Location: Middle East, island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey

Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 33 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 9,250 sq km (note - 3,355 sq km are in the Turkish area)
land: 9,240 sq km
water: 10 sq km

Area - comparative: about 0.6 times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 648 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: temperate, Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters

Terrain: central plain with mountains to north and south; scattered but significant plains along southern coast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point : Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Olympus 1,952 m

Natural resources: copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt, marble, clay earth pigment

Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 5%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 13%
other : 70% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 390 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: moderate earthquake activity

Environment - current issues: water resource problems (no natural reservoir catchments, seasonal disparity in rainfall; sea water intrusion to island's largest aquifier); water pollution from sewage and industrial wastes; coastal degradation; loss of wildlife habitats from urbanization

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change

Population: 767,314 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.4% (male 87,981; female 84,168)
15-64 years:66.6% (male 258,414; female 252,778)
65 years and over: 11% (male 36,607; female 47,366) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.57% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 12.91 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 7.63 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population : 1 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate:7.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.08 years
male: 74.77 years
female: 79.5 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Cypriot(s)
adjective: Cypriot

Ethnic groups: Greek 85.2%, Turkish 11.6%, other 3.2% (2000)

Religions: Greek Orthodox 78%, Muslim 18%, Maronite, Armenian Apostolic, and other 4%

Languages: Greek, Turkish, English

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 98.7%
female: 95% (1999)

Country name:
conventional long form : Republic of Cyprus
conventional short form: Cyprus
note: the Turkish area refers to itself as the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC)

Data code: CY

Government type: republic
note: a disaggregation of the two ethnic communities inhabiting the island began after the outbreak of communal strife in 1963; this separation was further solidified following the Turkish invasion of the island in July 1974, which gave the Turkish Cypriots de facto control in the north; Greek Cypriots control the only internationally recognized government; on 15 November 1983 Turkish Cypriot "President" Rauf DENKTASH declared independence and the formation of a "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC), which has been recognized only by Turkey; both sides publicly call for the resolution of intercommunal differences and creation of a new federal system of government

National capital: Nicosia
note: the Turkish area's capital is Lefkosa (Nicosia)

Administrative divisions: 6 districts; Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, Nicosia, Paphos; note - Turkish area administrative divisions include Kyrenia, all but a small part of Famagusta, and small parts of Nicosia and Larnaca

Independence: 16 August 1960 (from UK)
note: Turkish area proclaimed self-rule on 13 February 1975 from Republic of Cyprus

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October
note: Turkish area celebrates 15 November as Independence Day

Constitution: 16 August 1960; negotiations to create the basis for a new or revised constitution to govern the island and to better relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been held intermittently; in 1975 Turkish Cypriots created their own constitution and governing bodies within the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus," which was renamed the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" in 1983; a new constitution for the Turkish area passed by referendum on 5 May 1985

Legal system: based on common law, with civil law modifications

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Glafcos CLERIDES (since 28 February 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; post of vice president is currently vacant; under the 1960 constitution, the post is reserved for a Turkish Cypriot
head of government: President Glafcos CLERIDES (since 28 February 1993); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; post of vice president is currently vacant; under the 1960 constitution, the post is reserved for a Turkish Cypriot
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed jointly by the president and vice president
elections:president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 15 February 1998 (next to be held NA February 2003)
note: Rauf R. DENKTASH has been "president" of the Turkish Cypriot area since 13 February 1975 ("president" elected by popular vote for a five-year term); elections last held 15 April 2000 (next to be held NA April 2005); results - Rauf R. DENKTASH reelected president after the other contender withdrew; Dervis EROGLU has been "prime minister" of the Turkish Cypriot area since 16 August 1996; there is a Council of Ministers (cabinet) in the Turkish Cypriot area
election results :Glafcos CLERIDES reelected president; percent of vote - Glafcos CLERIDES 50.8%, George IAKOVOU 49.2%

Legislative branch:unicameral - Greek Cypriot area: House of Representatives or Vouli Antiprosopon (80 seats; 56 assigned to the Greek Cypriots, 24 to Turkish Cypriots; note - only those assigned to Greek Cypriots are filled; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); Turkish Cypriot area: Assembly of the Republic or Cumhuriyet Meclisi (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Greek Cypriot area: last held 27 May 2001 (next to be held NA May 2006); Turkish Cypriot area: last held 6 December 1998 (next to be held NA December 2003)
election results : Greek Cypriot area: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - AKEL 34.71%, DISY 34%, DIKO 14.84%, KISOS 6.51%, others 9.94%; seats by party - AKEL (Communist) 20, DISY 19, DIKO 9, KISOS 4, others 4; Turkish Cypriot area: Assembly of the Republic - percent of vote by party - UBP 40.3%, DP 22.6%, TKP 15.4%, CTP 13.4%, UDP 4.6%, YBH 2.5%, BP 1.2%; seats by party - UBP 24, DP 13, TKP 7, CTP 6

