectancy: 78.3; density per sq km: 85
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Lefkosia (Nicosia) (in government-controlled
area), 197,600 Monetary unit:
Euro More Facts & Figures |
GeographyThe 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).
GovernmentRepublic. Mediation efforts by the UN seek to
reunify the Greek and Turkish areas of the island under one federated
system of government.
HistoryCyprus 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
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