The people of Cyprus are broadly divided into two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, who share many cultural traits but maintain distinct identities based on ethnicity, religion, language, and close ties with Greece and Turkey respectively. Before the dispute started in 1964 the peoples of Cyprus were dispersed over the entire island.
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia in Greek, its Turkish name Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus.
The Church of Cyprus is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; it claims to have always been independent, although it may have been subject to the Church of Antioch before its autocephaly was recognized in 431 at the Council of Ephesus. The bishop of the ancient capital, Salamis was constituted metropolitan by Emperor Zeno, with the title archbishop.
Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 667,398 Cypriot citizens and over 78% of the 840,407 total residents of the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. These figures do not include the 29,321 citizens of Greece residing in Cyprus, ethnic Greeks recorded as citizens of other countries, or the population of Northern Cyprus.
The Eyalet of Cyprus was an eyalet (province) of the Ottoman Empire made up of the island of Cyprus, which was annexed into the Empire in 1571. The Ottomans changed the way they administered Cyprus multiple times. It was a sanjak (sub-province) of the Eyalet of the Archipelago from 1670 to 1703, and again from 1784 onwards; a fief of the Grand Vizier ; and again an eyalet for the short period from 1745 to 1748.
Religion has been a major influence on the societies, cultures, traditions, philosophies, artistic expressions and laws within present-day Europe. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity. However, irreligion and practical secularisation are also prominent in some countries. In Southeastern Europe, three countries have Muslim majorities, with Christianity being the second-largest religion in those countries. Ancient European religions included veneration for deities such as Zeus. Modern revival movements of these religions include Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, Druidry, Wicca, and others. Smaller religions include Indian religions, Judaism, and some East Asian religions, which are found in their largest groups in Britain, France, and Kalmykia.
The Catholic Church in Cyprus is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity is largest religion in Montenegro, but there are also sizeable numbers of adherents of both Catholic Christianity and Islam.
Islam in Cyprus is the island's second-largest religion after Christianity, and is also the predominant faith of the Turkish Cypriot community which resides in Northern Cyprus. Before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the Turkish Cypriot community made up 18% of the island's population and lived throughout the island. Today, most of the estimated 264,172 Muslims are based in the north of the island.
Armenian Cypriots are the ethnic Armenian population native to Cyprus. The Armenian Cypriot community has had a significant impact upon the Armenian people as a whole despite its low numbers. During the Middle Ages, Cyprus had an extensive connection with the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, while the Ganchvor monastery had an important presence in Famagusta. During the Ottoman Era, the Virgin Mary church and the Magaravank were very prominent. Certain Armenian Cypriots were or are very prominent on a Panarmenian or international level and the survivors of the Armenian genocide have co-operated and co-existed peacefully with the Turkish Cypriots.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Ukraine, with 85% of the population identifying as Christian according to a 2022 survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Seventy-two percent of the population avowed fidelity to an Eastern Orthodox Church: 54% of Ukrainians proclaimed adherence to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine; 14% identified as Orthodox Christian without specifying a church affiliation; 4% associated with the Moscow Patriarchate. Another 9% of Ukrainians professed devotion to the Catholic Church in Ukraine: 8% Ukrainian Greek Catholics and 1% Latin Catholics. Two percent of the population declared affiliation to a mainstream Protestant Church, and a further 2% identified with some alternative sect of Christianity.
Religion in Greece is dominated by Christianity, in particular the Greek Orthodox Church, which is within the larger communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It represented 90% of the total population in 2015 and is constitutionally recognized as the "prevailing religion" of Greece. Religions with smaller numbers of followers include Islam, Western Catholicism, Greek Catholicism, Judaism, Evangelicalism, Hellenic paganism, and Jehovah's Witnesses. A small number of Greek atheists exist, not self-identifying as religious.
Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. Christians now make up approximately 5% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 13% in the early 20th century. Cyprus is the only Christian majority country in the Middle East, with Christians forming between 76% and 78% of the country's total population, most of them adhering to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Lebanon has the second highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, around 40%, predominantly Maronites. Egypt has the next largest proportion of Christians, at around 10% of its total population. Copts, numbering around 10 million, constitute the single largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Georgia. The wide variety of peoples inhabiting Georgia has meant a correspondingly rich array of active religions in the country.
In 2020, 85.84% of the population in Georgia adhered to Christianity, 11% were Muslim, 0.1% were Jewish, 0.04% were Baha'i and 3% had no religious beliefs. Other religious groups include Jehovah's Witnesses and Yazidis. Orthodox churches serving other non-Georgian ethnic groups, such as Russians and Greeks, are subordinate to the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus provides for freedom of religion. The government of the Republic of Cyprus is the only internationally recognized government on the island, and administers two-thirds of the island.
The Church of Saint Lazarus is a late-9th century church in Larnaca, Cyprus. It belongs to the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church.
This article documents the status of various religions in the limited-recognition state of Northern Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots administer approximately one-third of the island.
Armenians have a long history in Cyprus, with the first confirmed presence of Armenians on the island dating back to 578 AD, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justin II. In the modern Republic of Cyprus, they are recognized as one of the three minority "religious groups" along with the Maronites and Latins.
Christianity in Cyprus is the largest religion in the country, making up 78% of the island's population. The largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church, while the rest are smaller communities of Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Latin Christians, Maronites, Armenian Apostolics, and Greek Evangelicals.
