50 Fun Facts About Cyprus

What is the capital and largest city of Cyprus?

Nicosia, inland on the central plain, has been the island's capital since the 10th century and is ringed by Venetian walls built in the 1560s.

Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean after which two?

Only Sicily and Sardinia are larger; Cyprus covers about 9,250 km² and lies off the Levant coast in the eastern Mediterranean.

Cyprus gained independence in 1960 from which country?

Britain granted independence on 16 August 1960 but kept two Sovereign Base Areas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as British territory.

The island's capital city holds what unhappy distinction in Europe?

The Green Line runs through its old town; Ledra Street's crossing only reopened in April 2008.

The orange-coloured shape on the Cypriot flag depicts what?

The colour nods to the copper deposits that may have given the island its name; two olive branches beneath symbolise peace between the two communities.

Which metal, mined on the island since the Bronze Age, may have given Cyprus its name?

Copper was dug from the Cypriot hills from the Bronze Age, when the island may have been the wealthy kingdom of Alashiya; the Latin cuprum, 'metal of Cyprus', gave English its word copper.

Which Greek goddess is said in mythology to have been born off the coast of Cyprus?

Aphrodite is said to have risen from the sea foam at Petra tou Romiou, a sea stack on the south-west coast; Adonis and Pygmalion also belong to the island's myths.

Halloumi, the Cypriot cheese that can be grilled without melting, is traditionally made from which milks?

Halloumi is traditionally made from a mix of goat and sheep milk, set with rennet and folded with mint; its high melting point lets it be grilled or fried.

Commandaria, a sweet Cypriot dessert wine, holds what distinction?

Its style is documented back to 800 BC and its name to the Crusades; Richard the Lionheart reputedly called it the king of wines at his wedding in Limassol.

Which English king captured Cyprus in 1191 during the Third Crusade?

Richard I seized the island from the Byzantine rebel Isaac Komnenos in 1191 and sold it to the Knights Templar, who gave it up within a year.

Which French dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus for nearly three centuries after the Templars?

The Lusignans ruled from Guy of Lusignan's purchase in 1192 until the infant James III died in 1474; his mother Catherine Cornaro then reigned until Venice annexed the island in 1489.

Which empire ruled Cyprus for over three centuries from 1571 to 1878?

The Ottoman conquest of 1570–71 ended Venetian rule; the island stayed Ottoman for three centuries until the 1878 handover of its administration.

The British took over administration of the island in 1878 under what arrangement?

Under the Cyprus Convention of June 1878, the Ottomans let the British occupy and administer the island in return for support against Russia; it became a crown colony in 1925.

The 1950s armed campaign against British rule that led to independence was led by which organisation?

EOKA, led by Colonel Georgios Grivas, fought a guerrilla campaign against British rule from 1955 to 1959 seeking union with Greece.

The Greek Cypriot goal of uniting the island with Greece was known by what name?

Enosis, Greek for 'union', was the Greek Cypriot demand to join Greece, championed by the Church of Cyprus and the focus of the 1950s anti-British campaign.

The first president of Cyprus, Makarios III, held what religious office?

Makarios III was Archbishop of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977, and president from 1960 until his death; he had entered Kykkos Monastery as a novice in 1926.

Turkey invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974, five days after a coup backed by whom?

The Greek military junta in Athens backed the 15 July 1974 coup by the Cypriot National Guard against Makarios; Turkey invoked the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee to intervene.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognised by how many countries?

Only Turkey recognises it; the declaration was led by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş.

Roughly what share of the island does the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus occupy?

The Turkish Cypriot north covers about a third of the island, roughly 36%; the UN buffer zone takes up another 2.7%, and the British bases about 3%.

The UN reunification plan rejected by three-quarters of Greek Cypriots was named after which secretary-general?

Kofi Annan's plan for a federal Cyprus won 65% of Turkish Cypriot votes but was rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots in the April referendums held a week before EU accession.

Cyprus joined the European Union in which year?

Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004 in the bloc's ten-country enlargement, a week after the island's reunification referendums failed.

Which currency did Cyprus use from 1879 until the euro arrived in 2008?

The Cypriot pound, introduced under British rule in 1879, was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2008 at a fixed rate of 0.585274 pounds per euro.

The 2013 Cypriot bailout was notable for seizing a share of what?

The €10 billion rescue closed Laiki Bank and converted 47.5% of uninsured deposits over €100,000 at the Bank of Cyprus into shares, hitting many Russian account holders.

Cyprus is one of only three EU countries where vehicles do what?

Cyprus drives on the left, a legacy of British rule shared within the EU only with Ireland and Malta.

The highest point of Cyprus, at 1,952 metres, shares its name with which famous Greek mountain?

Mount Olympus, also called Chionistra, rises to 1,952 m at the heart of the island's main southern range and carries a ski resort in winter.

Which two mountain ranges dominate Cyprus, enclosing the central Mesaoria plain?

Troodos and Kyrenia are the two ranges: the Troodos massif fills the south-west, while the narrower Kyrenia range runs along the north coast.

The abandoned resort of Varosha, fenced off since 1974, was once the tourist quarter of which city?

