Portal:Cyprus

The Cyprus Portal

Cyprus (/ˈsaɪprəs/ ^ⓘ), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located southeast of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, and north of Egypt. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus hosts the British military bases Akrotiri and Dhekelia, whilst the northeast portion of the island is de facto governed by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is separated from the Republic of Cyprus by the United Nations Buffer Zone.

Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming communities emerging by 8500 BC. The late Bronze Age saw the emergence of Alashiya, an urbanised society closely connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Cyprus experienced waves of settlement by Mycenaean Greeks at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Owing to its rich natural resources (particularly copper) and strategic position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, the island was subsequently contested and occupied by several empires, including the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Persians, from whom it was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Successive rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates, the French Lusignans, and the Venetians was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman dominion (1571–1878). Cyprus was placed under British administration in 1878 pursuant to the Cyprus Convention and formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1914.

The island's future became a matter of disagreement between its Greek and Turkish communities. Greek Cypriots sought enosis, or union with Greece, which became a Greek national policy in the 1950s. Turkish Cypriots initially advocated for continued British rule, then demanded the annexation of the island to Turkey, with which they established the policy of taksim: portioning Cyprus and creating a Turkish polity in the north of the island. Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. The crisis of 1963–64 brought further intercommunal violence between the two communities, displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots into enclaves, and ended Turkish Cypriot political representation. On 15 July 1974, a coup d'état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta. This action precipitated the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July, which captured the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus and displaced over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was established by unilateral declaration in 1983, which was widely condemned by the international community and remains recognised only by Turkey. These events and the resulting political situation remain subject to an ongoing dispute. (Full article...)

Selected article - show another

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Cyprus have evolved in recent years, but LGBTQ people still face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female expressions of same-sex sexual activity were decriminalised in 1998, and civil unions which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage have been legal since December 2015. Conversion therapy was banned in Cyprus in May 2023. However, adoption rights in Cyprus are reserved for heterosexual couples only.

Traditionally, the socially conservative Greek Orthodox Church has had significant influence over public opinion and politics regarding LGBT rights. However, ever since Cyprus sought membership in the European Union, it had to change its human rights legislation, including its laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Attitudes towards members of the LGBT community are evolving and becoming increasingly more accepting and tolerant, with a recent opinion poll showing that a majority of Cypriots now support same-sex marriage. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Cyprus news

24 May 2025 – 2024–25 Cypriot Cup: In association football, AEK Larnaca win the Cypriot Cup after defeating Pafos FC on penalties 5–4 after a 0–0 draw at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia. (Cyprus News Agency)
10 April 2025 – Russia–United States relations: A Russian-American citizen arrested in Yekaterinburg in early 2024 and a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 are released in a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. (BBC News)

General images

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

Image 1Cyprus in 1482 (from History of Cyprus)
Image 2Sea caves at Cape Greco (from Cyprus)
Image 3Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 4Archaeological site of Khirokitia with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction) (from Cyprus)
Image 5Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 6Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol (from Cyprus)
Image 7Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis' historical map of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 8Limassol General Hospital (from Cyprus)
Image 9The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack. (from Cyprus)
Image 10Zeus Keraunios, 500-480 BC, Nicosia museum (from History of Cyprus)
Image 11Ioannis 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 12Cypriot meze (from Cyprus)
Image 13Supreme Court of Justice (from Cyprus)
Image 14Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians. (from Cyprus)
Image 15Statue of Liberty symbolising the independence of Cyprus. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 16Welcoming ceremony of the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev by the soldiers of the Cypriot National Guard (from Cyprus)
Image 17Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 18Kouris Dam overflow in April 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 19Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 20Base ring vessel of Late Bronze Age (from History of Cyprus)
Image 21Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus since February 2023 (from Cyprus)
Image 22The entrance of the historic Pancyprian Gymnasium (from Cyprus)
Image 23Turkish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioğlu (Left) and the Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis (Right), in Ankara, within the scope of the 2014 Cyprus talks (from Cyprus problem)
Image 24Turkish rally in Nicosia in January 1958 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 25Cypriot cult image. 'Red Polished Ware', 2100–2000 BC. Museum zu Allerheiligen (from History of Cyprus)
Image 26Street close to the Nicosia border (from Cyprus problem)
Image 27The Troodos Mountains experience heavy snowfall in winter. (from Cyprus)
Image 28Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census (from Cyprus)
Image 292010 population by age and gender (from Cyprus)
Image 30Cypriot Halloumi (from Cyprus)
Image 31Typical Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 32A Greek Cypriot demonstration in the 1930s in favour of Enosis (union) with Greece (from Cyprus problem)
Image 33Khirokitia archeological site. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 34Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum (from Cyprus)
Image 35A map showing the division of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 36Cyprus is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue) and of the EU single market. (from Cyprus)
Image 37Greek Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (union with Greece) in 1930 (from Cyprus)
Image 38Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the creator of the Annan plan. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 39Population growth, 1961–2003 (numbers for the entire island, excluding Turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus) (from Cyprus)
Image 40Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control. (from Cyprus)
Image 41Büyük Han, a caravanserai in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 42Cypri insvla nova descript 1573, Ioannes á Deutecum f[ecit]. Map of Cyprus newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom, 1573. (from Cyprus)
Image 43"TAKSİM" (division) graffiti on a wall in Nicosia in the late 1950s (from Cyprus problem)
Image 44Cypriot style café in an arcade in Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 45The "Green Line" in Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 46Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music (from Cyprus)
Image 47UN tower in the buffer zone (from Cyprus)
Image 48Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy (from Cyprus)
Image 49Cathedral 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 50A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956) (from Cyprus)
Image 51Central Bank of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 52Presidential Palace, Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 53A Sentinel-2 image of Cyprus taken in 2022 (from Cyprus)
Image 54Red-polished ceramics from Enkomi, 1900–1725 BC. St. Barnabas Archaeological Museum, Salamis, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 55Ayia Paraskevi Byzantine church in Yeroskipou, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 56The north–south checkpoint has been open since 2003. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 57Opening of Ledra Street in April 2008 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 58
Accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 59Dhekelia Power Station (from Cyprus)
Image 60
  Under the control of the Republic of Cyprus
  The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
  Turkey
  Greece
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 61Faneromeni School is the oldest all-girl primary school in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 62Street in the divided capital of Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 63The Armenian Alphabet at the Melkonian Educational Institute. Armenian is recognised as a minority language in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 64Atatürk Square, North Nicosia, in 2006 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 65A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. (from Cyprus)