Districts of Cyprus

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Updates: 

FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 12, dated 2007-06-11, adds FIPS codes for the United Kingdom Sovereign Base Areas. Akrotiri has a FIPS country code AX, and Dhekelia is DX.

New proposed NUTS codes for Cyprus were issued on 2004-09-15. The entire country is coded CY000 at the NUTS-3 level.

The 2004 edition of the CIA World Factbook says, "Recent confirmation that the United Kingdom Government administers the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus as dependencies (and not as lease areas like the US Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba) has required a changing of their status and their addition to the Factbook as new entities." As explained below under "Territorial extent", I continue to list them as part of certain districts of Cyprus.

David Wong called my attention to the publication of the results of the 2001 census of the Republic of Cyprus. The figures have been added to the table.

Since 1974, the island of Cyprus has been partitioned. The larger part, in the south, is controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. The north constitutes the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Turkey.

The Republic of Cyprus took a census on 1992-10-01. The TRNC took its own census on 1996-12-15. Alan Pritchard, of the Global Gazetteer , has provided the results of the 1992 census, as shown below.

Concerning Republic of Cyprus postal codes, the table below says, "The system is fully implemented in the Greek-controlled areas, but only partly in the Turkish-controlled north." Pritchard believes that the TRNC doesn't use this system of postal codes at all. Probably the postal administration of the Republic of Cyprus assigned some codes in the north, in accordance with the claim of the Republic of Cyprus to sovereignty over the whole island.

Country overview: 

Cyprus, a bone of contention between Greek and Turk for centuries, was under British administration in 1900. On 1925-05-01 it became a crown colony; on 1960-08-16 it became an independent republic. Turkish forces invaded in 1974, and between 1974-07-20 and 1974-08-16 occupied the northern, Turkish-majority half of the island. Since that time, Cyprus has dwelt in uneasy equilibrium as a divided country. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a de facto government which neither seeks nor has received international recognition, except from Turkey.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Cypern
2. Dutch: Cyprus, Republiek Cyprus (formal)
3. English: Republic of Cyprus (formal)
4. Finnish: Kypros
5. French: Chypre f
6. German: Zypern n, Cypern n
7. Greek: Kypriaki Dimokratia (formal)
8. Icelandic: Kýpur
9. Italian: Cipro m
10. Norwegian: Kypros, Republikken Kypros (formal)
11. Portuguese: Chipre, República f de Chipre m (formal) (n in Portugal)
12. Spanish: Chipre, República f de Chipre (formal)
13. Swedish: Cypern
14. Turkish: Kibris Çumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

probably from Sumerian kabar: bronze

Primary subdivisions: 

Cyprus is divided into six districts.

Territorial extent: 

1. Two small coastal enclaves of Cyprus are British military bases, sovereign soil of the United Kingdom. Akrotiri is surrounded by Limassol. Dhekelia borders on Famagusta and Larnaca. Dhekelia encloses three counter-enclaves belonging to Cyprus: the villages of Ormideia and Xylotymvou, and the Dhekelia Power Station (which lies on the island's coast). This page treats the sovereign base areas as belonging to those districts of Cyprus.
2. The border between the Greek and Turkish sectors of Cyprus is a buffer strip, administered by the United Nations. The Turkish sector contains all of Kyrenia district, most of Famagusta, part of Nicosia, and a tiny bit of Larnaca. The British sovereign areas lie entirely within the Greek sector.

Origins of names: 

Famagusta: Latin Fama Augusta.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Famagusta: Ammochostos (Greek); Famagosta (Italian); Famagouste (French); Gazimagosa, Gazimağusa, Mağusa (Turkish)
2. Kyrenia: Kerineia, Kirínia (Greek); Girne (Turkish)
3. Larnaca: Larnaka (Greek); Lárnax (variant)
4. Limassol: Lemesós (Greek); Leymosun (Turkish); Limasol (variant)
5. Nicosia: Lefkosía, Levkosía (Greek); Lefkoşa (Turkish); Nicosie (French); Nikosia (German)
6. Paphos: Baf (Turkish); Pafos (variant)

Population history: