Cyprus
Cyprus (in Greek: Κύπρος, romanized: Kýpros, “copper”; in Turkish, Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus (in Greek, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, romanized: Kypriakí Dimokratía; in Turkish, Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean, one of the twenty-seven that make up the European Union. It is located on the island of the same name and its form of government is the presidential republic. Its territory is organized into six administrative districts. Its capital is Nicosia.
Although it is an internationally recognized state, it only controls two-thirds of the island. The remaining third (the north of the island) was occupied by Turkey in 1974, establishing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This last territory is recognized only by Turkey. The island is also home to the British military bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The island of Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean Sea, 113 km south of Turkey, 120 km west of Syria, and 150 km east of the Greek island of Kastellórizo. Cyprus became a member of the United Nations on September 20, 1960.
Geographically, Cyprus belongs to Southwest Asia (more specifically, the Near East), but politically and culturally it is considered as part of Europe. Historically, it has always been a main bridge between the three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe. In size it is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia. This island is about 160 km long, to which must be added the 72 km of a narrow arm of land located at its northeastern end. The maximum width of Cyprus is 97 km.
Etymology
The oldest attested reference to Cyprus is Mycenaean Greek from the 15th century BCE. C.ku-pi-ri-jo, meaning "Cypriot" (Greek: Κύπριος), written in Linear B syllabic script. The Classical Greek form of the name is Κύπρος (Kýpros).
The exact etymology of the name Cyprus is unknown. Some suggestions propose:
- The Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)
- κπρος (kýpros), the Greek name of the henna tree (Lawsonia alba)
- A word eteochipriota for copper. It has been suggested, for example, that it has roots in the word sumeria for copper (zubar) or bronze (kubar), regarding the deposits of copper mineral found on the island.
Through foreign trade, the island has given its name to the classical Latin word for "copper" through the phrase aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus," later shortened to Cuprum.
History
Prehistory
The site with the earliest known human activity on Cyprus is Aetokremnos, located on the southern coast, indicating that hunter-gatherers were active on the island around 10,000 BC. C., with stable communities in villages dating from 8200 B.C. C. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with the extinction of dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants. Archaeologists discovering water wells in western Cyprus ranked them among the oldest in the world, dating from 9,000 to 10,500 years old.
The remains of an eight-month-old cat were discovered buried with its human owner at a Neolithic site in Cyprus. The tomb is estimated to be 9,500 years old, predating even the ancient civilization of Egypt and dating back the first known feline-human association.
The remarkably well-preserved Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia (also known as Khirokitia) is on UNESCO's World Heritage List and dates to approximately 6800 BC. c.
Antiquity
.jpg)
Cyprus has been occupied by various cultures throughout its history. The Mycenaean civilization would have arrived around 1600 BC. C., and later Phoenician and Greek colonies were established. Pharaoh Tuthmosis III of Egypt subdued the island in 1500 B.C. C. and forced her to pay tribute, which was maintained until Egyptian rule was replaced by that of the Hittites (who called Cyprus Alasiya in their language) in the XIII a. C. After the invasion of the sea peoples (approx. 1200 BC), the Greeks settled on the island (ca. 1100 BC), acting decisively in shaping their cultural identity. The Hebrews called it Kittim Island.
The Assyrians invaded the island in 800 B.C. C., until Pharaoh Amasis reconquered the island in 600 B.C. C., to later be replaced by the Persians after the conquest of Egypt by them. Salamis, the most powerful of the various city-kingdoms of Cyprus at the time, revolted against Persian rule in 499 BC. C., under King Onisilos. Both this rebellion and subsequent Greek attempts to liberate Cyprus failed; among them those of King Evágoras of Salamis, in the year 345 B.C. C. However, in the year 331 a. C., Alexander the Great conquered Cyprus, taking it from the Persians to include it again in the domain of the Hellenic world. The Cypriot fleet helped him conquer the Canaan coast.
After the death of Alexander the Great, Cyprus was the object of rivalries between succeeding generals due to its wealth and strategic location, eventually falling under the rule of the Ptolemies of Egypt.
Roman rule
The Roman Empire finally took over the island in 57 B.C. C. Roman Cyprus was a small senatorial province within the Empire. Although it was a small province, it possessed several well-known religious sanctuaries and was prominent in the eastern Mediterranean trade, especially in the production and trade of Cypriot copper.
The island of Cyprus was situated in a strategically important position along the eastern Mediterranean trade routes, and had been controlled by various imperial powers throughout the first millennium BCE. C., among them: the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Macedonians and, finally, the Romans. Cyprus was annexed by the Romans in 58 BC. C., but the turmoil and civil war in Roman politics did not establish a firm government in Cyprus until 31 BC. C., when Roman political struggles ended with the Battle of Actium and, after a decade, Cyprus was assigned the status of a senatorial province in 22 BC. [From then until the 7th century century, Cyprus was controlled by the Romans. Cyprus officially became part of the Eastern Roman Empire in AD 293. C.
Under Roman rule, Cyprus was divided into four main districts: Salamis, Paphos, Amathus and Lapethos. Paphos was the island's capital throughout the Roman period until Salamis was refounded as Constantia in AD 346. The geographer Ptolemy recorded the following Roman cities: Paphos, Salamis, Amathous, Lapethos, Kition, Kourion, Arsinoe, Kyrenia, Chytri, Karpasia, Soli and Tamassos, as well as some smaller cities scattered around the island.
Starting in the year 45 of the Christian Era, the preachers Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas introduced Christianity to the island, making Cyprus the first country in the world to be governed by a Christian. After the fall of Rome, Cyprus went through Byzantine and Arab domination. In 1192 it was conquered by the Crusaders under the command of Richard I the Lionheart, who crowned himself King of Cyprus.
Venetian Domain
The Republic of Venice exercised its dominion over Cyprus from 1489, until the Turkish-Ottoman conquest in 1570. After the Congress of Berlin, Cyprus passed to British administration on July 12, 1878, being officially converted into a colony on November 1914, with the start of the First World War.
In 1931 the first revolts began in favor of enosis (union of Cyprus with Greece). After the end of World War II, the Greek Cypriots increase the pressure for the end of British rule. Archbishop Makarios leads the campaign for enosis and is deported to the Seychelles in 1956 after a series of attacks on the island.
Ottoman rule
In 1570, a large-scale Ottoman assault involving 60,000 troops brought the island under Ottoman control, despite stiff resistance from the people of Nicosia and Famagusta. The Ottoman forces that captured Cyprus massacred many of the Christian Greek and Armenian inhabitants. The previous Latin elite was destroyed and the first major demographic change since antiquity took place with the formation of a Muslim community. The soldiers who fought in the conquest were settled on the island and Turkish peasants and artisans were brought to the island from Anatolia. This new community also included exiled Anatolian tribesmen, "undesirables" and members of various 'troublesome' Muslim sects, as well as a number of new converts on the island.