Varosha was Famagusta's beachfront resort quarter, with celebrity guests such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot, until its Greek Cypriot residents fled the 1974 invasion.

The Cyprus mouflon, the island's national animal, is a wild relative of which animal?

The Cyprus mouflon is a wild sheep, the island's largest wild mammal, now confined to the forests of the western mountains around the Stavros tis Psokas reserve.

Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis reached the final of which Grand Slam in 2006?

Marcos Baghdatis reached the 2006 Australian Open final unseeded, losing to Roger Federer in four sets, and went on to a Wimbledon semi-final that summer.

Who sang 'Fuego', which finished second for Cyprus at Eurovision 2018?

Eleni Foureira, a Greek-Albanian singer representing Cyprus, took 'Fuego' to second place in Lisbon in 2018, the country's best placing to that date.

The philosopher Zeno of Citium, born on Cyprus, founded which school of thought?

Zeno founded Stoicism around 300 BC, teaching at the Stoa Poikile, the painted colonnade in Athens that gave the school its name.

The Neolithic village of Khirokitia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dates to roughly when?

Khirokitia's round stone houses date to about 6800 BC, the aceramic Neolithic; farming had reached Cyprus by about 8500 BC, and an early grave held a cat buried beside a human.

Which conqueror seized Cyprus from the Persians in 333 BC?

Alexander the Great won over the Cypriot kings after the battle of Issus in 333 BC; their fleets helped him besiege Tyre, and the island later passed to the Ptolemies and then Rome.

Hala Sultan Tekke, one of Islam's important shrines, stands beside a salt lake near which Cypriot city?

Hala Sultan Tekke stands on the shore of Larnaca Salt Lake, near the airport; it honours Umm Haram, a companion of the Prophet, and flamingos winter on the lake.

Which Cypriot city was a European Capital of Culture in 2017 alongside Aarhus?

Paphos shared the 2017 European Capital of Culture title with Aarhus; the city is home to the Tombs of the Kings and Roman mosaics on the UNESCO list.

Kykkos Monastery in the Troodos mountains is famed for an icon of the Virgin said to be painted by whom?

The Kykkos icon, among three attributed to the Apostle Luke, is said to have been given by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos from his palace in Constantinople around 1100.

Cyprus is divided into how many districts, including those now under Turkish Cypriot control?

Cyprus has six districts, each named for its chief town; two lie wholly or largely in the Turkish Cypriot north, where a separate administration runs them.

At independence in 1960, roughly what share of Cyprus's population was Turkish Cypriot?

Turkish Cypriots were about 18% of the population in 1960, yet the constitution gave them 30% of parliamentary seats and civil service posts and a vice-presidential veto.

The 1974 invasion displaced roughly how many Greek Cypriots?

Over 150,000 Greek Cypriots, around a third of the community, fled south in 1974, while some 50,000 Turkish Cypriots later moved north.

The Cypriot dish sheftalia consists of what?

It sits alongside souvlaki and lountza, smoked pork loin, on the traditional charcoal grill.

Within the EU, only cheese made in certain parts of Cyprus may be sold as halloumi thanks to what?

Halloumi gained EU protected designation of origin status in April 2021, after years of rows between cattle farmers and traditional producers over how much cow's milk to allow.

Cyprus's national football team beat which country 5-0 in a 2000 World Cup qualifier?

Andorra lost 5-0 to Cyprus in November 2000 in a 2002 World Cup qualifier, the biggest win in Cypriot history to that date.

Which peninsula forms the long north-eastern 'panhandle' of Cyprus?

The Karpas peninsula stretches some 80 km north-east toward the Syrian coast; wild donkeys roam it and the monastery of Apostolos Andreas stands near its tip.

The offshore gas field in Block 12, named after a goddess, lies about 175 km south of which Cypriot city?

Block 12's gas field lies about 175 km south of Limassol; Noble Energy began exploratory drilling there in September 2011 and announced the discovery that December.

The 1974 invasion prompted which US response against Turkey in 1975?

Congress imposed an arms embargo on Turkey in February 1975, objecting to the use of US-supplied equipment in the invasion; it was lifted in 1978.

What share of Greek Cypriots voted for union with Greece in the Church-run 1950 referendum?

About 96% of Greek Cypriot voters signed for union with Greece in the January 1950 plebiscite, held in churches, boycotted by Turkish Cypriots and ignored by the British administration.

The Turkish Cypriot counter-demand, calling for partition of the island, was known as what?

Taksim, Turkish for 'partition' or 'division', was the Turkish Cypriot counter to union with Greece from the mid-1950s, seeking a separate Turkish zone in the north.

Cyprus was formally annexed by the British in which year?

The annexation came on 5 November 1914, once Turkey had entered the First World War on Germany's side; Turkey renounced its claim to the island at Lausanne in 1923.

Who was sworn in as the eighth president of the Republic of Cyprus in February 2023?

Nikos Christodoulides, a former foreign minister who ran as an independent, won the February 2023 run-off against Andreas Mavroyiannis and took office on 28 February.

Cyprus's independence in 1960 was set out in agreements signed in London and which other city?

The Zürich agreement of February 1959 between Greece and Turkey was confirmed in London days later with the British; all three became guarantor powers, a status Turkey cited in 1974.