History

The history of Cyprus is one of the most ancient histories of the world. The dramatic and exciting history of the island dates back over 9000 years.

Throughout its history, the island was independent for only several years. During the first thousand B.C. Cyprus was ruled by the Hets, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Romans and the Persians. In 1571, the island was captured by the Turks and belonged to them for 300 years.

From 1878 the country belonged to the British and only in 1960 did Cyprus become an independent country.

National strife led to the political division of the island into two independent states - the Greek Republic of Cyprus in the South, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

When the Greek part of Cyprus was preparing to enter the European Union, the UNO tried to act as a go-between for the reunion of Cyprus. In April 2004, a referendum on the Cyprus reunion was held. However, the referendum was not supported by the Greek-Cypriots and Cyprus is still divided into two independent parts.