The Ottomans abolished the previously existing feudal system and applied the millet system to Cyprus, in which non-Muslim peoples were ruled by their own religious authorities. In a twist from the days of the Latin Rite Church's rule, the head of the Church of Cyprus was inaugurated as the leader of the Greek Cypriot population and acted as a mediator between the Christian Greek Cypriots and the Ottoman authorities. This status ensured that the Orthodox Church of Cyprus was in a position to resist the constant attempts to restore the authority of the Roman-based Catholic Church. The Ottoman government of Cyprus was sometimes indifferent, sometimes oppressive, depending on the temperament of sultans and local officials, and the island entered more than 250 years of economic decline.
The ratio of Muslims to Christians fluctuated throughout the period of Ottoman rule. In 1777-78, 47,000 Muslims made up the majority of the island's 37,000 Christians. By 1872, the island's population had grown to 144,000, of whom 44,000 were Muslims and 100,000 Christians. The Muslim population included numerous Crypto-Christians, including the Linobambaki, a crypto-Catholic community that arose due to the religious persecution of the Catholic community by the Ottoman authorities; this community would be assimilated into the Turkish Cypriot community during British rule.
As soon as the Greek War of Independence broke out in 1821, several Greek Cypriots left for Greece to join the Greek forces. In response, the Ottoman Governor of Cyprus arrested and executed 486 prominent Greek Cypriots, including the Archbishop of Cyprus, Kyprianos, and four other bishops. In 1828, the first president of modern Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, called for the union of Cyprus. with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings ensued. The reaction to Ottoman misrule led to uprisings by both Greek Cypriots and Turks, although neither was successful. After centuries of neglect by the Ottoman Empire, the poverty of the majority of the population and ever-present tax collectors fueled Greek nationalism, and in the 19th century XX The idea of enosis, or union with the newly independent Greece, was firmly entrenched among the Greek Cypriots.
Under Ottoman rule, literacy, schooling, and numeracy rates were low. They persisted for some time after the end of Ottoman rule, and then increased rapidly during the 20th century.
British Rule
Following the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and the Congress of Berlin, Cyprus was ''leased'' to the British Empire, which took over its de facto administration in 1878 (although, in terms of sovereignty, Cyprus remained de jure Ottoman territory until 5 November 1914, along with present-day Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan) to in exchange for assurances that Britain would use the island as a base to protect the Ottoman Empire against possible Russian aggression.
The island would serve Britain as a key military base for its colonial routes. In 1906, when the port of Famagusta was completed, Cyprus was a strategic naval post commanding the Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India, then Britain's most important overseas possession. Following the outbreak of World War I and the decision of the Ottoman Empire to join the war on the side of the Central Powers, on November 5, 1914 the British Empire formally annexed Cyprus and declared the Ottoman Khedivat of Egypt and Sudan as British sultanate and protectorate
In 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Greece, ruled by King Constantine I of Greece, on the condition that Greece join the war on the British side. The offer was rejected. In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, the fledgling Turkish republic renounced any claim to Cyprus, and in 1925 it was declared a British crown colony. During World War II, many Greek and Turkish Cypriots enlisted in the Regiment of Cyprus.
The Greek Cypriot population, for their part, was hopeful that the British administration would lead to enosis. The idea of enosis was historically part of the Megali Idea, a larger political ambition of a Greek state encompassing the Greek-inhabited territories of the former Ottoman Empire, including Cyprus and Asia Minor, with its capital in Constantinople, and was actively pursued by the Cypriot Orthodox Church, which had its members educated in Greece. These clergymen, along with Greek military officers and professionals, some of whom were still pursuing the idea of Megali, would later found the guerrilla organization Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston or National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA). Greek Cypriots regarded the island as historically Greek and believed that union with Greece was a natural right. In the 1950s, the pursuit of enosis became part of Greek national politics.
Initially, the Turkish Cypriots were in favor of continued British rule, but were alarmed by Greek Cypriot calls for enosis, as they considered the union of Crete with Greece, which caused the exodus of the Cretan Turks, to be a precedent to be avoided and they took a pro-partition stance in response to EOKA's militant activity.
Turkish Cypriots also considered themselves a distinct ethnic group on the island and believed they had a separate right to self-determination from Greek Cypriots. Meanwhile, in the 1950s, the Turkish leader Menderes regarded Cyprus as an 'extension of Anatolia', rejected the partition of Cyprus along ethnic lines, and favored Turkey's annexation of the entire island..
Nationalist slogans centered on the idea that 'Cyprus is Turkish' and the ruling party declared Cyprus a part of the Turkish homeland vital to its security. Realizing that the fact that the Turkish Cypriot population was only 20% of the island's inhabitants made annexation unfeasible, national policy changed to favor partition. The slogan "Partition or Death" was used frequently in Turkish Cypriot and Turkish protests from the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Although after the Zurich and London conferences Turkey seemed to accept the existence of the Cypriot state and Distancing themselves from their policy of favoring the partition of the island, the goal of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leadership remained to create an independent Turkish state in the northern part of the island.
In January 1950, the Church of Cyprus organized a referendum under clerical supervision and without the participation of Turkish Cypriots, in which 96% of participating Greek Cypriots voted in favor of enosis, The Greeks they then constituted 80.2% of the total population of the island (1946 census). The British administration proposed restricted home rule in the framework of a constitution, but was ultimately rejected. In 1955 the EOKA organization was founded, which sought union with Greece through armed struggle. At the same time, the Turkish Cypriots created the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT), which called for Taksim, or partition, as a counterbalance. British officials also tolerated the creation of the Turkish underground organization T.M.T. The Secretary of State for the Colonies, in a letter dated 15 July 1958, had advised the Governor of Cyprus not to act against T.M.T despite its illegal actions so as not to prejudice British relations with the Turkish government.
Independence and division
In 1960, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom—together with the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities—signed a treaty declaring the island's independence and British possession of the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases. Makarios assumes the presidency, so the constitution indicates that the Turkish Cypriots will hold the vice presidency and have veto power. This peculiar constitution that was imposed on it made it difficult for it to function as a State and relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots became tense, leading to the explosions of intercommunal violence in 1963 and 1967, aggravated in the border area between both communities.
On July 15, 1974, a "pro-Greek" coup, supported by the Greek dictatorship of the colonels, deposed the legitimate government, which provoked the reaction of Turkey, which invaded and militarily occupied the northern third of the island with 30,000 soldiers, both parties breaking international law. This is the origin of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The Republic of Cyprus became a member of the European Union in 2004, the year in which it voted in a referendum on the Annan plan for Cypriot reunification. However, the referendum is rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots.
In the 2008 presidential elections, after the second round of the elections, Dimitris Hristofias, general secretary of the Workers' People's Progressive Party (AKEL) emerged victorious, with 53.36% of the votes, against 46, 64% from former Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasulides. One of the objectives of his candidacy was the resumption of negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus.
