Cyprus contains Nicosia, Europe’s last divided capital city.
Nicosia, known as Lefkosia in Greek and Lefkoşa in Turkish, is located near the centre of Cyprus. Since the division of the island in 1974, the city has been separated by the United Nations Buffer Zone. The Republic of Cyprus administers the southern part, while the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus administers the north.
Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily and Sardinia. It lies south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon. The island became independent from the United Kingdom in 1960, although British Sovereign Base Areas remain at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
Cyprus is often described simply as a European island, but its geography places it in the eastern Mediterranean, close to western Asia. Its archaeological history includes Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, and British periods, making the island culturally layered as well as politically divided.