Classroom Pronunciation Reductions Grammar Conversation Reading Listening Vocabulary Activities Videos
Idioms Slang Acronyms Phonics Portmanteau Words Handwriting Alphabet Surveys Tests
Holidays Movies Everyday Environment Learning News Places Flashcards Study Literacy
World America History Drive Education Teaching Dictionary Resources About Contact
 
Cyprus
 
Cyprus
Cyprus

Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided de facto into the government-controlled two-thirds of the island and the remaining one-third of the island, which is administered by Turkish Cypriots. Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain distinct identities based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective "motherlands." Greek is predominantly spoken in the south, Turkish in the north. English is widely used. Cyprus has a well-developed system of primary and secondary education. The majority of Cypriots earn their higher education at Greek, Turkish, British, and other European or American universities. Both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have developed private colleges and state-supported universities.
Human settlement on Cyprus stretches back nearly eight millennia and by 3700 BC, the island was a crossroads between East and West. The island fell successively under Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, and Roman domination. For 800 years, beginning in 364 AD, Cyprus was ruled by Byzantium. After brief possession by King Richard I (the Lion-Hearted) of England during the Crusades, the island came under Frankish control in the late 12th century. It was ceded to the Venetian Republic in 1489 and conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1571. The Ottomans applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Most of the Turks who settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus--although not sovereignty--was ceded to Great Britain in 1878. Many left for Turkey during the 1920s, however. The island was annexed formally by the United Kingdom in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and became a crown colony in 1925.

Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom and established a constitutional republic in 1960, after an anti-British campaign by the Greek Cypriot EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters), a guerrilla group that desired political union, or enosis, with Greece. Archbishop Makarios, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected president.

Shortly after the founding of the republic, serious differences arose between the two communities about the implementation and interpretation of the constitution. The Greek Cypriots argued that the complex mechanisms introduced to protect Turkish Cypriot interests were obstacles to efficient government. In November 1963, President Makarios advanced a series of constitutional amendments designed to eliminate some of these special provisions. The Turkish Cypriots opposed such changes. The confrontation prompted widespread intercommunal fighting in December 1963, after which Turkish Cypriots ceased to participate in the government. Following the outbreak of intercommunal violence, many Turkish Cypriots (and some Greek Cypriots) living in mixed villages began to move into enclaved villages or elsewhere. UN peacekeepers were deployed on the island in 1964. Following another outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1967-68, a Turkish Cypriot provisional administration was formed.

In July 1974, the military junta in Athens sponsored a coup led by extremist Greek Cypriots against the government of President Makarios, citing his alleged pro-communist leanings and his perceived abandonment of enosis. Turkey, citing the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, intervened militarily to protect Turkish Cypriots.

In a two-stage offensive, Turkish troops took control of 38% of the island. Almost all Greek Cypriots fled south while almost all Turkish Cypriots fled north. Since the events of 1974, UN peacekeeping forces have maintained a buffer zone between the two sides. Except for occasional demonstrations or infrequent incidents between soldiers in the buffer zone, the island was free of violent conflict from 1974 until August 1996, when violent clashes led to the death of two demonstrators and escalated tension. The situation has been quiet since 1996.
Quick Links
North America Canada - Mexico - United States
Central America Antigua and Barbuda - Aruba - The Bahamas - Barbados - Belize - Bermuda - Cayman Islands - Costa Rica - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic - El Salvador - Grenada - Guatemala - Haiti - Honduras - Jamaica - Netherlands Antilles - Nicaragua - Panama - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Trinidad and Tobago
South America Argentina - Bolivia - Brazil - Chile - Colombia - Ecuador - Guyana - Paraguay - Peru - Suriname - Uruguay - Venezuela
Asia Afghanistan - Bangladesh - Bhutan - Brunei - Cambodia - China - Hong Kong - India - Indonesia - Japan - Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Macau - Malaysia - Maldives - Mongolia - Myanmar - Nepal - North Korea - Pakistan - Philippines - Singapore - South Korea - Sri Lanka - Taiwan - Tajikistan - Timor Leste - Thailand - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Vietnam
Europe Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece - Holy See - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - North Macedonia - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - United Kingdom
Middle East Bahrain - Egypt - Iran - Iraq - Israel - Jordan - Kuwait - Lebanon - Oman - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - Syria - United Arab Emirates - Yemen
Africa Algeria - Angola - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Comoros - Congo Brazzaville - Congo-Kinshasa - Cote d'Ivoire - Djibouti - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Eswatini - Ethiopia - Gabon - The Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Guinea Bissau - Kenya - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Mauritania - Mauritius - Morocco - Mozambique - Namibia - Niger - Nigeria - Rwanda - Sao Tome and Principe - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Somalia - South Africa - South Sudan - Sudan - Tanzania - Togo - Tunisia - Uganda - Zambia - Zimbabwe
Oceania Australia - Fiji - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - Micronesia - Nauru - New Zealand - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Samoa - Solomon Islands - Tonga - Tuvalu - Vanuatu
 
 
 
 
 
Search Fun Easy English
 
 
 
 
About    Contact    Copyright    Resources    Site Map