Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea south of the Anatolian Peninsula. It is the third-largest and third-most populous island in the Mediterranean, and is located south of Turkey, west of Syria, northwest of Lebanon, Israel, and the Gaza Strip (Palestine), north of Egypt, and southeast of Greece. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia and second largest is Limassol.
Cyprus is a member of the United Nations along with most of its agencies as well as the Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Council of Europe. In addition, the country has signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Agreement (MIGA). Cyprus has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and in the second half of the 2012 it held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.
Halloumi or haloumi is a semi-hard, unripened cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled, a property that makes it a popular meat substitute. Rennet is used to curdle the milk in halloumi production, although no acid-producing bacteria are used in its preparation.
The Democratic Rally is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Cyprus led by Averof Neofytou. The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafcos Clerides. Clerides served as the president of Cyprus from 1993 until 2003.
APOEL FC is a Cypriot professional football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus. APOEL is the most popular and the most successful football team in Cyprus with an overall tally of 28 national championships, 21 cups, and 13 super cups.
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, or CyBC, is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic television channels, and uses one satellite channel for the Cypriot diaspora. It also transmits on a separate high definition channel.
Pontic Greek is a variety of Modern Greek originally spoken in the Pontus area on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, the Eastern Turkish/Caucasus province of and today mainly in northern Greece. Its speakers are referred to as Pontic Greeks or Pontian Greeks.
APOEL is a major multi-sport club based in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 38 times since making its debut in 1981. Cyprus' first entry was the group Island, who finished sixth. The country's best result in the contest is a second-place finish with Eleni Foureira in 2018.
Cypriot passports are issued to citizens of Cyprus for the purpose of international travel. Every Cypriot citizen is also a Commonwealth citizen and a citizen of the European Union. The Cypriot passport, along with the Cypriot identity card, allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland. As of 10 July 2020, Cypriot citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 174 countries and territories, ranking the Cypriot passport 38th in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index. Cypriot citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.
The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) is an independent, non-commercial umbrella association of book publishers associations in the European Union and Europe.
The European University Cyprus (EUC) is a private university in Nicosia, Cyprus which evolved out of Cyprus College, the oldest institution of higher education in Cyprus. EUC has a selective admission policy based on students' past academic record and performance. The institution has a current enrollment of more than 7,500 students and provides internationally recognized undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees. The programs of study are graded based on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
Evdokia Kadi was chosen as the Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 and selected their entry through a national final, organised by Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC). Evdokia Kadi was chosen as the Cypriot representative with the song "Femme Fatale", which is a traditional Greek Laïkó song with a French title.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cyprus:
APOEL Basketball Club, better known simply as APOEL, is a Cypriot professional basketball club based in the city of Nicosia. It is a part of the APOEL multi-sport club. APOEL is one of the most successful basketball clubs in Cyprus with an overall tally of 11 Championships, 12 Cups and 11 Super Cups.
The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature amongst European countries, and to highlight the continent’s creativity and diversity.
Tanya Maria Geritsidou is a Greek psychopedagogue, artist, author, publisher and activist. She invests in the cultivation of the humanitarian and philhellenic spirit through legal action of international range, literature and scripts, as well as art works.
Panos Ioannides is one of the most renowned and celebrated living Cypriot novelists and playwrights.
Myrto Azina Chronides was a Greek Cypriot writer. She was born in Nicosia and started writing at a young age. She studied at the Pancyprian Gymnasium, before going on to medical school. She studied at the University of Bonn in Euskirchen, and currently works in public health in Cyprus.
