Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cyprus

Cyrprus´capital is Nicosia; other famous cities are Famagusta, Limassol, Larnaca and Kirenya.
Its inhabitants are Cypriote; nevertheless, people who live in the Southern part consider themselves Greeks and a little part of population who reside in the Northern part of the isle are considered Turkish because here there is an independent region known as Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Therefore, the languages which are spoken in Cyprus are Greek and Turkish. In Cyprus it is established a democratic presidential republic (this is a system of government where an executive branch is led by a person who serves as both head of state and head of government. That person is usually elected and titled "president", but can also be an unelected monarch).
Cyprus is a very small country with an area of 9.250 km²; taking this into account its population density is considerably high as it has 84 inhabitants per km² and its total population is about 784.301 citizens in the whole country.
Cyprus does border with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and with British Sovereign Bases in Acrotiri y Dekheila. Cyprus belongs to the European Union then; its currency is the euro as in the rest of member states.
The most important history facts took place during the XX century, although Cyprus has been inhabited since the Neolithic period and it also was a part of the Hellas. In addition, in the Middle Age French and Italians arrived in the isle until the year 1751 when the first ottoman invasion took place. In 1878 the British Empire assumed the administration of the country. This annexation to the British Empire was interrupted several times and it lasted until the second half of the XX century, moreover, Turkey tried to get the control of the isle striving against Great Britain and finally in 1974 the Turkish army invaded the isle establishing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus at the beginning of 1975.
Famous people from Cyprus:
Melinda Leigh McGraw (October 25, 1963) is a Cypriot-born American actress.
Evagoras of Salamis (410–374 BC), king of the city-state of Salamis, conquered much of Cyprus, but was defeated when rival city Amathous allied itself with the Persian Empire.
Alexander the Great. Cyprus welcomed Alexander as a liberator from Persian dominance in 325 BC.
St Barnabas with the Apostle Paul, brought Christianity to Cyprus in 45 AD.
Selim the Sot The Muslim sultan drove the Venetians from Cyprus after a 10-month siege.
Archbishop Makarios (1913–77) led the independence campaign and was Cyprus’s first president.
Traditional Cypriot meals:
Meze: Literally means "small dishes." A style of eating that has many different courses, but each course contains just a little of each item, enough for everyone to have a taste.
Feta: A salty, white cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk that is cured in a brine solution.
Sheftalia: A grilled Cypriot sausage made of pork, lamb, onions and parsley.
Zivania: a potent Cypriot alcohol made from grapes.
Souzouko: a favorite at Cyprus festivals and fairs, it is made by dipping strings of nuts in heated grape juice until it solidifies.


Here you have a video which shows amazing images from Cyprus with traditional Cypriot music:

Finally, I would love to live in Cyprus because it is an amazing country. I love its culture, traditions and overall it is an authentic Mediterranean country. In my view, living in Cyprus would be an interesting experience which I would like to carry out.

1 comment:

  1. Very good post, Elvira. This is a country I would really love to visit too!

    ReplyDelete