Cyprus

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Revision as of 21:36, July 30, 2005 by Irlandos (talk | contribs) (History)
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Third largest island in the Mediterranean known as "Aphrodite's island" as Greek Mythology has it that the love goddess was born there. Its name is derived from the word for copper which was mined there since antiquity. Its population of nearly 900,000 inhabitants consists of over 700,000 Greeks, 160,000 Turks, 8,000 Armenians and Maronites. The rest are foreign workers or retirees. The island's main cities are Lefkosia (Nicosia), Lemesos (Limassol), Larnaca, Paphos and Ammochostos (Famagusta) and Kyrenia in the north.

History

The island was settled by Mycenean Greeks in 1500BC. They were joined 3 centuries later by Achaean colonists. It has been conquered many times passing from Assyrians to Egyptians to Persians until it was liberated by Athenian general Kimon. The Romans conquered Cyprus in the 1st Century BC. It was during this period that Christianity came to Cyprus through the Apostle Paul and Barnabas. The island became part of the Byzantine Empire after the Roman Empire's split into East and West. After 1190, new conquerors came: The Crusaders, the Lusignan, the Venetians, the Ottomans and the British (1878). It was during British rule that the island's Greek population's hopes arose for Enosis (Union) with mother Greece arose. Frustration with the British rulers insensitivity towards the majority population's wishes led to protests in 1931, a plebiscite conducted by the Church in 1950 (96% voted for Enosis) and, eventually, the armed struggle of EOKA (Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών) - National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters - (1955 - 1959). The struggle was led by Colonel (later General) Georgios Grivas under the nom-de-guerre "Digenis". The political leader was the Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III.