In subsequent elections, the Progressive Party of the Workers' People loses its majority, and in 2013 Nikos Anastasiadis, leader of the Democratic Grouping party (DISY), is elected president.
Government and politics
The government of Cyprus is organized according to the 1960 constitution, which divided power between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. In 1974, Turkey invaded a third of the territory to the north of the self-declared independent country alleging a coup by the Greek side.
In 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union. However, the application of the acquis communautaire is limited to the southern part of the island, until reunification takes place. From 2008 to 2013, the Cyprus Progressive Workers' Party (name of the Communist Party from 1941, known as AKEL) ruled the parliament. He was replaced by the Democratic Party of Cyprus, after losing the majority to the communist party, in the context of the serious economic crisis
Defense
The Cyprus National Guard (Greek: Εθνική Φρουρά, Ethnikí Frourá), also known as the Greek Cypriot National Guard or simply National Guard, is the military force of the Republic of Cyprus. This force consists of air, ground, sea, and special forces elements, and is highly integrated with its first and second line reserves, as well as civilian support agencies and paramilitary forces.
The mission of the National Guard is to take all necessary measures for the defense of the Republic of Cyprus in order to face a threat of invasion or any action directed against the independence or territorial integrity of the Republic or which threatens to insure the life or property of citizens of the Republic. The main threat to Cyprus comes from the presence and offensive formation of 50,000 Turkish troops stationed in the unrecognized and neighboring Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Greece currently maintains a 950-man garrison in the Republic of Cyprus under the designation of the Hellenic Force in Cyprus (ELDYK), but this is not officially part of the Cypriot army and mostly receives orders from the General Staff of the Hellenic Army of Greece.
The National Guard was created in 1964 as a force composed predominantly of ethnic Greeks, following the Cyprus crisis of 1963-1964 and the breakdown of social and political relations between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus. According to the tripartite Treaty of Alliance (1960) and the definition of the first Constitution of 1960-1963, Cyprus was entitled to an army of 2,000 men, which was to be composed of 60% Greek personnel and 40% Turkish personnel..
The Cypriot Army was a short-lived volunteer force, 1960-4. The first elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, proposed thirteen constitutional amendments to the 1960 constitution, which would have adjusted the distribution of labor and voting power for all civil and military services. This adjustment was intended to give greater representation and influence to the Greek Cypriot majority, which at that time made up around 82% of the island's indigenous population.
Military service in the Republic of Cyprus is compulsory for men (Efthymiou 2016). Currently, the period of compulsory service is 14 months. Legally, the Greek Cypriot community comprises the ethnic Greek population, as well as Cypriots belonging to three Christian minorities: Armenians, Latin Rite Catholics and Maronite Catholics. Since 2008, the service has been compulsory for all members of the Greek Cypriot community and not just for ethnic Greek Cypriots. The current Supreme Commander is a Greek military man, as have been all his predecessors.
All male visitors, regardless of citizenship, who arrive on the island of military age (16 years and older) and who have a parent of Cypriot origin are also eligible for military service; to be exempted from military service they must obtain an exit visa at a Ministry of Defense office in order to legally leave the island.
Police
The Cyprus Police (Greek: Αστυνομία Κύπρου) is the National Police Service of the Republic of Cyprus and has been under the Ministry of Justice and Public Order since 1993.
The duties and responsibilities of the Cyprus Police are set out in the Amended Police Act (N.73(1)) of 2004 and include the maintenance of Law and Order, crime prevention and detection, as well as arrest and bringing criminals to justice.
Although the history of law enforcement in Cyprus dates back to 1879, when the then British Colonial Government passed the first Police Act, which operated a mounted gendarmerie force known as the Cyprus Military Police, the history of The Cyprus Police begins with the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960.
In 1960, two Public Security Forces were created within the framework of the Constitution: the Police, in charge of monitoring urban areas, and the Gendarmerie, in charge of monitoring rural areas. A Greek Cypriot commander and a Turkish Cypriot commander administered the two Forces respectively.
The two police forces merged to form the current police service during the year 1964, shortly after inter-communal problems between the Greek and Turkish communities, as a result of which Turkish Cypriot officers abandoned their posts., the conflict created big problems for the police, who had to manage the situation, along with the then sparse Cypriot army, as it was the only organized force.
With the creation of the Cypriot National Guard in 1964, functions of a military nature were transferred to the National Guard and the police were again limited to their normal functions.
It is also worth noting the existence of a museum dedicated to the history of the Cyprus Police and law enforcement in general, with its own history. The Cyprus Police Museum, owned by the Cyprus Police and managed by Department A' of the Police Headquarters, is open to the general public.
Human Rights
In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Cyprus has signed or ratified:
 Cyprus | International treaties | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CESCR | CCPR | CERD | CED | CEDAW | CAT | CRC | MWC | CRPD | |||||||||
| CESCR | CESCR-OP | CCPR | CCPR-OP1 | CCPR-OP2-DP | CEDAW | CEDAW-OP | CAT | CAT-OP | CRC | CRC-OP-AC | CRC-OP-SC | CRPD | CRPD-OP | ||||
| Pertenence |  |  | | |  | | | | | | | |  |  | | | |
 Signed and ratified,  signed, but not ratified,  neither signed nor ratified,  without information,  it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies. | |||||||||||||||||
Status of major international human rights instruments
In the "Freedom in the World 2011" report, the US organization Freedom House described the Republic of Cyprus as "free". In January 2011, the Freedom House Report Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue of human rights in Cyprus noted that the current division of Cyprus continues to affect human rights throughout the island "including freedom of movement, rights regarding the issue of missing persons, discrimination, the right to life, freedom of religion, and economic, social, and cultural rights". The constant attention to the division of the island can sometimes mask other human rights issues.
In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to pay more than $100 million in compensation to Cyprus for what it called an invasion; the government in Ankara announced it would ignore the ruling. In 2014, a group of Cypriot refugees and a European Parliamentarian, later joined by the Cypriot government, filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice, accusing Turkey of violating the Geneva Conventions by directly or indirectly transferring its civilian population. to occupied territory.
Other alleged violations of the Geneva and Hague Conventions - both ratified by Turkey - amount to what archaeologist Sophocles Hadjisavvas called "the organized destruction of Greek and Christian heritage in the north". These violations include the looting of cultural treasures, the deliberate destruction of churches, the abandonment of works of art and the alteration of the names of important historical places, which was condemned by the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Hadjisavvas has stated that these actions are motivated by the Turkish policy of erasing the Greek presence in northern Cyprus in a framework of what he describes as ethnic cleansing. However, according to criticism, some authors could be motivated by the search for benefits.
Art law expert Alessandro Chechi has classified the connection of the destruction of cultural heritage to ethnic cleansing as the "Greek Cypriot point of view," which he says has been discounted by two reports from the PACE. Chechi asserts the joint responsibility of Greek and Turkish Cypriots for the destruction of cultural heritage in Cyprus, pointing to the destruction of Turkish Cypriot heritage at the hands of alleged Greek Cypriot extremists.
Foreign Relations
The foreign relations of Cyprus are closely linked with the internal ones due to the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, with which the Greek Cypriot government does not maintain diplomatic relations just as it does not with Turkey.
It maintains relations with Greece, Israel, Egypt and Lebanon for the exploitation of natural gas in this region. It maintains good relations with the neighboring Arab countries to avoid recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and also with Russia, in addition to being an extremely important and constant support for Cyprus within the Security Council, and being an economic partner.
The country is, since the same year of its independence, a member of the UN. The Security Council of this has adopted more than 130 resolutions in relation to Cyprus (the first, in 1964) and the General Assembly, another 16 (since 1974). UNFICYP is one of the oldest missions of the UN, since it was created in 1964 as an interposition force between Greek- and Turkish-Cypriots. Its powers were expanded in 1974 to supervise the cease-fire line, as well as provide humanitarian assistance. It currently has 850 soldiers and 60 police officers on the Green Line.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not internationally recognized by any State except Turkey, it enjoys observer status before the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, although its Secretary General made some statements, in April 2012, in favor of raising said status to that of Member State.
Furthermore, the two countries share close positions regarding the international status of Kosovo.
Cyprus, being a politically and culturally European country, and being part of the European Union, tends to have good foreign relations. It has embassies in all of North America, with Cuba and Brazil in the rest of the Americas. In Africa it only has embassies in Egypt, Libya and South Africa, in Europe it has embassies in most of the member countries of the European Union. It also has embassies in Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, and the Holy See. In Asia, it has an embassy in the Palestinian Authority, China, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar; and in Oceania it only has an embassy in Australia.
Cyprus has been a member of the Commonwealth since 1961.
Political-administrative organization
The Republic of Cyprus is divided into six administrative districts: Nicosia, Famagusta, Limassol, Pafos, Larnaca and Kyrenia. Each district is governed by a representative of the central government. The districts of Famagusta, Kyrenia and part of Nicosia are located within the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti [KKTC]) and have not been under the control of the Cypriot government for decades, for what its administrative organization is merely symbolic.
In turn, the territories of the Sovereign Bases of Akrotiri, in the south of the island, and of Dhekelia, to the east, are under the command of an administrator appointed by the United Kingdom. In these territories there are military bases of the British government.
Geography
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey. It is the third largest Mediterranean island, surpassed by Sardinia (the second) and Sicily (the first). Cyprus has moderate volcanic (and seismic) activity, and droughts, it also has 9,251 km² (of which 3,355 km² is under the domain of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), also of which 648 km is coastline.
The country is predominantly mountainous with two mountain ranges: Pentadactylos, in the north, and Troodos, in the southwest, culminating in the peak of Mount Olympus (1,951 m). Between them lies the largest plain: Mesaoria.
Cyprus is 240 km long and 100 km wide, with Turkey 75 km to the north. Other neighboring territories are Syria and Lebanon to the east (105 km and 108 km, respectively), Israel 200 km to the southeast, Egypt 380 km to the south and Greece to the west-northwest: 280 km to the small island of Kastellórizo (Meyísti) in the Dodecanese, 400 km to Rhodes and 800 km to mainland Greece.
The lowest point in Cyprus is sea level (0 m), while the highest point is Mount Olympus, belonging to the Troodos massif, at 1951 m high.
Location
480 km east of Greece (east coast of Rhodes Island), 415 km north of Egypt, 130 km west of the Syrian Arab Republic, and 94 km south of Turkey.
Ecology
The dominant biome of the island of Cyprus is the Mediterranean forest. The WWF considers the island to constitute a separate ecoregion in its own right, called the Mediterranean Forest of Cyprus.
Cyprus has a rich flora and diverse fauna although with relatively few mammals. Like most modern countries, natural habitats in Cyprus have been steadily disappearing, currently retaining only 20% of its original habitat due to rapid urbanization, commercial forest use, tourism and other reasons.
Cyprus is located at the crossroads of the three main flora zones of Europe, Asia and Africa, and therefore it is not surprising that the number of plant species found on the island extends to 1750, of which of which 126 are endemic. On the Akamas Peninsula the number of species is approximately 530, of which 33 are endemic. Thus, the ecological and scientific value of the area is self-evident.
About 8% of the island's native plants, 125 different species and subspecies, are endemic. The island's great variety of habitats, attributed to a varied microclimate and geology, is the main reason that contributed to this high number of endemic species.
The forests of Aleppo pine, juniper, rockrose and the mosaics of Aleppo pine meets maquis, are the main plant communities in the area.
The variety of fauna is equally impressive with 168 birds, 12 mammals, 20 reptiles and 16 butterfly species having been sighted in the area.
With its nearly 1800 species and subspecies of flowering plants. Being an island, it is sufficiently isolated to allow the evolution of a strong endemic flowering element. At the same time being surrounded by large continents, it incorporates botanical elements from neighboring land masses.
According to existing evidence, the first animals to arrive were hippos and elephants, both excellent swimmers. They arrived 1.5 million years ago and apart from a few shrews and mice, they were the only land mammals roaming the island before the arrival of man 9,000 years ago.
Relief
The relief of the island of Cyprus is characterized by the existence of two almost parallel mountain ranges that cross the island from East to West. The northern ones are the narrow Pentadactylos or Kyrenia mountains, with calcareous soil; It occupies a substantially smaller area than the southern cordillera, and its heights are also lower. The one to the south are the Troodos mountains (maximum height, Mount Olympus, 1,953 m), of a volcanic type; they cover most of the southern and western portions of the island and cover more or less half of its area. The two mountain systems run roughly parallel to the Taurus Mountains on the Turkish mainland, whose silhouette is visible from northern Cyprus. Between both ranges is a central plain called Messaria (other versions of the name Mesorea and Mesaoria. Coastal lowlands, which vary in width, surround the island.
Hydrography
The main rivers, Pedieos and Ialias, run through the central depression. They used to suffer from frequent flooding, but are currently regulated by reservoirs and irrigation systems.
The coastline is 648 km long. In its northern part, the island is high and uniform. The southern one has a smoother orography, with several inlets such as the bays of Famagusta and Larnaca.
Another significant feature of the Cypriot coastline is the Karpas Peninsula.
Climate
.jpg)
The country's climate is temperate-Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild winters in general, although harsher on the Troodos heights. The average annual rainfall is 500 mm (l/m²), and rainfall from December to February represents almost two thirds of the annual total.
Cyprus is an island with a Mediterranean climate, which favors agriculture. Variations in temperature and rainfall are determined by altitude and, to a lesser extent, by distance from the coast. Summers are dry and very hot (average temperature in July-August 19-29 °C). The summer season runs from mid-May to mid-September. It is the warmest island in the Mediterranean and Nicosia the city with the highest temperatures in Europe, with an annual average of 19.5 °C. In summer, the island is mainly under the influence of a shallow trough of low pressure that extends from the great continental trough centered in western Asia. It is a season of high temperatures with practically cloudless skies. The winter season, between November and mid-March, is temperate (average temperature in January 10-13 °C). The spring and autumn seasons are short.
