An Introduction to Cyprus
Cyprus is in reality divided into two parts, just over a third being under Turkish control and slightly over half ruled by the internationally-recognised government, the Republic of Cyprus. In population terms, censuses suggest that just under a fifth are Turkish Cypriots and just under four fifths Greek Cypriots. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
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GOVERNMENT: Unitary presidential constitutional republic; de facto govt in North
AREA: 9,251 sq km
POPULATION: 1,099,341 (2011 est. Whole island); 838,897 excl North (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Official languages Greek and Turkish, with 3 recognised minority languages. However, according to Eurobarometer around three quarters of the population also speak English.
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Cyprus
It was not ever thus, for more than two thousand years previously the island exported one of the great philosophies of the world: Zeno of Citium (c. 334 BC - c. 262 BC) was born in Cyprus and founded the Stoic school of philosophy. Stoicism is based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, lays great emphasis on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue in accordance with nature, and rose to become the dominant philosophy for many centuries, until the rise of Roman power.
Zeno has a large crater on the Moon named after him - and he didn't have to send $9.95 to a spammer to get it.
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Cyprus is in reality divided into two parts, just over a third being under Turkish control and slightly over half ruled by the internationally-recognised government, the Republic of Cyprus. In population terms, censuses suggest that just under a fifth are Turkish Cypriots and just under four fifths Greek Cypriots.
Settled from at least the tenth millennium BC, the Mediterranean's third largest island was settled by Greeks in the 2nd millennium BC and has since been ruled by a dozen different empires and states, latterly the Ottoman Empire from 1571 and finally the British from 1878. It gained its independence in 1960. An attempted coup in 1974 with the aim of uniting it with Greece became a pretext for a Turkish invasion of the north and the island was then partitioned. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey.A high income economy with a high human development index, the Republic joined the EU in 2004 and the Eurozone in 2008. Cyprus has the warmest climate (and warmest winters) in the Mediterranean part of the European Union.
GDP: $23.7 billion (2011 est.); $29,074 per capita
Religions c.78% Greek Orthodox, 18% Muslim, 1.3% other Christian and 2.7% of other or no religion (CIA World Factbook est.)
Currency: Euro
Telephone Code: + 357
MR Association(s):
SEDEAK (Association of Opinion Poll and Market Research Enterprises of Cyprus)
Cyprus is the 73rd largest research market in the world, and the 33rd largest in Europe. According to the ESOMAR Global Prices Study 2012 the country was the 49th most expensive for carrying out research.
Source: ESOMAR
The economy of the Republic is classified as high income and advanced by the World Bank and IMF respectiv'ly. Political instability has affected tourist income which is a key component. The country joined the Euro in 2008, and in 2012 has been hit by a banking crisis due to its exposure to Greek debt, which has seen credit agency Fitch downgrading it to junk status.
Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus struggles from the lack of international recognition and its economy is about one-fifth the size of the economy of the government-controlled area, while GDP per capita is around one-third. The Turkish lira is legal tender and Turkey has given significant financial aid.
Exports were $2.37 bn in 2011, and the main commodities are citrus, potatoes, pharmaceuticals, cement and clothing, with Greece (24.5%), Germany (10.5%) and the UK (8.6%) the main partners in 2009. Imports totalled $10.1 bn in 2011 and consist largely of consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, machinery and transport equipment. The main sources are Greece (19%) and Italy, Germany , the UK and Israel (all between 8 and 10%). Turkey is not surprisingly the main trading partner of the northern area accounting for 48% of exports and 55% of imports.
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