Cyprus
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49 free Cyprus trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This Cyprus trivia quiz covers the third-largest island in the Mediterranean from its Neolithic villages and copper mines to the Crusader kingdom, Ottoman and British rule, EOKA, independence, the 1974 invasion and the Green Line that still splits Nicosia. It also takes in the things visitors actually notice: halloumi and meze, Commandaria wine, Aphrodite's Rock, the flag with a map on it, driving on the left, and Marcos Baghdatis' run to the 2006 Australian Open final. The early questions suit anyone who has holidayed in Paphos or Ayia Napa; the later ones test people who know who sold the island to the Knights Templar and what a mouflon is. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital and largest city of Cyprus?
Nicosia
Nicosia has been the seat of government since the 10th century; Venice ringed it with new walls in 1567, yet the city fell to a siege just three years later.
Q 02Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean after which two?
Sicily and Sardinia
Sicily and Sardinia are the only larger ones; despite its Greek-speaking majority, Cyprus lies far closer to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon than to the Greek mainland.
Q 03Which Shakespeare play is set mostly on Cyprus, then a possession of Venice?
Othello
Othello opens in Venice but soon moves to Cyprus, where the general is sent to defend the island from an enemy fleet that a storm destroys before it can attack.
Q 04Cyprus's capital holds what distinction among European capitals?
Last still-divided one
Last still-divided one: a UN buffer zone has cut through the old town since the 1960s, and the barricade across Ledra Street, its main shopping street, came down only in April 2008.
Q 05The coloured shape at the centre of the Cypriot flag depicts what?
Its own map
Its own map: the 1960 flag was meant to be neutral, setting the island's outline above olive branches for peace, yet Greek and Turkish Cypriots mostly went on flying the flags of Greece and Turkey.
Q 06Which metal, mined on Cyprus since the Bronze Age, takes its English name from the island?
Copper
Copper is named after Cyprus: the Romans called it aes Cyprium, 'metal of Cyprus', later shortened to cuprum, because so much of their supply was mined on the island.
Q 07Which Greek goddess is said in mythology to have been born off the coast of Cyprus?
Aphrodite
Aphrodite, in Hesiod's telling, rose from sea foam after Cronus maimed his father Uranus and hurled the severed parts into the sea; Cypriots point to the rock of Petra tou Romiou as the spot.
Q 08Halloumi, Cyprus's best-known cheese, is traditionally made from which milks?
Goat and sheep
Goat and sheep milk are the traditional mix; halloumi's unusually high melting point means it can be grilled or fried until golden without losing its shape.
Q 09Commandaria, a sweet dessert wine from Cyprus, is billed as what?
Oldest named one still produced
Oldest named one still produced: Commandaria is recognised as the oldest wine still made under its own name, which comes from the 'Commanderie', the crusader knights' estate where it was produced.
Q 10Which English king captured Cyprus in 1191 during the Third Crusade?
Richard I
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.
Q 11Which French dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Cyprus for nearly three centuries after the Templars?
Lusignan
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.
Q 12Which empire ruled Cyprus for over three centuries from 1571 to 1878?
Ottoman
Ottoman armies landed in 1570 and ended Venetian rule; the last Venetian fortress held out under siege for almost a year before it surrendered in August 1571.
Q 13Britain took over Cyprus in 1878 in return for promising to help defend its previous rulers against which power?
Russia
Russia was the fear: under the Cyprus Convention, secretly agreed in June 1878, Britain got the island as a base in exchange for a pledge to resist Russian advances.
Q 21Which island nation joined the EU alongside Cyprus?
Malta
Malta joined alongside Cyprus and eight central and eastern European states on 1 May 2004; because reunification had been voted down a week earlier, EU law is suspended in the Cypriot north.
Q 22Which currency did Cyprus use from 1879 until the euro arrived in 2008?
Cypriot pound
The Cypriot pound, introduced under British rule, gave way to the euro on 1 January 2008, but only in the south: the breakaway north had already adopted the Turkish lira.
Q 23The 2013 Cypriot bailout was notable for seizing a share of what?
Uninsured bank deposits over €100,000
Q 14Which organisation led the 1950s armed campaign against British rule in Cyprus?
EOKA
EOKA, led by Colonel Georgios Grivas, took up arms in 1955 to win union with Greece, yet the fight ended in 1959 with a deal for an independent Cyprus that ruled such a union out.
Q 15The Greek Cypriot goal of uniting the island with Greece was known by what name?
Enosis
Enosis, Greek for 'union', nearly came about in 1915, when Britain offered Cyprus to Greece as a reward for joining the First World War; King Constantine chose neutrality and declined.
Q 16The first president of Cyprus, Makarios III, held what religious office?
Archbishop
Archbishop Makarios III led both church and state: the British exiled him to the Seychelles in 1956 for his part in the revolt, yet by 1960 he was the republic's first president.
Q 17Turkey invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974, five days after a coup backed by whom?
The Greek military junta
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.
Q 18The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared in 1983, is recognised by how many countries?
One
One: only Turkey recognises it. The UN Security Council called the 1983 declaration legally invalid and urged every other state not to recognise the breakaway north.
Q 19What is the UN-patrolled buffer zone that cuts across Cyprus commonly called?
The Green Line
The Green Line runs about 180 km across the island, only a few metres wide in places; some 10,000 people still live or work in its villages, while its emptier stretches, largely untouched by people, have become a haven for wildlife.
Q 20The UN reunification plan rejected by three-quarters of Greek Cypriots was named after which secretary-general?
Kofi Annan
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.
Uninsured bank deposits over €100,000 paid for the rescue: Laiki Bank was wound down and big savers at the Bank of Cyprus saw 47.5% of their money turned into shares, while smaller accounts were guaranteed.
Q 24Cyprus is one of only three EU countries where vehicles do what?
Drive on the left
Drive on the left: a legacy of British rule, which is why the only other EU members that share the habit are two more islands once governed from London.
Q 25The highest point of Cyprus shares its name with which mountain in Greece?
Olympus
Olympus, about 1,950 m high and snowy enough for a ski season, was once sea floor: its range is a slab of ancient ocean crust thrust up from the deep.
Q 26Which two mountain ranges dominate Cyprus, enclosing the central Mesaoria plain?
Troodos and Kyrenia
Troodos and Kyrenia flank the plain; a peak that looks like five fingers, Pentadaktylos in Greek, gives all or part of the slender northern range its other name.
Q 27Varosha, a resort district sealed off by the Turkish army in 1974, was the tourist quarter of which city?
Famagusta
Varosha was Famagusta's beachfront playground, a magnet for film stars, until its Greek Cypriot residents fled in 1974 and it was fenced off as a ghost town; part of the seafront reopened in 2020.
Q 28The Cyprus mouflon, found only in the island's mountain forests, is a wild relative of which animal?
Sheep
Sheep: the Cyprus mouflon, or agrino, is the only large wild animal left on the island; once close to extinction, it has recovered under strict protection in its mountain forest.
Q 29Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis reached the final of which Grand Slam in 2006?
Australian Open
Australian Open: the unseeded Baghdatis won the first set of the 2006 final against top seed Roger Federer, then took only seven more games as Federer won in four sets.
Q 30Who sang 'Fuego', which finished second for Cyprus at Eurovision 2018?
Eleni Foureira
Eleni Foureira had offered to sing for Greece in 2016, but its broadcaster turned her down; two years later she sang 'Fuego' for Cyprus instead and gave the island its best Eurovision result as of 2026.