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| Capital | Nicosia |
| Area | 9 250 km² |
| Populatio | 771 657 people |
| Official language | Greek and Turkish |
| Currency | euro |
| Climate | summer +35°C
winter +16°C |
| Recommended type of holiday | beach vacation |
About country
Small in size but bulging with all the personality of a sassy Mediterranean hotspot, Cyprus woos visitors with profound legends of love, epic tales from over 10,000 years of colourful history, and a veritable smorgasbord of culinary treats.
After dining on salty halloumi, tangy dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) and chunks of kleftiko (seasoned slow-baked lamb), visitors will find many an all-night party pumping throughout Cyprus' main towns - Ayia Napa in particular - and an assortment of pristine beaches on which to revive and rejuvenate the next day.
For an altogether slower pace, the café culture of Nicosia is well worth sampling, as are some gentle wanders around the country's fascinating selection of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Whatever speed you choose to go, Cyprus is guaranteed to leave you wanting more.
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Sightseeing
Party hard in Ayia Napa, which has an increasingly boisterous reputation as a major clubbing resort. It also attracts families to its beaches, Waterworld leisure centre and Go-Karts track.
Find perfect sand-castle building south of Limassol: the Akrotiri Peninsula's Lady's Mile Beach is a vast stretch of golden powder. On the coast north of Pafos, Coral Bay is a fast-growing resort around a good beach.
At the edge of the Akamas Peninsula, witness where, so legend has it, the Greek goddess of love bathed. The Baths of Aphrodite is a grotto containing a freshwater pool, and the surrounding area is virtually untouched.
Indulge your taste buds on the slopes of the Troodos Mountains at the Platres chocolate workshop. The owners import all chocolate from Venezuela, and have entered the Guinness Book of World Records for making the world's most expensive Easter egg.
Traditions
The culture of Cyprus is divided between the two distinct cultures of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Each community maintains its own culture, linked to the cultures of Greece and Turkey, and there is little cultural interchange between the two groups. The Greek culture first has been present on the island since antiquity. The Turkish culture arrived with the invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1570, and it was under this rule that the divide between the two communities became prominent and encouraged by government policies. The British did nothing to change this, leaving the island in its divided state with no unified culture.
Cuisine
Major resorts have bars and restaurants of every category. At larger hotels, the cuisine tends to international although authentic local dishes may also be available. All over the island there are restaurants offering genuine Cypriot food. One of the best ways of enjoying Cypriot food is by ordering mezze (snacks), a large selection of a number of different local dishes.
Specialities:
• Tava (a tasty stew of meat, herbs and onions).
• Dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with meat and/or rice).
• Kebabs (pieces of meat - typically lamb - skewered and roasted over a charcoal fire).
• Stifado (a stew of beef or hare cooked with wine, vinegar, onion and spices).
• Fresh seafood such as tsipoura (seabream), lavraki (seabass) and garides (prawns).
