Cyprus Geography - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Location

Middle East, island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey; note - Cyprus views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both

Geographic coordinates

35 00 N, 33 00 E

Map references

Middle East

Area

total: 9,251 sq km (of which 3,355 sq km are in north Cyprus)

land: 9,241 sq km

water: 10 sq km

Area - comparative

about 0.6 times the size of Connecticut

Area comparison map

Land boundaries

total: 156 km

border sovereign base areas: Akrotiri 48 km, Dhekelia 108 km

Coastline

648 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate

temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters

Terrain

central plain with mountains to north and south; scattered but significant plains along southern coast

Elevation

highest point: Mount Olympus 1,951 m

lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m

mean elevation: 91 m

Natural resources

copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt, marble, clay earth pigment

Land use

agricultural land: 13.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 9.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 3.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 18.8% (2018 est.)

other: 67.8% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

460 sq km (2012)

Total renewable water resources

780 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Population distribution

population concentrated in central Nicosia and in the major cities of the south: Paphos, Limassol, and Larnaca

Natural hazards

moderate earthquake activity; droughts

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia); several small Cypriot enclaves exist within the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area

NOTE: The information regarding Cyprus on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cyprus 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cyprus 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.