Cyprus (
Greek
:
Κύπρος, Kýpros
;
Turkish
:
Kıbrıs
), officially the Republic of Cyprus (
Greek
:
Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía
;
Turkish
:
Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti
) is a
Eurasian
island country
situated in the eastern
Merranean
south of
Turkey
, west of the
Levant
, north of
Egypt
, and east-southeast of
Greece
.
Cyprus is the third-largest
island
and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Merranean, attracting over . million tourists per year.
A
former British colony
, it gained independence from the
United Kingdom
in and became a
Commonwealth republic
in . The Republic of Cyprus is a
developed country
and has been a member of the
European Union
since
May
. It adopted the euro on the st of January .
In , following a
period of violence
between
Greek Cypriots
and
Turkish Cypriots
and an attempted Greek Cypriot
coup d'état
aimed at annexing the island to Greece
and sponsored by the
Greek military junta of -
, Turkey
invaded and occupied
one-third of the island. This led to the
displacement
of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate
Turkish Cypriot political entity
in the north. This event and its resulting political situation is
a matter of ongoing dispute
.
The Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognized
state
, claimed
sovereignty
over % of the island of Cyprus and all surrounding waters, with the United Kingdom controlling the remaining three percent. The island is
de facto
partitioned into four main parts. The Republic of Cyprus exercises full effective control over approximately % of the island, the TRNC controls over approximately % of the island, and the remaining approximately % of the land mass is split evenly between British-controlled Sovereign Base Areas and the UN-controlled Green Line
. - the area under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus in the south of the island;
- the Turkish occupied area in the north
,
calling itself
the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(
recognized
only by Turkey);
- the
United Nations
-controlled
Green Line
, separating the two; and
- two
Sovereign Base Areas
(
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
), over which the United Kingdom retained jurisdiction after Cypriot independence.
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