Cyprus ( , transliterated: Kýpros, ; ), officially the Republic of Cyprus ( , Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, ðimo̞kɾaˈtia; ), is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean south of Turkey, west of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, north of Egypt, and east of Greece.

Cyprus is the third largest Mediterranean island and one of the most popular tourist destinations, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year. A former British colony, it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 and became a Commonwealth republic in 1961. The Republic of Cyprus is a developed country and has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. It adopted the euro on 1 January 2008.

In 1974, following years of intercommunal violence between ethnic Greeks and Turks and an attempted coup d'état by Greek Cypriot nationalists aimed at annexing the island to Greece and engineered by the military junta then in power in Athens, Turkey invaded and occupied one third of the island. This led to the displacement of thousands of Cypriots and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north. This event and its resulting political situation is a matter of ongoing dispute.

The Republic of Cyprus, the internationally recognised state, claims sovereignty over the entire island of Cyprus and its surrounding waters, with appendix O of the Treaty of Establishment of the Republic providing for 3% of its territory to be used by the United Kingdom as sovereign military bases. The island is de facto partitioned into four main parts:

• the area under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus, in the south of the island;
• the Turkish-controlled area in the north, calling itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey);
• the United Nations-controlled Green Line, separating the two; and
• two British Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia).

Etymology

The name Cyprus has a somewhat uncertain etymology. One suggestion is that it comes from the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos), or even from the Greek name of the henna plant (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros). Another school suggests that it stems from the Eteocypriot word for copper. Georges Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or for bronze (kubar), from the large deposits of copper ore found on the island. Through overseas trade the island has given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal through the phrase aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. Cyprus is also called "the island of Aphrodite", since in Greek mythology, the goddess Aphrodite, of beauty and love, was born in Cyprus.