Demographics of Cyprus

Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs, but maintain different identities based on their religion, language, and ties to their respective home countries. Greek is predominantly spoken in the south, while Turkish in the north. English is also quite widespread. Cyprus has a well-developed primary and secondary education system. Most Cypriots do their higher education at universities in Greece, Turkey, Great Britain or the United States. There are also large Cypriot emigrant communities in the UK and Australia. Private colleges and public universities have been developed by both the Turkish and Greek communities.

Population: 758,363 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23% (men 91,075; women 86,832)
15-64 years: 66% (252,252 men; 247,464 women)
65 and over: 11% (men 35,149; women 45,591) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.6% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 13.27 births/1,000 inhabitants (2000 est.)

Death rate: 7.68 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.44 migrants/1,000 inhabitants (2000 est.)

Distribution by sex:
at birth: 1.05 men/women
less than 15 years: 1.05 men/women
15-64 years: 1.02 men/women
65 and over: 0.77 men/women
total population: 1 men/women (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 8.07 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.71 years
men: 74.43 years
women: 79.1 years (2000 est.)

Fertility rate: 1.95 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups: Greeks 78% (99.5% of Greeks live in the Greek Cypriot area; 0.5% of Greeks live in the Turkish Cypriot area), Turks 18% (1.3% of Turks live in the Greek Cypriot area; 98.7% of Turks live in the Turkish Cypriot area), another 4% (99.2% of other ethnic groups live in the Greek Cypriot area; 0.8% of other ethnic groups live in the Turkish area)

Religions: Greek Orthodox 78% (Cypriot Orthodox Church), Muslim 18%, Maronites, Armenian Apostolic, Latin Church and others 4%.

Languages: Greek, Turkish and English.

Literacy:
definition: people aged 15 and over who can read and write
total population: 94%
men: 98%
women: 91% (1987 est.)