Portal:Cyprus

The Cyprus Portal

Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, located off the coast of the Levant mainland in West Asia. The island of Cyprus, which is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, is divided along the United Nations Buffer Zone between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey. The south of the island also hosts the British sovereign military bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The capital and largest city of Cyprus is Nicosia.

Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming communities emerging by 8500 BC. The late Bronze Age saw the emergence of Alashiya, an urbanised society closely connected to the wider Mediterranean world. Cyprus experienced waves of settlement by Mycenaean Greeks at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. 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 Assyrians, Egyptians, and Persians, from whom it was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Successive rule by the Ptolemaic Empire, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates, the French Lusignans, and the Venetians was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman dominion (1571–1878). Cyprus was placed under British administration in 1878 pursuant to the Cyprus Convention and formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1914.

The island's future became contested by its Greek and Turkish communities. Greek Cypriots sought enosis, 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 taksim: partitioning Cyprus and creating a Turkish polity in the north. Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. The crisis of 1963–64 brought further intercommunal violence between the two communities, displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots into enclaves, and ended Turkish Cypriot political representation. On 15 July 1974, a coup d'état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta. This action precipitated the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July, which captured the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus and displaced over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was established by unilateral declaration in 1983, which was widely condemned by the international community and remains recognised only by Turkey. These events and the resulting political situation remain subject to an ongoing dispute. (Full article...)

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Building of the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia

The Cyprus Museum (Greek: Κυπριακό Μουσείο, romanized: Kypriakó Mouseío; Turkish: Kıbrıs Müzesi; also known as the Cyprus Archaeological Museum, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Κύπρου, Archaiologikó Mouseío tis Kýprou; Kıbrıs Arkeoloji Müzesi) is the oldest and largest archaeological museum in Cyprus, located on Museum Street in central Nicosia.

The museum is home to the most extensive collection of Cypriot antiquities in the world, and houses artifacts discovered during numerous excavations on the island. Its history goes hand in hand with the course of modern archaeology (and the Department of Antiquities) in Cyprus. Of note is that only artefacts discovered on the island are displayed. (Full article...)

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Cyprus news

24 May 2026 – 2026 Cypriot legislative election: Cypriots vote to elect 56 of the 80 seats in the House of Representatives. Recent opinion polls have indicated that the conservative DISY and the leftist AKEL are competing for first place, while the hard-right ELAM is also expected to make gains in the legislature. (Euronews) (DW) (Reuters); DISY wins the most with 17 seats, followed by AKEL in second with 15 seats and ELAM in third with eight seats. ALMA and Direct Democracy Cyprus enter the legislature with four seats each. (Phileleftheros)
16 April 2026 – Candidates Tournament 2026: In chess, Javokhir Sindarov wins the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. The Women's Tournament is won by Vaishali Rameshbabu. (FIDE)
11 April 2026 –: Two people are killed and at least three others are injured after a building collapsed in Germasogeia, Limassol, Cyprus. (Xinhua News)
28 March 2026 –: In chess, the Candidates Tournament 2026 starts in Cyprus. Between 28 March and 16 April, eight players compete in a double round-robin tournament. The winner will face Gukesh Dommaraju for the World Championship. (FIDE)
10 March 2026 – 2026 Iran war: Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon leaves Portsmouth and heads to Cyprus in response to a drone strike on the United Kingdom's RAF Akrotiri base. (BBC News)

General images

The following are images from various Cyprus-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Kouris Dam overflow in April 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 2UN tower in the buffer zone (from Cyprus)
Image 3Base ring vessel of Late Bronze Age (from History of Cyprus)
Image 4Statue of Liberty symbolising the independence of Cyprus. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 5Street in the divided capital of Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 6The "Green Line" in Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 7Archaeological site of Khirokitia with early remains of human habitation during the Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction) (from Cyprus)
Image 8Büyük Han, a caravanserai in Nicosia, is an example of the surviving Ottoman architecture in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 9Typical Cypriot architecture in old part of Nicosia, Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 10
Accession of Cyprus to the European Union in 2004
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 11The entrance of the historic Pancyprian Gymnasium (from Cyprus)
Image 12Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer Piri Reis' historical map of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 13Cypriot Halloumi (from Cyprus)
Image 14Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus since February 2023 (from Cyprus)
Image 15Zeus Keraunios, 500–480 BC, Nicosia museum (from Cyprus)
Image 16Zeus Keraunios, 500-480 BC, Nicosia museum (from History of Cyprus)
Image 17"TAKSİM" (division) graffiti on a wall in Nicosia in the late 1950s (from Cyprus problem)
Image 18Central Bank of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 19Greek Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (union with Greece) in 1930 (from Cyprus)
Image 20Red-polished ceramics from Enkomi, 1900–1725 BC. St. Barnabas Archaeological Museum, Salamis, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 21The north–south checkpoint has been open since 2003. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 22
  Under the administration of the Republic of Cyprus
  Northern Cyprus
  Turkey
  Greece
(from Cyprus problem)
Image 23Street close to the Nicosia border (from Cyprus problem)
Image 24Laouto, dominant instrument of the Cypriot traditional music (from Cyprus)
Image 25Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus (from Cyprus problem)
Image 26Cypriot meze (from Cyprus)
Image 27Cypri insvlae nova descript. 1573, Ioannes à Deutecum f[ecit]. "Map of the island of Cyprus, newly drawn by Johannes van Deutecom in 1573." (from Cyprus)
Image 28Opening of Ledra Street in April 2008 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 29Varosha (Maraş), a suburb of Famagusta, was abandoned when its inhabitants fled in 1974 and remains under Turkish military control. (from Cyprus)
Image 302010 population by age and gender (from Cyprus)
Image 31Faneromeni School is the oldest all-girls primary school in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 32Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, consecrated in 1328, the largest medieval building in Famagusta, where the Kings of Cyprus were crowned also as Kings of Jerusalem. In 1571 having fallen to the Ottoman Empire it became the Mosque of Mağusa, and remains a mosque today (from History of Cyprus)
Image 33Atatürk Square, North Nicosia, in 2006 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 34Turkish rally in Nicosia in January 1958 (from Cyprus problem)
Image 35Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Centre in Limassol (from Cyprus)
Image 36Presidential Palace, Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 37The Armenian alphabet at the Melkonian Educational Institute. Armenian is recognised as a minority language in Cyprus. (from Cyprus)
Image 38A copper mine in Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper. (from Cyprus)
Image 39Ayia Paraskevi Byzantine church in Yeroskipou, Cyprus (from History of Cyprus)
Image 40A Sentinel-2 image of Cyprus taken in 2022 (from Cyprus)
Image 41Landscape of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 42Cypriot cult image. 'Red Polished Ware', 2100–2000 BC. Museum zu Allerheiligen (from History of Cyprus)
Image 43Khirokitia archeological site. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 44Welcoming ceremony of the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev by the soldiers of the Cypriot National Guard (from Cyprus)
Image 45Ethnic map of Cyprus according to the 1960 census (from Cyprus)
Image 46Dhekelia Power Station (from Cyprus)
Image 47Sea caves at Cape Greco (from Cyprus)
Image 48The Troodos Mountains experience heavy snowfall in winter. (from Cyprus)
Image 49Ioannis Kigalas (c. 1622–1687) was a Nicosia born Greek Cypriot scholar and professor of philosophy who was largely active in the 17th century. (from Cyprus)
Image 50The Walls of Nicosia were built by the Venetians to defend the city in case of an Ottoman attack. (from Cyprus)
Image 51Cyprus in 1482 (from History of Cyprus)
Image 52Population growth, 1961–2003 (numbers for the entire island, excluding Turkish settlers residing in Northern Cyprus) (from Cyprus)
Image 53Supreme Court of Justice (from Cyprus)
Image 54Limassol General Hospital (from Cyprus)
Image 55Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy (from Cyprus)
Image 56Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was the creator of the Annan plan. (from Cyprus problem)
Image 57A British soldier facing a crowd of Greek Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia (1956) (from Cyprus)
Image 58Cypriot style café in an arcade in Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 59Kyrenia Castle was originally built by the Byzantines and enlarged by the Venetians. (from Cyprus)
Image 60Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries in Limassol during Cyprus Presidency of the EU in 2012 (from Cyprus)
Image 61Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia (from Cyprus)
Image 62Turkish Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioğlu (Left) and the Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis (Right), in Ankara, within the scope of the 2014 Cyprus talks (from Cyprus problem)
Image 63A map showing the division of Cyprus (from Cyprus)
Image 64Cyprus is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue) and of the EU single market. (from Cyprus)
Image 65Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece. (from History of Cyprus)
Image 66A Greek Cypriot demonstration in the 1930s in favour of Enosis (union) with Greece (from Cyprus problem)