About Cyprus - Backgound and History
Cyprus provides everything for the holidaymaker or tourist, from beautiful scenery to adventure, delicious food, historic sites, outdoor activities, cordial hosts, and standard use of English as a written and spoken language. A trip to and travel around Cyprus is enhanced by the constant beautiful sunshine and blue skies – over 300 days of it per year.
Cyprus is an island of legends. A storied past 10,000 years long has seen civilizations come and go and the likes of everyone from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra stake their claim here. Aphrodite was born in Cyprus and made her home here. Travellers throughout antiquity came here just to pay her tribute. Cyprus has been ruled in turn by Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Franks, Venetians, Turks and the British. Each of the cultures has left their mark on the architecture, style, cuisine, language, and modern culture. The island of Cyprus is in the far eastern Mediterranean sea, about 95 km (60 miles) west of the Syrian coast, 75 km (47 miles) south of the Turkish coast and 325 km (203 miles) north of the Egyptian coast.
The country was split in two during a Turkish invasion in 1974 into the Greek speaking Southern Republic of Cyprus, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (known as TRNC). The country, as a whole, covers an area of 9.250 sq km and has a total population of 796,740 (July 2009 est.). The capital of Cyprus is Nicosia (Lefkosia in Greek), also the business and financial capital situated in the heart of the island, is now the only divided capital in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall as the city is cut in two by the Green Line, a physical division of the entire country. As with most divided countries religion is a key differentiator with the Southern Greek Orthodox and the Turkish North Cyprus being Muslim. The North is also different in atmosphere, less affluent and more sparsely populated.
Cyprus - Weather and Climate
The Republic of Cyprus in the South is more commercially developed, catering well for the tourist and a rental apartment in the Famagusta region will give you the chance to discover a destination where contemporary culture blends easily with the true identity of this anciently historic land. Kapparis, Protaras, Pernera and Paralimni within the Famagusta region on the South East coast, like Ayia Napa, are lively locations for English and Cypriots tourists, with idyllic beaches of white sand bordered by azure sea. Remains of ancient Greek temples and Roman mosaics rub shoulders with frescoed monasteries, influencing the pottery, tapestries and other art forms of the island. A number of historic sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Marvel at the sumptuous pageantry of Greek Orthodox religious festivals whose origins go back thousands of years. Admire the exquisite floor mosaics of the Roman villas depicting scenes from mythology, arguably the best in the eastern Mediterranean and theatres with the most spectacular view overlooking the sea.
Step back in time with a visit to Choirokoitia, one of the best preserved sites of a prehistoric settlement found in the Eastern Mediterranean, with its reconstructed round dwellings giving a vivid representation of what life was like at the dawn of civilisation.
In addition to the wealth of outdoor sites, tour the priceless collection of artefacts displayed in the various Archaeological Museums where you can see objects spanning the island’s history, including pottery, coins, jewellery, tombstones and statues.
Cyprus - Weather and Climate
The Cypriot climate is predominantly sunny, hot and dry with bright blues skies for most of the year. This is evident on the weather forecast and reports where you’ll generally see a picture of the sun across the week... There is little rain fall outside of the winter months in the coastal areas of Cyprus. Visitors staying in Famagusta in the South East of the island will enjoy the most sun, highest temperatures, and longest days of the whole island. Similar to the rest of Cyprus, visitors need only be aware the winter months have shorter days and may have unpredictable rains from December to February.
At latitude 350 N, Longitude 330 E, Cyprus has a change in day length from 9.8 hours in December to 14.5 hours in June. Average hours of sunshine: Summer - 11.5 hours (average), Winter - 5.5 hours in the cloudiest months (December and January). Visitors will notice that dusk and dawn are very short as day dramatically changes to night, and vice versa.
Temperatures are
For up-to-date temperatures and weather reports see: http://www.cyprus-weather.com/
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