Where is Cyprus located?

Have you ever heard of Cyprus? If not, you are missing out! Hidden away in the Mediterranean Sea, it is one of the most beautiful and ancient locations in the world you should visit at least once in your life. Learn 'where is Cyprus located in the world', 'what’s the time in Cyprus' and 'what makes Cyprus so special'.

Where is Cyprus located?

If you are reading this article, you have probably asked yourself: ‘Where is Cyprus?’ We are here to answer this question!

The island of Cyprus, which resembles a pipe or a saucepan (depending on your imagination), is located in the Mediterranean Sea. If you want to be precise, it is between 32° and 35° longitudes east and between 34° and 36° latitudes north. It is third by size in the Mediterranean region.

It lies 65 km to the south of Turkey, 100 km to the west of Syria and Lebanon, 200 km to the northwest of Israel and 800 km to the southeast of Greek mainland. Different people place it in different parts of the world. Some consider Cyprus to be in Europe, while others place it in the Middle East or Western Asia.

Cyprus has beautiful sandy beaches, which attract tourists from all over the world. However, the terrain of the island is mostly rocky. There are two mountain ranges on the island: The Kyrenia Mountains and the Troodos Mountains. The latter is especially interesting, as its highest peak is the legendary Mount Olympus, which reaches the impressive 1,951 metres in height.

Cyprus climate

As Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean Sea, it is no wonder that the climate there is also Mediterranean. This means that there are four distinct seasons, although spring and autumn are much shorter than summer and winter.

The typical Mediterranean summer lasts from June to September and is characterised by hot and dry weather. The average temperature ranges from 21 to 37 degrees Celsius. The winter lasts from November to March and is characterised by moderately cold temperature and precipitation. The temperature in winter rarely goes below 5°C, although it might dip below zero in the mountains.

Thanks to this sort of climate, Cyprus is a great migration location for many birds that stay there over the winter. The weather also facilitates vegetation, so the island is covered with beautiful trees and flowers all year long.

Cyprus country

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The Republic of Cyprus is an independent island country. The capital of Cyprus is Nicosia. Other large cities in Cyprus include Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta and Kyrenia, which are also the names for the main districts of Cyprus.

Official languages in Cyprus are Greek and Turkish. The currency in Cyprus is Euro, as the country is a European Union member.

Did you know?

Cyprus has a long and ancient history. The first people that inhabited it lived more than 10 thousand years ago! During the Ancient times, it was one of the most influential and rich countries in the Mediterranean.

Cyprus’ location made it a very desirable piece of land for other countries. Over the years, many nations fought for Cyprus to be theirs, including the Ottoman and British empires. However, in 1960, Cyprus finally earned its independence from Britain and became the Republic of Cyprus.

Still, the island is divided itself. After prolonged internal conflicts between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, the latter pronounced the northern part of the island Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Even though it is only recognised by Turkey, it is still considered to be a separate part of Cyprus.

Thus, as you can see from the Cyprus map, the island is separated into four parts:

♢ The Republic of Cyprus in the south;

♢ Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north;

♢ The Green Line between the two republics, which is under control of the UN corps;

♢ The territories of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, British military bases that Great Britain retained in accordance with the independence agreement.

However, in 2008, the giant wall that separated the Greek and Turkish sides came down. Since 2015, the South and North sides have been talking about reuniting once more.

Time in Cyprus

Cyprus lies in the Eastern European time zone, or EET. The time for this time zone is GMT+2, which means that Cyprus is ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time by two hours.

However, Cyprus also uses Daylight Saving Time or DST. According to it, the clocks go forward one hour in the spring and go back one hour in autumn. Thus, at the time of writing this article, the time zone for Cyprus is GMT+3 (or Eastern European Summer Time, EEST) until October 29.

For the current time in Cyprus, simply google ‘Cyprus time’, and you will instantly get the time and date for Cyprus.

7 interesting facts about Cyprus

After learning all of that information about geography, politics, time zones and so on, it is time to relax. Therefore, here are seven interesting facts about Cyprus.

Check them out:

♦ Cyprus is one of the few countries where cars drive on the left. So be extra careful, especially if you are used to cars driving in the right.

♦ Despite being surrounded by water on all sides, Cyprus constantly suffers from water shortages. A big portion of the countries budget goes to water desalination.

♦ It is a great travel destination: from the pleasant climate all year long to interesting historic locations that attract tourists from everywhere.

♦ There are many legends surrounding Cyprus, one of them is about the birthplace of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite.

♦ Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, is the only capital in the world that is divided between two countries.

♦ Cyprus was the first country to feature its outline on the national flag.

♦ The Cypriots are known for their love for food. Funny enough, Cyprus is also known for having men-only cafes.

Now you know where to find Cyprus, what time it is there and what to expect from the country in general. If you are looking for your next holiday location, definitely consider Cyprus. It is small, but very interesting and pleasant. You will not be disappointed!

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Source: Legit.ng