Population: 730,000, of whom 78 per cent are Greek Cypriot and 18 per cent Turkish Cypriot. Others include Armenians, Maronites and British forces personnel.
Area: 3,600 square miles (9,300, square km). Cyprus, 64 kms south of Turkey, is the third largest island in the Mediterranean.
Capital: Nicosia (pop 200,000)
Military: The northern third has been occupied since 1974 by Turkish troops, now 30,000 men with 300 tanks. The Turkish Cypriot security force numbers some 4,000 backed by a few tanks.
Under the 1960 constitution, Turkey was allowed a force of 650 and Greece 950. A further 1,000 Greek officers are seconded to the Cypriot national guard in the south.
There is a UN peacekeeping force of 1,300, and 3,000 British troops in, sovereign bases.
Economy: Main industries are tourism, agriculture, offshore services and wine and beer production.
Modern history: The history of Cyprus is one of invasion and occupation by foreign powers because of its strategic position. "Cyprus was conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1571. In 1878, Turkey ceded it to Britain in return for protection against Russia. Britain annexed the island in 1914 when Turkey joined the Axis powers in the first World War.
In the 1950s, Greek Cypriots led by Col George Grivas and Archbishop Makarios launched a guerrilla campaign against the British rulers for ENOSIS (union with Greece). In 1960, Cyprus formally became independent but Britain retained two sovereign military bases.
Fighting flared in 1963 between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, ending with the dispatch of a UN peacekeeping force in 1964. In July 1974, the national guard overthrew Dr Makarios in a coup engineered by the junta then ruling Greece. Turkey invaded five days later and extended its control over 37 per cent of the island. Some 200,000 Greek Cypriots were expelled from the north, many replaced by mainland Turks.
In December 1974, Dr Makarios resumed the presidency. A Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was formed in 1975, with Rauf Denktash as president, but it was not recognised by the government.