Summer temperatures are high in the plains, even on the seashore, and reach uncomfortable records in Mesaoria. The average daily temperature in July and August is between 29 °C in the central plain and 22 °C in the Troodos Mountains, while the average maximum temperature for these three months is between 36 °C and 27 °C, respectively. Due to the scorching heat of the plain, some of the Troodos' villages have developed as summer resorts, with both winter and summer seasons. The average annual temperature for the island as a whole is around 20 °C. The winters are mild, with an average temperature in January of 10 °C in the central plain and 3 °C in the upper parts of the Troodos mountains and with an average minimum temperature of 5 to 0 °C respectively, being able to reach the –7 °C in the mountains.
In the fall and winter it rains, especially between November and March. The average annual rainfall is 500 mm, and rainfall from December to February represents 60% of the total annual rainfall. In winter, Cyprus is close to the frequent small depressions that cross the Mediterranean from west to east between the Eurasian continental anticyclone and the generally low-pressure belt of North Africa. These depressions provide periods of stormy weather that typically last a day or so, and produce most of the annual rainfall.
The higher, mountainous areas are cooler and more humid than the rest of the island. They receive the maximum annual rainfall, which can reach 1000 mm. There can also be intense frosts in these upper districts, which are normally white with snow in the first months of the year. Snow on the coasts is extremely rare and usually falls mixed with rain. Only in February 1950 was the island completely covered by snow. Precipitation increases from 450 mm on the eastern slopes to nearly 1,100 mm at the summit of the Troodos Mountains. The narrow Pentadactyl Ridge, which stretches for 160 km from west to east along the northern tip of the island, produces a relatively minor increase in rainfall of about 550 mm along its crest at a altitude of 1000 mm. The plains along the northern coast and in the Karpas Peninsula area record an annual average of 400–450 mm. The least rainfall occurs in Mesaoria, with 300–400 mm per year. It is characteristic that the rains change from one year to the next, and the droughts are frequent and sometimes intense. Statistical analysis of rainfall in Cyprus reveals a decreasing trend in the amount of rain that has fallen in the last thirty years.
Rainfall in the warm months contributes little or nothing to water supplies and agriculture. Autumn and winter rains, on which water supplies and agriculture depend, vary widely from year to year. The relative humidity of the air is, on average, between 60% and 80% in winter and between 40% and 60% in summer and even has lower values in inland areas in the middle of the day.
Fog is rare and visibility is generally very good. Sunlight abounds throughout the year and particularly between April and September when the average duration of light exceeds 11 hours a day. The amount of sun the island enjoys contributes to the success of the tourism industry. In the Mesaoria in the eastern plain, for example, there is sun 75% of the time. During the four summer months, there is an average of eleven and a half hours of sunshine each day, and the cloudier winter months there is an average of five and a half hours per day.
Winds are generally light to moderate, and of variable direction. Sometimes there can be strong winds, but storms are rare and are limited to highly exposed coastal areas and high elevation areas.
The average parameters of Nicosia are:
 Average climatic parameters of Nicosia | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Temp. max. abs. (°C) | 22 | 26 | 30 | 35 | 43 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 42 | 41 | 33 | 24 | 44 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 15 | 16 | 19 | 24 | 29 | 34 | 37 | 37 | 33 | 28 | 22 | 17 | 25.9 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 12.5 |
| Temp. min. abs. (°C) | -3 | -6 | -2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 6 | -1 | -3 | -6 |
| Total precipitation (mm) | 76 | 45 | 36 | 18 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 33 | 68 | 345 |
| [chuckles]required] | |||||||||||||
Environment
A fifth of the country is covered with forests. In accordance with European Union regulations, the territory of this country belongs to the Mediterranean biogeographic region. 1,107 hectares are protected as a wetland of international importance under the Convention on Ramsar, at the Larnaca Salt Lake Ramsar Site.
The island's natural hazards are moderate seismic activity, as well as droughts. Environmental problems are numerous and are largely related to insufficient water: there are no natural water catchments, there is seasonal disparity in rainfall, intrusion of seawater into the largest aquifer on the island and in the north, salinization is increasing. In addition, there is the pollution of the waters due to industrial and urban waste, the degradation of the coastline and the loss of wildlife habitats due to urbanization.
Water supply
Cyprus suffers from chronic water shortages. The country relies heavily on rainfall for domestic water supplies, but average annual rainfall has decreased over the past 30 years. Between 2001 and In 2004, exceptionally abundant annual rainfall increased water reserves, and supply exceeded demand, allowing total storage in the island's reservoirs to reach an all-time high in early 2005. Since then, however, demand It has increased every year -as a consequence of the growth of the local population, the movement of foreigners to Cyprus and the number of tourists who visit it-, while the offer has decreased as a consequence of the more frequent droughts.
Dams remain the main source of water for domestic and agricultural use; Cyprus has a total of 107 dams (plus one under construction) and reservoirs, with a total water storage capacity of about 330,000,000 m3 Water desalination plants are gradually being built to face the last years of prolonged drought.
The Government has invested heavily in the creation of water desalination plants that have supplied almost 50% of domestic water since 2001. Efforts have also been made to sensitize the population about the situation and encourage domestic water users to assume greater responsibility in the conservation of this increasingly scarce asset.
Turkey has built a water pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea from Anamur on its southern coast to the northern coast of Cyprus to supply drinking and irrigation water to northern Cyprus.
Economy
- For information on the corralito established since 16 March 2013, see Corralito in Cyprus in 2013.
Cyprus's economy is clearly affected by the splitting of the island into two territories. It has a highly vulnerable economy, more stabilized after joining the European Union, with a strong dependence on the service sector, and also problems of isolation with respect to Europe.
Over the last twenty-five years, Cyprus has ceased to depend on agriculture (where only citrus production is of any relative commercial importance). It began to have a structure more in line with the context of the European Union, with a significant presence of the industrial sector, which supports most of the exports and employs 25% of the population.
By 2010, the main Cypriot exports were citrus fruits, potatoes, medicines, cement and clothing. At the same time, the country's main trading partners were Greece, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy, with whom it traded more than 40% of its products.
Close to 70% depends on the service sector, and specifically, tourism. The geographical location near the Middle East causes great fluctuations from year to year when it comes to becoming a tourist destination. The fleet of Cypriot-registered vessels is the fourth largest in the world, and provides large revenues.
On January 1, 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. In the summer of 2012, the Cypriot government asked the European Union for a bailout of 17,500 million euros. At the end of March 2013, Cypriot current accounts were blocked, popularly known as corralito, with the aim of to raise 5.8 billion euros through a haircut from bank deposits to pay for the European bailout.
