Country Contact

The island Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East, to the south of Turkey. It has an area of 9,250 square kilometres and its capital city is Nicosia.

Cyprus had a population of 775,927 in July 2004 with an estimated growth rate of 0.55%. The national languages are Greek, Turkish and English. The main religion is Greek Orthodox.

The climate of Cyprus is temperate with hot, dry summers and cool winters. The terrain is central plain with mountains to the north and south and scattered but significant plains along the southern coast. Natural resources are basically copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt and marble.

Cyprus is governed as a republic, presidential democracy. The president is both the chief of state and head of government. The president as well as the members of the unicameral parliament is elected by popular vote.   The government has not de facto ruled over the northern part of the island since 1974, when a "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus " was established with a "government" of its own; this entity has not been recognized by the international community, with the exception of Turkey.

The Republic of Cyprus has a liberal market economy, which relies heavily on industry and tourism. Industrial production includes food, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metal products and wood products. Agricultural produce includes potatoes, citrus, vegetables, barley, grapes and olives. The currency of the Greek Cypriot area is the Cypriot pound, of the Turkish Cypriot area the Turkish lira.

There is no specific franchise law in Cyprus.