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed jointly by the president and vice president)
note: there is also a Supreme Court in the Turkish Cypriot area

Political parties and leaders: Greek Cypriot area: Democratic Party or DIKO [Tassos PAPADOPOULOS]; Democratic Rally or DISY [Nikos ANASTASIADHIS]; Eurodemocratic Renewal Movement or KEA [Antonis PASCHALIDES]; Fighting Democratic Movement or ADIK [Dinos MIKHAILIDIS]; Green Party of Cyprus [George PERDIKIS]; New Horizons [Nikolaus KOUTSOU]; Restorative Party of the Working People or AKEL (Communist Party) [Dimitrios CHRISTOFIAS]; Social Democrats Movement or KISOS (formerly United Democratic Union of Cyprus or EDEK) [Yiannakis OMIROU]; United Democrats Movement or EDE [George VASSILIOU]; Turkish Cypriot area: Communal Liberation Party or TKP [Huseyin ANGOLEMLI]; Democratic Party or DP [Salih COSAR]; National Birth Party or UDP [Enver EMIN]; National Unity Party or UBP [Dervis EROGLU]; Our Party or BP [Okyay SADIKOGLU]; Patriotic Unity Movement or YBH [Izzet IZCAN]; Republican Turkish Party or CTP [Mehmet ALI TALAT]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Confederation of Cypriot Workers or SEK (pro-West); Confederation of Revolutionary Labor Unions or Dev-Is; Federation of Turkish Cypriot Labor Unions or Turk-Sen; Pan-Cyprian Labor Federation or PEO (Communist controlled)

International organization participation: C, CCC, CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Erato KOZAKOU-MARCOULLIS
chancery: 2211 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone : [1] (202) 462-5772
FAX: [1] (202) 483-6710
consulate(s) general: New York
note: representative of the Turkish area in the US is Namik KORHAN, office at 1667 K Street NW, Washington, DC, telephone [1] (202) 887-6198

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission : Ambassador Donald K. BANDLER
embassy: corner of Metochiou and Ploutarchou Streets, Engomi, Nicosia
mailing address : P. O. Box 4536, Nicosia, Cyprus
telephone: [357] (2) 476100
FAX: [357] (2) 465944

Flag description: white with a copper-colored silhouette of the island (the name Cyprus is derived from the Greek word for copper) above two green crossed olive branches in the center of the flag; the branches symbolize the hope for peace and reconciliation between the Greek and Turkish communities
note : the Turkish Cypriot flag has a horizontal red stripe at the top and bottom between which is a red crescent and red star on a white field

Economy - overview:Economic affairs are affected by the division of the country. The Greek Cypriot economy is prosperous but highly susceptible to external shocks. Erratic growth rates in the 1990s reflect the economy's vulnerability to swings in tourist arrivals, caused by political instability in the region and fluctuations in economic conditions in Western Europe. Economic policy is focused on meeting the criteria for admission to the EU. As in the Turkish sector, water shortages are a perennial problem; a few desalination plants are now online. The Turkish Cypriot economy has less than one-half the per capita GDP of the south. Because it is recognized only by Turkey, it has had much difficulty arranging foreign financing, and foreign firms have hesitated to invest there. It remains heavily dependent on agriculture and government service, which together employ about half of the work force. To compensate for the economy's weakness, Turkey provides substantial direct and indirect aid to tourism, education, industry, etc

GDP:Greek Cypriot area purchasing power parity - $9.1 billion (2001 est.)
Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 2.6% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 0.8% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: Greek Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: Greek Cypriot area: agriculture 4.6%, industry 19.9%, services 75.5% (2001); Turkish Cypriot area: agriculture 8.3%, industry 20.7%, services 71.0% (2000)

Inflation rate - consumer price index:Greek Cypriot area: 1.9% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 53.2% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
total : Greek Cypriot area: 291,000; Turkish Cypriot area: 86,300 (2000)
by occupation: Greek Cypriot area: services 73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: services 56.4%, industry 22.8%, agriculture 20.8% (1998)

Unemployment rate: Greek Cypriot area: 3% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 5.6% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: Greek Cypriot area - $2.4 billion (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area - $294 million (2000 est.)
expenditures: Greek Cypriot area - $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $539 million (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area - $495 million, including capital expenditures of $60 million (2000 est.)