Demographics
In 2017, Cyprus had a population of about 1,179,678. Life expectancy was 80 years and 98% of the population was literate. The average number of children per woman was 1.5.
Greek Cypriots (Greek Cypriots) and Turkish Cypriots share many customs, but in turn maintain their ethnicity based on religion, language, and other strong ties to their respective homelands.
The ethnic composition is as follows:
- Greeks: 78 %
- Turks: 18 %
- Non-Greek Europeans: 4 %
According to 2010 estimates, the five largest cities on the island are Nicosia (271,263 inhabitants), Limassol (172,056), Larnaca (53,484), Paphos (43,643) and Famagusta (36,691).
Languages
After 1974, Greek is predominantly spoken in the center and south, while Turkish is predominant in the north. This delimitation of languages only corresponds to the present period, due to the division of the island after 1974, which involved an expulsion of Greek Cypriots from the north and a similar movement of Turkish Cypriots from the south. However, historically Greek (in its Cypriot dialect) was spoken by approximately 82% of the population, which was evenly distributed throughout the entire area of Cyprus, both in the north and in the south. Similarly, Turkish speakers were also evenly distributed.
The Republic of Cyprus, which controls the center and south of the country, has two official languages, Greek and Turkish, although de facto Greek is the majority language. Armenian and Cypriot Maronite Arabic are recognized as minority languages. Although unofficial, English is widely spoken and is heavily featured on road signs, public notices, advertisements, etc. English was the sole official language during British colonial rule and the lingua franca until 1960, and continued to be used (de facto) in the courts of law until 1989 and in legislation until 1996. 80.4% of Cypriots are proficient in English as a second language language. Russian is widely spoken by the country's minorities, residents and citizens of post-Soviet countries, and Pontic Greeks. Russian, after English and Greek, is the third language used in many shop and restaurant signs, especially in Limassol and Paphos. In addition to these languages, without being official, 12% speak French and 5% German.
The everyday language of Greek Cypriots is Greek Cypriot and that of Turkish Cypriots is Turkish Cypriot.
Religion
Most Greek Cypriots identify themselves as Christians, specifically Greek Orthodox, while most Turkish Cypriots are followers of Sunni Islam. According to the 2005 Eurobarometer, Cyprus was the second most religious state in the European Union at the time, after Malta (although in 2005 Romania was not in the European Union; currently Romania is the most religious state in the EU). The first president of Cyprus, Makarios III, was an archbishop, and the vice president of Cyprus was Fazıl Küçük. The current head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus is Archbishop Chrysostomos II.
Hala Sultan Tekke, located near the salt lake of Larnaca, is an object of pilgrimage for Muslims.
According to the 2001 census conducted in the government-controlled area, 94.8% of the population were Orthodox Christians; 0.9% Armenian Christians and Maronites (Eastern Rite Catholics); 1.5% Roman rite Catholics; 1.0% Church of England Protestants and 0.6% mostly Sunni Muslims. There is also a Jewish community in Cyprus. The remaining 1.3% belonged to other religious denominations or did not declare their religion.
Education
Cyprus has a highly developed system of primary and secondary education offering both public and private education. The high quality of teaching can be partly attributed to the fact that almost 7% of GDP is spent on education, making Cyprus one of the top three countries spending the most on education in the EU, along with Denmark and Sweden.
In general, the quality of state schools is considered to be equivalent to that of private sector schools. However, the value of a state baccalaureate degree is limited by the fact that grades earned only account for about 25% of the final grade for each subject, with the remaining 75% assigned by the professor during the semester, so minimally transparent. Cypriot universities (as well as Greek ones) almost completely ignore high school marks for admission purposes. Although a baccalaureate degree is required to attend university, admissions are decided almost exclusively on the basis of scores obtained in the university entrance exams, administered by the central government, which all candidates must take.
Most Cypriots receive their higher education at Greek, British, Turkish, other European and North American universities. Currently, Cyprus is the EU country with the highest percentage of citizens of working age with higher education (30%), ahead of Finland's 29.5%. In addition, 47% of its population between the ages of 25 and 34 have higher education, the highest in the EU. Cypriot students are highly mobile, with 78.7% studying at a university outside of Cyprus.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The means of transportation available are by land, by sea and by air. Of the 10,663 km (6,626 mi) of roads in the Republic of Cyprus in 1998, 6,249 km (3,883 mi) were paved and 4,414 km (2,743 mi) unpaved.
In 1996, the Turkish-occupied area had a similar ratio of paved and unpaved roads, with approximately 850 mi (1,370 km) of paved roads and 610 mi (980 km) of unpaved roads. Cyprus is one of only three EU countries where vehicles drive on the left hand side of the road, a holdover from British colonization (the others are Ireland and Malta). A series of highways runs along the coast from Paphos east to Ayia Napa, with two highways inland to Nicosia, one from Limassol and one from Larnaca.
The number of private vehicles per capita is the 29th highest in the world. In 2006 there were approximately 344,000 privately owned vehicles and a total of 517,000 registered motor vehicles in the Republic of Cyprus. plans to improve and expand bus and other public transport services throughout Cyprus, with financial support from the European Union Development Bank. In 2010 the new bus network was launched.
Cyprus has several heliports and two international airports: Larnaca International Airport and Paphos International Airport. A third airport, Ercan International Airport, operates in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area, with direct flights only to Turkey (Turkish Cypriot ports are closed to international traffic except for Turkey). Nicosia International Airport has been closed since 1974.
Cyprus ports are operated and maintained by the Cyprus Ports Authority. The island's main ports are Limassol and Larnaca, which serve cargo, passenger and cruise ships. Limassol is the larger of the two, handling a large volume of cargo and cruise ships.
Larnaca is primarily a cargo port, but it played a significant role in the 2006 evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon, and in the subsequent humanitarian aid effort. There is also a smaller loading dock at Vasilikos, near Zygi (a small town between Larnaca and Limassol). Smaller boats and private yachts can dock at Cyprus marinas.
Larnaca Marina in Larnaca, St Raphael Marina in Limassol and Paphos Harbour.
Culture
Cypriot culture can be broadly divided into two groups. On the one hand, the Greek influence, from which the island inherited the majority language and the ethnic group of almost 80% of Cypriots. On the other, Turkish culture defines the way of life of Turkish Cypriots.
The ancient historical mistrust between Greece and Turkey is known worldwide, due to the endless struggles to dominate the numerous islands of the Aegean Sea, as well as Cyprus. The great power of the Ottoman Empire managed to subdue the Hellenes, so the quarrels became even more acute. The end of this empire, and the birth of Greece and Turkey as modern nations, has officially established peace, although there have been explicit situations of enmity, such as the firm Greek opposition to Turkey's entry into the European Union, as well as the frequent Turkish incursions into Greek air and maritime space.
Returning to Cyprus, when the antagonistic Greek and Turkish cultures had met, the situation became chaotic due to the ethnic, linguistic and religious rivalries between both groups. Faced with the almost imminent Cypriot civil war, the UN intervened, clearly delimiting the territories in question. Only the partial division of the northern part, in Turkish hands, has marred what could possibly be a stable nation, given its strategic geographical location. This geographical situation, in turn, is the circumstance that accentuates one of its most notable cultural characteristics: its transcontinentality.
Arts
Cyprus' art history dates back 10,000 years, following the discovery of a number of carved figures from the Chalcolithic period in the villages of Khoirokoitia and Lempa. The island is home to numerous examples of high-quality religious icon painting by the Middle Ages, as well as many painted churches. Cypriot architecture was greatly influenced by the French Gothic and Italian Renaissance introduced to the island during the time of Latin Catholic rule (1191-1571).
A well-known traditional art dating to at least the 14th century is Lefkara lace (also known as &# 34;Lefkaratika"), which originates from the town of Lefkara. Lefkara lace is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage (PCI) by Unesco, and is characterized by its different design patterns and its intricate and long production process. An authentic Lefkara lace with full embroidery can take hundreds of hours to make, and for this reason it is often quite expensive. Another local art form originating from Lefkara is the production of Cypriot filigree (locally known as trifourenium), a type of jewelry made from twisted silver threads. In the village of Lefkara there is a government funded center called the Lefkara Craft Center whose mission is to educate and teach the art of making embroidery and silver jewelry. There is also the Museum of Traditional Embroidery and Goldsmithing, located in the village, which has a large collection of local handmade art.
In modern times, the history of Cypriot art begins with the painter Vassilis Vryonides (1883-1958), who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. The two founding fathers of modern Cypriot art could be said to have been Adamantios Diamantis (1900-1994), who studied at the Royal College of Art in London, and Christopheros Savva (1924-1968), who also studied in London, at Saint Martin's School of Art. In 1960, Savva He founded, together with the Welsh artist Glyn Hughes, Apophasis, the first independent cultural center of the newly created Republic of Cyprus.
In 1968, Savva was one of the artists representing Cyprus in its inaugural pavilion at the 34th Venice Biennale. English Cypriot artist Glyn Hughes 1931-2014. In many ways these two artists set the tone for later Cypriot art and both their artistic styles and the patterns of their education remain influential to this day. In particular, most Cypriot artists continue to train in England, while others train at art schools in Greece and at local art institutions such as the Cyprus School of Art, the University of Nicosia and the Frederick Institute of Technology..
One of the characteristics of Cypriot art is a tendency towards figurative painting, although conceptual art is being rigorously promoted by a number of "institutions" arts and, above all, by the Municipal Art Center of Nicosia. There are municipal art galleries in all the major cities and there is a large and lively commercial art scene.
Cyprus was to host the Manifesta international art festival in 2006, but it was canceled at the last minute following a dispute between the Dutch organizers of Manifesta and the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture over the location of some of the Manifesta events in the Turkish sector of the capital Nicosia. Some Cypriot artists also complained that the Manifesta organization imported international artists to participate in the event, while treating members of the local Cypriot art community as "ignorant" and "uncivilized natives" those who had to be taught "how to make real art"
Other prominent Greek Cypriot artists include Helene Black, the Kalopedis family, Panayiotis Kalorkoti, Nicos Nicolaides, Stass Paraskos, Arestís Stasí, Telemachos Kanthos, Konstantia Sofokleous and Chris Achilleos, and Turkish Cypriot artists include İsmet Güney, Ruzen Atakan and Mutlu Çerkez.
Music
Traditional Cypriot folk music has several elements in common with Greek, Turkish and Arabic, all of which are descendants of Byzantine music, such as Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot dances such as the sousta, syrtos, zeibekikos, tatsia and the karsilamas, as well as the tsifteteli and arapies, inspired by the Middle East. There is also a form of musical poetry known as chattista, which is often performed at festivals and traditional celebrations. Instruments associated with Cypriot folk music are the violin ("fkiolin"), lute ("laouto"), Cypriot flute (pithkiavlin), oud ("outi& #34;), kanonaki and percussion (including "tamboutsia").
Composers associated with traditional Cypriot music include Solon Michaelides, Marios Tokas, Evagoras Karageorgis and Savvas Salides. Other musicians include acclaimed pianist Cyprien Katsaris, composer Andreas G. Orphanides, and composer and artistic director of the European Capital of Culture initiative Marios Joannou Elia.
Popular music in Cyprus is often influenced by the Greek Laïka scene; artists playing this genre include international platinum star Anna Vissi, Evridiki and Sarbel. Hip hop and R&B have been supported by the emergence of Cypriot rap and the Ayia Napa urban music scene, while in recent years the reggae scene has been growing, especially through the participation of many Cypriot artists. at the annual Reggae Sunjam festival. Cypriot rock music is also prominent, and Éntekhno rock is often associated with artists such as Michalis Hatzigiannis and Alkinoos Ioannidis. Metal also has a small following in Cyprus, represented by groups like Armageddon (rev.16:16), Blynd, Winter's Verge, Methysos and Quadraphonic.
Museums
Museums in Cyprus are mostly historical, and archeological. The two main archaeological museums are the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Pierides Museum (Larnaca). The largest archaeological park is the Paphos Archaeological Park. Nicosia has museums in the southern and northern parts of the city, which give an insight into the political history of Cyprus in the 20th century from two partly very different perspectives. Since 2018, the Larnaca Biennale has been held at the Pierides Museum and the Municipal Gallery, with parallel events of contemporary art.
_-_BEIC_6353768.jpg)
Literature
The literary production of Antiquity includes the Cipria, an epic poem, probably composed at the end of the VII century B.C. C. and attributed to Estasino. La Cipria is one of the first examples of Greek and European poetry. The Cypriot Zeno de Citio was the founder of the Stoic philosophical school.
Epic poetry, especially "uncritical songs," flourished during the Middle Ages. Two chronicles, one written by Leontios Machairas and the other by Georgios Boustronios, cover the entire Middle Ages until the end of Frankish rule (IV< century< /span>-1489). Love poems written in medieval Cypriot Greek date back to the 16th century. Some of them are true translations of poems written by Petrarca, Bembo, Ariosto and G. Sannazzaro. Many Cypriot scholars fled Cyprus in troubled times, such as Ioannis Kigalas (c. 1622-1687), who emigrated from Cyprus to Italy in the XVIIth century; several of his works have survived in books by other scholars.
Hasan Hilmi Efendi, a Turkish Cypriot poet, was awarded by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II who is said to have been the "sultan of poems".
Modern Greek Cypriot literary figures include poet and writer Kostas Montis, poet Kyriakos Charalambides, poet Michalis Pasiardis, writer Nicos Nicolaides, Stylianos Atteshlis, Altheides, Loukis Akritas and Demetris Th. Gotsis. Dimitris Lipertis, Vasilis Michaelides and Pavlos Liasides are popular poets who wrote poems mainly in the Cypriot-Greek dialect Leading Turkish Cypriot writers include Osman Türkay, a two-time Nobel Prize nominee for Literature, Özker Yaşın, Neriman Cahit, Urkiye Mine Balman, Mehmet Yaşın and Neşe Yaşın.
There is a growing presence in world literature of Cypriot émigré writers, both temporary and permanent, as well as second and third generation Cypriot writers born or raised abroad, often writing in English. This includes writers like Michael Paraskos and Stephanos Stephanides.
Examples of Cyprus in foreign literature include the works of Shakespeare, with most of William Shakespeare's Othello set on the island of Cyprus. British writer Lawrence Durrell lived in Cyprus from 1952 to 1956, while working for the British colonial government on the island, and wrote the book Bitter Lemons about his time in Cyprus, which won the second Duff Cooper Prize in 1957.
Media
In Freedom House's 2015 press freedom report, the Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus were classified as 'free'. The Republic of Cyprus scored 25/100 for press freedom, 5/30 for Legal Environment, 11/40 for Political Environment and 9/30 for Economic Environment (the lower the score, the better) Reporters Without Borders ranks the Republic of Cyprus 24th out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 15.62.
The law provides for freedom of expression and of the press, and the government often respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to guarantee freedom of expression and of the press. The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice.
Local television companies in Cyprus include the state-owned Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, which operates two television channels. In addition, in the Greek part of the island there are the private channels ANT1 Cyprus, Plus TV, Mega Channel, Sigma TV, Nimonia TV (NTV) and New Extra. In Northern Cyprus, the local channels are BRT, the Turkish Cypriot equivalent of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, and various private channels. Most of the local arts and culture programming is produced by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation and the BRT, with local arts documentaries, critical shows and filmed drama series.
Cinema
The world's best-known Cypriot director to have worked abroad is Michael Cacoyannis.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, George Filis produced and directed Gregoris Afxentiou, Etsi Prodothike i Kypros and The Mega Document. In 1994, Cypriot film production received a boost with the creation of the Film Advisory Committee. In the year 2000, the annual amount reserved for cinematography in the national budget was 500,000 Cypriot pounds (about 850,000 euros). In addition to government subsidies, Cypriot co-productions are eligible for funding from the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund, which finances European film co-productions. To date, four feature films executive produced by a Cypriot have received funding from Eurimages. The first was I Sphagi tou Kokora (1996), followed by Hellados (unpublished), To Tama (1999) and O Dromos gia tin Ithaki (2000).
Only a small number of foreign films have been shot in Cyprus. Among them are Incense for the Damned (1970), The Beloved (1970) and The Ghost of the Midday Sun (1973). Parts of the John Wayne film The Longest Day (1962) were also shot in Cyprus.
Gastronomy
During medieval times, under the Portuguese-French monarchs of Cyprus, an elaborate form of court cooking developed that fused French, Byzantine and Middle Eastern forms. The Portuguese kings were known for importing Syrian cooks to Cyprus, and it has been suggested that one of the key routes for importing Middle Eastern recipes to France and other Western European countries, such as manjar blanc, was via the Lusitanian Kingdom. from Cyprus. These recipes became known in the West as vyands de Chypre, or Cyprus foods, and food historian William Woys Weaver has identified over a hundred of them in English, French, Italian, and German recipe books from the Middle Ages. One of these, which became especially popular throughout Europe in medieval and early modern times, was a stew made with chicken or fish called malmonia, which in English became mawmeny.
Another example of a Cypriot food ingredient that falls into the Western European canon is cauliflower, which remains popular and is used in a variety of ways on the island today, and has been associated with Cyprus since the Early Middle Ages. In the 12th and 13th centuries , the Arab botanists Ibn al-Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar claimed that this vegetable originated from Cyprus, and this association with the island was repeated in Western Europe, where cauliflower was originally known as Cyprus cabbage or cabbage. from Cyprus. There was also a long and extensive trade in cauliflower seeds from Cyprus, well into the 16th century.
Although much of the Lusitanian food culture was lost after the fall of Cyprus to the Ottomans in 1571, several dishes that would have been familiar to the Lusitanians survive today, such as the various forms of tahini and houmous, the zalatina, the skordalia and the pickled wild songbirds called ambelopoulia. Ambelopoulia, now highly controversial and illegal, was exported in large quantities from Cyprus during the Lusignian and Venetian periods, mainly to Italy and France. In 1533, the English traveler to Cyprus, John Locke, claimed to have seen the pickled wild birds packed in large jars, or that 1,200 jars were exported from Cyprus annually.
The Portuguese were also familiar with Halloumi cheese, which according to some food writers originated in Cyprus during the Byzantine period, although scholars consider the name of the cheese to be of Arabic origin. No documentary evidence exists that the cheese It was associated with Cyprus before 1554, when the Italian historian Florio Bustron wrote of a Cyprus sheep's milk cheese he called calumi. Halloumi (Hellim) is usually served sliced, grilled, fried, and sometimes fresh, as an appetizer or meze dish.
Sports
The governing bodies of the sport in Cyprus include the Cyprus Football Association, Cyprus Basketball Federation, Cyprus Volleyball Federation, Cyprus Automobile Association, Cyprus Badminton Federation, Cyprus Cricket Association and the Cyprus Federation of Cyprus Rugby.
Soccer is by far the most popular sport. The Cyprus League today is considered to be very competitive and includes notable teams such as AC Omonia, APOEL FC (Cyprus' most notable team in UEFA competitions), Olympiakos Nicosia FC, Ethnikos Achna, Anorthosis Famagusta, Nea Salamina Famagusta and AEL Limassol. FC, who have represented Cyprus in UEFA Cups on several occasions, the most important being the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League, where APOEL FC reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, beating top teams such as Olympique de Lyon and Porto.
Sports stadiums or facilities in Cyprus include the GSP Stadium (the one with the largest capacity), where the Cyprus national soccer team is home, the Tsirion Stadium, the GSZ Stadium, the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, the Ammochostos Stadium and the Macario Stadium.
The Cyprus soccer team in the last decade has evolved promisingly in the European qualification, even almost qualifying for Euro 2016, however after the defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2 in Nicosia, they failed to qualify.
Apart from the main interest in football, Cyprus has shown some achievements in other sports. Marcos Baghdatis is one of the most successful tennis players on the international scene who has made it to the top 10 ranking eighth on August 21, 2006. He was a finalist at the Australian Open in 2006, and reached the semifinal Wimbledon in the same year. Kyriakos Ioannou is a Cypriot High Jump athlete who achieved a jump of 2.35m at the 11th World Championships in Athletics held in Osaka, Japan in 2007 and won the bronze medal. He was recently ranked third internationally and second in Europe.
In addition, every year since 1970 the Cyprus Rally has been run, which was part of the European Rally Championship, between 2000 and 2009 the World Rally Championship and from 2010 to 2012 the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Contenido relacionado
Newfoundland and labrador
North America
Anoeta