Cyprus Issues - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964 and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the EU still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis communitaire) suspended in the north; Turkey protests Cypriot Government creating hydrocarbon blocks and maritime boundary with Lebanon in March 2007

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 7,372 (Syria) (2019)

IDPs: 228,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced since 1974) (2020)

stateless persons: 56 (2020)

note: 23,470 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-June 2021)

Illicit drugs

minor transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey; some cocaine transits as well; despite a strengthening of anti-money-laundering legislation, remains vulnerable to money laundering; reporting of suspicious transactions in offshore sector remains weak

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.