Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an <a href="/facts/Island_country/beAg4qWw">island country</a> in the eastern <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a>. Situated in <a href="/facts/West_Asia/xXM15vIz">West Asia</a>, its cultural identity and <a href="/facts/Geopolitical/4bmB8oCM">geopolitical</a> orientation are overwhelmingly <a href="/facts/Southeast_Europe/zxgEvCdQ">Southeast European</a>. Cyprus is the <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_in_the_Mediterranean/a68FvXVf">third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean</a>, after <a href="/facts/Sicily/E6fug03z">Sicily</a> and <a href="/facts/Sardinia/7GGJNHCx">Sardinia</a>. It is located southeast of <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a>, south of <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a>, west of <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a> and <a href="/facts/Lebanon/2dReTXyp">Lebanon</a>, northwest of <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> and <a href="/facts/Palestine/XYeHy1af">Palestine</a>, and north of <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a>. Its capital and largest city is <a href="/facts/Nicosia/fMQCEtDL">Nicosia</a>. Cyprus hosts the <a href="/facts/British_Overseas_Territories/fUjVAy3E">British</a> military bases <a href="/facts/Akrotiri_and_Dhekelia/2RPAL15s">Akrotiri and Dhekelia</a>, whilst the northeast portion of the island is <a href="/facts/De_facto/3Du6WQKh">de facto</a> governed by the self-declared <a href="/facts/Northern_Cyprus/8NvuJlvQ">Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus</a>, which is separated from the Republic of Cyprus by the <a href="/facts/United_Nations_Buffer_Zone_in_Cyprus/TYnSHjE6">United Nations Buffer Zone</a>.
Cyprus was first settled by <a href="/facts/Hunter-gatherer/ghnjoNbJ">hunter-gatherers</a> around 13,000 years ago, with farming communities emerging by 8500 BC. The late <a href="/facts/Bronze_Age/c09qWcTt">Bronze Age</a> saw the emergence of <a href="/facts/Alashiya/CJFpMnJJ">Alashiya</a>, an urbanised society closely connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Cyprus experienced waves of settlement by <a href="/facts/Mycenaean_Greece/gMAaS0jY">Mycenaean Greeks</a> at the end of the <a href="/facts/2nd_millennium_BC/137VWIhJ">2nd millennium BC</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Neo-Assyrian_Empire/GzQ9HoXb">Assyrians</a>, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptians/BDsEGK4g">Egyptians</a>, and <a href="/facts/Achaemenid_Empire/avlzWxF0">Persians</a>, from whom it was seized in 333 BC by <a href="/facts/Alexander_the_Great/8N3gLElj">Alexander the Great</a>. Successive rule by <a href="/facts/Ptolemaic_Dynasty/xqbNcghq">Ptolemaic Egypt</a>, the <a href="/facts/Roman_Empire/l4E1aUuV">Classical</a> and <a href="/facts/Byzantine_Empire/njEELXWF">Eastern Roman Empire</a>, <a href="/facts/Caliphate/qQ6hCspe">Arab caliphates</a>, the <a href="/facts/Lusignan_dynasty/bQG3seNd">French Lusignans</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Venice/5aqUw6gJ">Venetians</a> was followed by over <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Cyprus/cphwaKcs">three centuries of Ottoman dominion</a> (1571–1878). Cyprus was placed under <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">British</a> administration in 1878 pursuant to the <a href="/facts/Cyprus_Convention/F8nmUAsI">Cyprus Convention</a> and formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1914.
The island's future became a matter of disagreement between its <a href="/facts/Greek_Cypriots/aXgtA0dF">Greek</a> and <a href="/facts/Turkish_Cypriots/YsjRM95z">Turkish</a> communities. Greek Cypriots sought <a href="/facts/Enosis/6blvjhuy">enosis</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Taksim_(politics)/k9D1GyNX">taksim</a>: portioning Cyprus and creating a Turkish <a href="/facts/Polity/0R8Wr4CL">polity</a> in the north of the island. Following <a href="/facts/Cyprus_Emergency/wDUWmz35">nationalist violence in the 1950s</a>, Cyprus was <a href="/facts/London_and_Z%25C3%25BCrich_Agreements/CkgsoJCs">granted independence in 1960</a>. The <a href="/facts/Bloody_Christmas_(1963)/yXXEsEL3">crisis of 1963–64</a> brought further <a href="/facts/Cypriot_intercommunal_violence/vlhfysVq">intercommunal violence between the two communities</a>, displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots into <a href="/facts/Turkish_Cypriot_enclaves/t9RYI2F7">enclaves</a>,: 56–59  and ended Turkish Cypriot political representation. On 15 July 1974, <a href="/facts/1974_Cypriot_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/4ufp0eaw">a coup d'état</a> was staged by <a href="/facts/EOKA_B/wLyaqcdH">Greek Cypriot nationalists</a> and elements of the <a href="/facts/Greek_military_junta_of_1967%25E2%2580%25931974/D2k6NdlV">Greek military junta</a>. This action precipitated the <a href="/facts/Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus/Vp4xRPQd">Turkish invasion of Cyprus</a> on 20 July, which captured the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus and <a href="/facts/Cypriot_refugees/hB5YQwkI">displaced</a> over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was <a href="/facts/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Turkish_Republic_of_Northern_Cyprus/FDDwz4eK">established by unilateral declaration in 1983</a>, which was widely condemned by the <a href="/facts/International_community/FpnCXuK3">international community</a> and remains <a href="/facts/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition/CgR9Rny1">recognised</a> only by Turkey. These events and the resulting political situation remain subject to <a href="/facts/Cyprus_dispute/KTNBHxhm">an ongoing dispute</a>.
Cyprus is a <a href="/facts/Developed_country/sqwTSDHm">developed</a> <a href="/facts/Representative_democracy/svAbpym5">representative democracy</a> with an advanced <a href="/facts/High_income_economy/KTrB8swr">high-income economy</a> and very high <a href="/facts/Human_Development_Index/hQpz064I">human development</a>. The island's intense <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_climate/gGsJAKE5">Mediterranean climate</a> and rich cultural heritage make it a major <a href="/facts/Tourism_in_Cyprus/FLCNLtpc">tourist destination</a>. Cyprus is a member of the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Nations/TcIRQnNq">Commonwealth of Nations</a> and a <a href="/facts/Cyprus_and_the_Non-Aligned_Movement/ydGCDoT0">founding member</a> of the <a href="/facts/Non-Aligned_Movement/PIdnjRvD">Non-Aligned Movement</a> until it <a href="/facts/Cyprus_in_the_European_Union/SjytmHbx">joined the European Union</a> in 2004; it joined the <a href="/facts/Eurozone/rK14yHsz">eurozone</a> in 2008. Cyprus has long maintained <a href="/facts/Cyprus%25E2%2580%2593NATO_relations/6EteU7HV">good relations</a> with <a href="/facts/NATO/dCeTddMY">NATO</a> and announced in 2024 its intention to officially join.

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Cyprus