Cyprus is a country located in the Mediterranean Sea , on the island of Cyprus. It limits 113 km to the south with Turkey , 120 km to the west with Syria and 150 km to the east with Greece (Kastellorizo island). Cyprus is an internationally recognized republic, but it only has two thirds of the island, since the northern third was conquered by Turkey in 1974.
Formal member of the European Union , it is considered a bridge country between Europe and Asia due to its geographical location. It is one of the most attractive countries in the world to travel. We do not say it because yes, we say it because it is ranked number 20 in the ranking of the most competitive countries in terms of tourism.
Climate and geography
Cyprus enjoys a temperate climate . Dry summers and cold winters. With a Mediterranean climate, most of the rains are concentrated in the period from December to February (two thirds of the rainfall).
It is a fairly mountainous country, as it has two mountain ranges: Troodos in the southwest (with Mount Olympus at 1953 meters as the highest peak) and Pentadactyls in the north.
Demography
The country has a population of 1,103,790 inhabitants , registered this year. 82% are Greek and the remaining 18% are Turkish. This little more than a million inhabitants, can boast of having a very high life expectancy: 77.9 years . The average number of children per woman is 1.85 and the population that is literate reaches 97.6%.
As is to be expected, in the center and in the south of the island , Greek is mainly spoken . On the other hand, in the north of the island the Turkish language predominates. This has only happened since 1974, when the Turks settled in the north. This caused the southern Turks to move north and the northern Cypriots to move towards the center and south of the island. Before this happened, 82% of the island spoke Greek. Also note that they have a quite remarkable command of English.
Places you cannot miss
– Troodos Mountains
– Kato Paphos Archaeological Park
– Roman mosaics from Paphos
– Tomb of the Kings (in Paphos)
– Kolossi Castle (in Limassol)
– Salamis (in Famagusta)
– Cyprus Museum (in Nicosia)
– Kykkos Monastery (in Troodos)
– Byzantine Museum (in Paphos)
– Ayios Neophytos Monastery (in Paphos)
– Kourion Theater (in Limassol)
Other data of interest
Capital: Nicosia
Form of government: Presidential Republic
Coasts : 648 km.
Currency: Cypriot pound (to be replaced by the euro in 2008)
Telephone code: +357
Internet domain: .cy
Member of: UN, EU, OSCE.
GDP per capita: Rank 113
