Chipre

"Chipre (en griego: , Kýpros; en turco: Kbrs), oficialmente la República de Chipre (en griego: , Kypriakí Dimokratía; en turco: Kbrs Cumhuriyeti), es un estado miembro de la Unión Europea situado en la isla homónima, cuya forma de gobierno es la república presidencialista. Su territorio está organizado en seis distritos administrativos. Su capital es Nicosia. Esta república es un estado internacionalmente reconocido, pero solo controla dos tercios de la isla. El tercio restante (el norte de la isla) fue ocupado por Turquía en 1974, instaurando la República Turca del Norte de Chipre. Este último territorio solo es reconocido por la República de Turquía. En la isla también se encuentran dos bases militares soberanas ("Sovereign Base Areas" SBAs) de Acrotiri y Dhekelia, pertenecientes al Reino Unido. La isla de Chipre está situada en el mar Mediterráneo, 113 km al sur de Turquía, 120 km al oeste de Siria, y 150 km al este de la isla griega de Kastellorizo. Chipre ingresó como miembro de las Naciones Unidas el 20 de septiembre de 1960. Geográficamente, Chipre pertenece al suroeste asiático (más específicamente, al Cercano Oriente), pero política y culturalmente se considera como parte de Europa.[cita requerida] Históricamente ha sido siempre un puente principal entre los tres continentes, África, Asia y Europa. En tamaño, Chipre es la tercera isla más grande del Mediterráneo, después de Sicilia y Cerdeña. Esta isla tiene una longitud de unos 160 km, a los que hay que añadir los 72 km de un estrecho brazo de tierra situado en su extremo nororiental. La anchura máxima de Chipre es de 97 km. Por lo que la historia parece indicar, Chipre debió ser la Kitim de las Escrituras Hebreas. (Isa 23:1, 12; Da 11:30.) La isla era famosa no solo por su cobre, sino también por su excelente madera, en particular la de ciprés, que se exportaba a Tiro, en la costa fenicia, para la construcción de barcos. (Eze 27:2, 6.)"

"Cyprus (/saprs/; Greek: IPA: [cipros]; Turkish: Kbrs IPA: [kbs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: ; Turkish: Kbrs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, and southeast of Greece. The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. As a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period, the French Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians, was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 (de jure until 1914). Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders and Turkey in the 1950s. Turkish leaders for a period advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as Cyprus was considered an "extension of Anatolia" by them; while since the 19th century, the majority Greek Cypriot population and its Orthodox church had been pursuing union with Greece, which became a Greek national policy in the 1950s. Following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. In 1963, the 11-year intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots started, which displaced more than 25,000 Turkish Cypriots and brought the end of Turkish Cypriot representation in the republic. On 15 July 1974, a coup d'état was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis, the incorporation of Cyprus into Greece. This action precipitated the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus the following month, after a ceasefire collapsed, and the displacement of over 150,000 Greek Cypriots and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots. A separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north was established by unilateral declaration in 1983; the move was widely condemned by the international community, with Turkey alone recognizing the new state. These events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, according to international law (except for the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, administered as Sovereign Base Areas, 2.8% of the territory). However, the Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into two main parts: the area under the effective control of the Republic, located in the south and west, and comprising about 59% of the island's area; and the north, administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, covering about 37% of the island's area. Another nearly 4% of the island's area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the northern part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under international law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean. With an advanced, high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index, the Republic of Cyprus is a member of the Commonwealth since 1961 and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement until it joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone."