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Cyprus
 SIZE AND LOCATION: Area 3,572 square miles; third largest Mediterranean island. Located 40 miles south of Turkey and 60 miles west of Syria. Extends 140 miles on its longest axis, from northeast to southeast, and 60 miles in width along a generally north-south axis.
At the extreme northeast corner of the Mediterranean lies the large island of Cyprus. With an area of 3,572 square miles, of a maximum length of about 140 miles and breadth of about 60 miles, it is more than twice as large as Long Island. The only Mediterranean Islands that exceed it in size are Sicily and Sardinia.
TOPOGRAPHY: About two-thirds of the area, the regions in north and southwest, is hills and mountains; the remaining onethird consists of the central plain and small
scattered stretches of coastal lowlands.
CLIMATE: Typically Mediterranean. Annual precipitation averages nineteen inches; rainfall unevenly distributed geographically and seasonally; summer droughts common.
POPULATION: The population of Cyprus, according to the last census (2005), is 835,000 inhabitants. (In the proportion of 77% Greeks and 18% Turks.)
There has been a constant increase of the population since the occupation of the island by the British in 1878. In 1881 there were 186,173 inhabitants; in 1901, 237,622; and in 1921, 310,709. The increase is chiefly accounted for by the Greeks, who average six children to a family. The present population is still small for the island. In its best days, Cyprus maintained a million people.
RELIGION: Orthodox Church of Cyprus, headed in 1970 by Archbishop Makarios III, exerts wide influence on Greek community affairs. Most Turks belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. Impact of religion on personal and family life declining.
ONE NATION OR TWO?
The question of a national anthem was more complicated. Should a part of it be in Turkish? But the Greeks were unlikely to sing such a composit and the Turks would certainly not sing in Greek. The problem was shelved but later it lost its relevance.
Now, 37 years after the creation of the Republic of Cyprus under its "anaemic" flag, there is much international talk about the island's "reunification." As Cyprus has never been united--except under colonial rule--and the barriers separating the communities have been solidified, the whole concept is a misnomer.
The syllabic writing used throughout the Mycenaean world was retained in Cyprus down through the Golden Age of Greece, when it was used for the classical Greek language, and can now be deciphered. Scholars hope to find the key to the unknown Mycenaean language through this extraordinary example of Cypriote conservatism, and it already seems quite certain that the language was a primitive form of Greek. Certainly the Hellenic nature of Cypriote art and civilization was predominant during the "Heroic Age," when Cyprus was a brilliant center of Greek civilization at a time when the mainland and the more northern islands were plunged into darkness by the Dorian invasions. During classical times, and until Alexander the Great, Cyprus was considered the Easternmost outpost of Greek civilization. It was a very rich island when it fell to the Romans in the year 58 B.C. and had the good fortune of having Cicero as its proconsul for a number of years. Upon the partition of East and West in A.D. 395, Cyprus fell to the Byzantine Empire, a member of which it remained till 1184. The Lusignans of the Crusades ruled it for over 300 years until it was occupied by the Venetians in 1489. These were succeeded by the Ottomans in 1571, who remained in possession for a little over three centuries.
This was a ruinous period for the island. A heavy tribute and crushing taxation led quickly to complete economic decadence. It was plundered of its riches, its schools were closed and oppression even drove part of its population to embrace the Moslem faith in order to escape extermination. With the help of the privileges granted to the Greek Orthodox Church, however, and by a new system of local administration, national sentiment was kept alive. During the Greek War of Liberation of 1821-1830, the Cypriote people were suspected of pro-Greek sympathies and of actively assisting Greece, and were harshly punished. Their cities and villages were sacked, their people were massacred and some were sold on the slave markets of the Orient. The destruction was completed during the period of 1832-1840 when the island was administered by the Khedive of Egypt.
When the island was returned to the Sublime Porte in 1840, Cyprus was granted a more gentle rule, with broad administrative autonomy. At the same time the island attracted the attention of other Powers. In 1849, a German diplomat expressed Germany's interest in obtaining a point of support in the Middle East and suggested the possibility of securing from the Sublime Porte the possession of Cyprus. Russia's attitude toward the Ottoman Empire grew even more aggressive. And England, after the building of the Suez Canal, was seeking to establish strategic bases in the southwest and east, and also sought a place not far from the Dardanelles whence she could keep a watchful eye on the Straits. No Place seemed more suitable to Disraeli than the large island in the southeastern Mediterranean.
Russia's victory over the Ottoman Empire provided the opportunity. The Treaty of San Stefano gave to Russia Kars and Batum on the southeast coast of the Black Sea; and Disraeli was able to close a shrewd bargain with the Porte. He did not ask the Sultan to alienate territory from his sovereignty, nor to diminish the receipts passing to his Treasury from Cyprus. He offered a defensive alliance to the Porte, and as an assurance of good faith, the Sultan assigned Cyprus to the occupation and administration of England. The sensibilities of the Sultan were guarded by a clause wherein this occupation and administration should be temporary. If at any time Russia were to surrender to the Porte the territory it had acquired in Asia by the war of 1878, the island was to be immediately evacuated by the British.
The British landed in Cyprus on June 19, 1878. The Greek population of the island received them with enthusiasm, feeling certain that this occupation was a first step towards the obvious solution: the natural union with Greece. The Archbishop of Cyprus, at the head of a Cypriote Greek delegation, voiced this sentiment at the reception ceremonies for the British High Commissioner: "We are glad for the change of government, yet we are Greeks, and desire to see Cyprus a part of Greece.
This forthright and categorical declaration was the beginning of unceasing efforts for union with Greece which have continued throughout the past sixty-five years. Unfortunately, however, it was soon followed by a lack of confidence and a feeling of mutual distrust, which have persisted throughout this period.
We have already noted that the Greeks formed the dominant factor in the population of Cyprus from very early times. Both the wealth and the strategic position of the island have brought many conquerors, but the strong conservatism of the Cypriote people has kept their Hellenic character ever predominant. Today the language of the great majority is modern Greek, which has a strong and peculiarly Cypriote flavor coming partly from remnants of the ancient dialect, partly from borrowings, and even more from the language of Byzantine times which only here survives.
The Motherlands
In the quasi-permanent confrontation between Greece and Turkey, Cyprus is one of the major divisive issues. Governments in both countries have fallen--or survived--because of the Cyprus problem, and politicians have to tread carefully when dealing with it. Greece, although no longer officially espousing the policy of enosis or union, still considers Cyprus to be part of the Hellenic world. Turkey, which colonized Cyprus for three centuries, is not adverse to the idea that it should "own" the island again. At this stage, however, the recent successive governments in Ankara have been satisfied with the Turkish military presence in the north of Cyprus and the Attila Line, which divides the two basically incompatible communities. Considered to be "motherlands" by the two Cypriot communities--Turkey by Turkish Cypriots and Greece by Greek Cypriots--Greece and Turkey have systematically failed to reconcile their diametrically opposed views on Cyprus. Both cast a long and permanent shadow over the island. Both share responsibility for its fate. And both are crucial--indeed inseparable--from any discussion of the Cyprus situation.
Medieval Paphos Fortress, Cyprus, Greece Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com 
Facade Detail of St. Nicolas Cathedral, Famagusta, Cyprus Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com 
Ceiling Detail of Kykkos Monastery, Troodos Massif, Pafos, Cyprus Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com 
Town and Church in Village of Pedhoulas, Troodos Massif, Pafos, Cyprus Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com |
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