Industries: food, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metal products, tourism, wood products

Industrial production growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 2.2% (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: -0.3% (1999)

Electricity - capacity: 690,000 kW 000 kW

Electricity - production: 3.13 billion kWh (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 2.911 billion kWh (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: potatoes, citrus, vegetables, barley, grapes, olives, vegetables

Exports:
total value: Greek Cypriot area: $851 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $50.7 million (f.o.b., 2000)
commodities: citrus, potatoes, grapes, wine, cement, clothing and shoes
partners:Greek Cypriot area: EU 36% (UK 17%, Greece 8%), Russia 8%, Syria 7%, Lebanon 5%, US 2% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 51%, UK 31%, other EU 16.5% (1999)

Imports:
total value: Greek Cypriot area: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $424.9 million (f.o.b., 2000)
commodities: consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, food and feed grains, machinery
partners: Greek Cypriot area: EU 52% (UK 11%, Italy 9%, Greece 9%, Germany 7%), US 10% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 59%, UK 13%, other EU 13% (1999)

Debt - external: Greek Cypriot area: $NA; Turkish Cypriot area: $NA

Economic aid: Greek Cypriot area - $17 million (1998); Turkish Cypriot area - $700 million from Turkey in grants and loans (1990-97) which are usually forgiven

Currency: 1 Cypriot pound (£C) = 100 cents; 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus

Exchange rates: Cypriot pounds per US dollar - 0.6518 (January 2002), 0.6427 (2001), 0.6208 (2000), 0.5423 (1999), 0.5170 (1998), 0.5135 (1997); Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,370,629 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: Greek Cypriot area: 405,000 (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: 83,162 (1998)

Telephone system: excellent in both the Greek and Turkish areas
domestic: open wire, fiber-optic cable, and microwave radio relay
international: tropospheric scatter; 3 coaxial and 5 fiber-optic submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 2 Eutelsat, 2 Intersputnik, and 1 Arabsat

Radio broadcast stations: Greek Cypriot area: AM 7, FM 60, shortwave 1 (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:Greek Cypriot area: 310,000 (1997); Turkish Cypriot area: 56,450 (1994)

Television broadcast stations:Greek Cypriot area: 4 (plus 225 low-power repeaters) (September 1995); Turkish Cypriot area: 4 (plus 5 repeaters) (September 1995)

Televisions: Greek Cypriot area: 248,000 (1997); Turkish Cypriot area: 52,300 (1994)

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: Greek Cypriot area: 10,663 km (1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 2,350 km (1996 est.)
paved : Greek Cypriot area: 6,249 km (1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 1,370 km (1996 est.)
unpaved: Greek Cypriot area: 4,414 km (1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 980 km (1996 est.)

Ports and harbors: Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, Vasilikos Bay

Merchant marine:
total : 1,254 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 22,802,712 GRT/36,337,768 DWT
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Austria 12, Belgium 2, Bulgaria 2, Canada 3, Chile 2, China 16, Croatia 2, Cuba 11, Finland 1, Germany 229, Greece 607, Guam 1, Hong Kong 6, India 6, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 5, Italy 1, Japan 26, Latvia 14, Lebanon 1, Lithuania 2, Mexico 1, Monaco 10, Netherlands 30, Norway 23, Panama 1, Philippines 2, Poland 19, Portugal 2, Russia 57, Singapore 2, Slovenia 2, South Korea 4, Spain 7, Sudan 2, Sweden 6, Switzerland 4, Turkey 1, Ukraine 1, United Arab Emirates 13, United Kingdom 6, United States 4, Vietnam 1 (2002 est.)
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 438, cargo 378, chemical tanker 24, combination bulk 31, combination ore/oil 2, container 133, liquefied gas 4, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 131, refrigerated cargo 46, roll on/roll off 41, short-sea passenger 10, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 3

Airports: 15 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total : 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3
914 to 1,523 m : 1
under 914 m: 2 (2001)

Heliports:7 (2001)

Military branches: Greek area: Greek Cypriot National Guard (GCNG; including air and naval elements), Greek Cypriot Police
Turkish area: Turkish Cypriot Security Force (GKK)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49 : 200,071 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 137,322 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males:6,616 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: 6,616 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.2% (FY00)

Disputes - international: reunification talks - the first since 1974 hostilities divided the island into two de facto autonomous areas, a Greek Cypriot area controlled by the internationally recognized Cypriot Government (59% of the island's land area) and a Turkish-Cypriot area (37% of the island), that are separated by a UN buffer zone (4% of the island) - have recommenced; there are two UK sovereign base areas mostly within the Greek-Cypriot portion of the island

Illicit drugs: transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey; some cocaine transits as well