CYPRUS
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Discover an island rich in history and culture, and full of wonderful experiences just waiting to be enjoyed.
Living in South or North Cyprus offers different opportunities just waiting to be explored!
HISTORY
Cyprus is a small island with a long history and a rich culture that spans 11.000 years, making it one of the oldest civilisations in the Mediterranean - as evidenced by the many fascinating cultural sights, museums, monuments, and galleries. Situated at the crossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia, and Africa - the island’s unique geographic position has played an important part in its turbulent past since antiquity. Its Prehistoric Age inhabitants were joined 3,500 years ago by the Mycenaean Greeks, who introduced and established their civilisation, thus permanently instilling the island’s Greek roots. Many other cultures followed thereafter, including Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Romans, Franks, Venetians, Ottomans, and British, whom all left behind visible remnants of their passage, and have thus created a mosaic of different cultures and periods. 
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As such, the island is an open-air museum of prehistoric settlements, classical Greek temples, Roman theatres and villas, Early Christian basilicas, Byzantine churches and monasteries, Crusader castles, Gothic cathedrals, Venetian fortifications, Moslem mosques, and British colonial-style buildings. The old ways of life, customs, and traditions are still beautifully preserved in the rural villages, and interesting elements of the island are captured in the many museums and galleries. It is not surprising then that UNESCO includes a number of the island’s sights on its list of World Heritage Sites.
When visiting Cyprus, you will never have to look far to find a piece of its history and culture, whether you want to discover more about the traditions of the island, or immerse yourself in its captivating past.
TOWNS & VILLAGES
In terms of location the Republic of Cyprus is divided into several districts:
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• Nicosia is a district located in the center of the island that comprises the capital of Cyprus and surrounding areas
• Limassol is a Southern district that comprises second largest city of the Republic of Cyprus and surrounding areas including the mountainous region of Troodos
• Larnaca is a South-Eastern and third-largest district that comprises Larnaca with surrounding areas including Pervolia, Oroklini, Pyla, Tersefanou and etc.
• Paphos is the fourth-largest district with respect to population size. It comprises Paphos city as well as Akamas Peninsula, towns of Polis, Latchi, and surrounding areas. It is located to the West and North-West of the island
• Famagusta is an Eastern least populated district that comprises the resorts of Ayia Napa and Protaras.
CUISINE
Traditional Cypriot food is not too far removed from Greek food (although the people of Cyprus will of course state that it’s far superior, and who are we to argue?), so you will see much that is similar such as moussaka, goubes, stuffed vine leaves, and meat cooked in a ‘souvla’ grill, or a dome shaped oven. However, there are subtle differences that make the food of Cyprus unique (such as the serving of rice in stuffed vine leaves)
Traditional Cypriot foods include souvlakia (grilled meat kebabs), shaftalia (grilled sausage), afella (pork marinated in coriander), fried halloumi cheese, olives, pitta bread, kolokasi (root vegetables), lamb, artichokes, chickpeas and rabbit stews (stifado).
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
One of the reasons an increasing amount of ex-pats choose Cyprus for their new home is the relaxed pace of living compared to other EU countries.
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A good work-life balance is essential, and leisure time is considered very important.
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Add that to the fact that the climate in Cyprus makes it possible to bask in the sun and swim at sea for most of the year, and you can rest assured that your leisure time will be well spent!
CLIMATE
Cyprus enjoys an intense Mediterranean climate, with long dry summers from mid–May to mid–October, and mild winters from December to February, which are separated by short autumn and spring seasons.
Summer is a season of high temperatures with cloudless skies, but the sea breeze creates a pleasant atmosphere in the coastal areas. Isolated thunder showers are possible mainly over the mountains during early afternoons.
Winters are mild with rain and snow on Troodos Mountains (usually starting before Christmas).
The island enjoys abundant sunshine, and even in December and January, there is an average of six hours of bright sunshine per day, whilst over the six ‘summer’ months, there is an average of 11.5 hours of bright sunshine per day.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Cyprus has an extremely well-developed infrastructure, particularly set and focused on professional services, i.e. financial sector, onshore and offshore business activities to aid investments, such as registering various beneficial Cyprus company formations, international banking, accounting-tax-auditing, wealth management, business consulting, and finance strategies. Indeed, Cyprus is recognised as an international centre of excellence for the provision of professional services. Key strengths include accession of Cyprus to the European Union and the Eurozone, a developed, open-free market economy, an advanced and attractive tax environment, an extensive double taxation treaty network, a robust and transparent supervisory/regulatory framework, economic stability, as well as a strategic location.