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Updates: 

Update 10 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2012-12-31. It changes the status and names of divisions from English to a transliteration of the Greek. The divisions are now described as "eparchía (district)".

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

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 has provided the results of the 1992 census, as shown below.

Country overview: 

Short name	CYPRUS
ISO code	CY
GEC code	CY
Languages	Greek (el), Turkish (tr), English (en)
Time zone	+2 ~
Capital	Nicosia

 

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. Russian: Республика Кипр (formal)
13. Spanish: Chipre, República f de Chipre (formal)
14. Swedish: Cypern
15. Turkish: Kibris Çumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

probably from Sumerian kabar: bronze

Primary subdivisions: 

Cyprus is divided into six districts.

District	HASC	ISO	GEC	Pop-2001	Pop-1992	Pop-1973	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Post codes
Famagusta	CY.FA	04	CY01	37,738	30,798	123,856	1,979	764	5000-5999
Kyrenia	CY.KY	06	CY02			32,586	640	247	9000-9999
Larnaca	CY.LA	03	CY03	115,268	100,242	60,714	1,129	436	6000-7999
Limassol	CY.LI	02	CY05	196,553	173,634	124,855	1,396	539	3000-4999
Nicosia	CY.NI	01	CY04	273,642	244,779	232,702	2,714	1,048	1000-2999
Paphos	CY.PA	05	CY06	66,364	52,572	57,065	1,393	538	8000-8999
6 districts						631,778	9,251	3,572
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. GEC: Codes from GEC. Pop-2001: 2001-10-01 census (excludes TRNC) Pop-1992: 1992-10-01 census (excludes TRNC) Pop-1973: 1973-04-01 census Capitals: The capitals have the same name as their districts.

Postal codes: 

I believe that the postal administration of the Republic of Cyprus has assigned four-digit postal codes covering the whole island. The range of codes assigned to each district is shown in the table above. Note: these postal codes can be identified by prefixing them with "CY-". Addressing expert Graham Rhind writes  that "Mail from, or via, Turkey uses 5-digit Turkish postal codes commencing 99, implemented in 2013."

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.

The UN LOCODE page  for Cyprus lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

Famagusta: Latin Fama Augusta.

Change history: 

1. 2004-05-01: Cyprus joined the European Union.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Famagusta: Ammóchostos (Greek); Famagosta (Italian); Famagouste (French); Gazimagosa, Gazimağusa, Mağusa (Turkish)
2. Kyrenia: Kerineia, Kerýneia, Kirínia (Greek); Girne (Turkish)
3. Larnaca: Lárnaka (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); Páfos (Greek)

Population history:

District	1901	1921	1931	1946	1960	1973
Famagusta	48,508	63,755	71,472	94,474	114,309	123,856
Kyrenia	16,808	21,615	22,659	28,174	30,946	32,586
Larnaca	26,073	34,918	42,208	52,189	58,619	60,714
Limassol	39,139	54,332	57,841	75,421	107,262	124,855
Nicosia	71,289	93,765	110,010	145,965	204,283	232,702
Paphos	35,205	42,330	43,769	53,891	58,147	57,065
6 districts	237,022	310,715	347,959	450,114	573,566	631778