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EPSA |
The island of Cyprus is located in the North-eastern
part of the Mediterranean Sea (33° east of Greenwich and 35° north of
the Equator) with an area of 9,251 sq. km (of which 1.733 sq. km are
forested). Cyprus is the third bigger in size island in the
Mediterranean Sea, with some of the most clean beaches in Europe. It is
the Easter Island in the Mediterranean Sea, located 105km west of Syria,
75km south of Turkey and 380km north of Egypt. It is 241km long (East-West)
and 97km wide (North-South).
The population reaches 793,100 at the end of 2001 including Turkish
Cypriots (pop. density: 82 per sq. km). The maximum attitude is 1952m at
Mount Olympus. The capital is Lefkosia (Nicosia) located in an attitude
of 180m, with a population of 206,200. The main other towns are Lemesos
(161,200), Larnaka (72,000), Pafos (47,300), Ammochostos and Keryneia.
The last two are under Turkish military occupation since July 1974, when
Turkey invaded the island, eventually occupying 40% of the total
territory of the Republic of Cyprus. As a result, about 200.000 Greek
Cypriots were displaced from their homes and were forced to flee to the
southern part of the island. The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted
resolutions calling for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Cyprus
and the return of refugees to their homes, but without result. In the
whole project the official data of the Republic of Cyprus are used,
while the analysis is focused on the Republic of Cyprus.
The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers from June to
September and rainy, rather variable winters from November to March,
separated by short autumn and spring seasons of rapid change.
The ethnic composition was Greeks 85,1%, Turks 11,7% and others 3,2% at
the end of 1999, and the religion is Orthodox (77%) and Muslim (18%).
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