Cyprus
is derived from the Greek word for copper
Third largest
island in the Mediterranean
Close to
Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Israel and Egypt
Area (9,250
km)
- 3,335
km Turkish Cyprus (dark brown)
- 5915
km Greek Cyprus (yellow)
*map
courtesy of The Republic of Northern Cyprus President's Office(18)
Two mountain
ranges
- Kyrenia
Mountains (North Cyprus)
- Troodos
Massif (Republic in the south)
Fertile
Plain
- Mesaoria
Plain
- Between
the two mountain ranges
Interesting
Statistics(31)(32)
Ranked first
in the area of the Middle East on:
- agriculture
- grains - barley consumption (per capita)
- agriculture
- grains - barley imports (per capita)
- agriculture
- grains - coarse gram imports (per capita)
- agriculture
- grains - corn imports (per capita)
- crime
- acquitted (per capita)
- crime
- convicted (per capita)
- crime
- death penalty - abolition date
Ranked third
in the area of the Middle East on:
- education
- average years of schooling of adults (per capita)
Ranked last
in the area of the Middle East on:
- agriculture
- cotton production
- agriculture
- grains - barley consumption
- crime
- jails
- environmentally
threatened species
- transportation
- airports - with paved runways (under 914 m or 0.56 miles)
- transportation
- airports - with unpaved runways (under 914 - 1,523 m or 0.56
- 0.95 miles)
Climate
Cyprus has
a traditional Mediterranean climate with seasonal characteristics
of rainy and mild winters, warm and dry summers, and short transitional
seasons of spring and autumn.(3)
Flora &
Fauna
Seventeen
per cent of the island is woodland. The natural vegetation includes
forests of evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs and flowers.
The flora comprises about 1.800 indigenous species, sub-species
and varieties. There are also 365 species of birds and a noteworthy
animal on the island is called the moufflon, it belongs to the
sheep family.
* photo courtesy
of the Republic of Cyprus website(22)
European
Union Status
The Republic
of Cyprus will ascend into the EU in May 2004 along with 12 other
candidate nations.(30)
One of the programs set forth by the European Commission is eEurope
"A Co-operative effort to implement the Information Society
in Europe". The details of this program and specifically
The Republic of Cyprus's status can be found on their website.(14)
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