Cyprus History Timeline
Cyprus's Information

Land Area | 9,241 km2 |
---|---|
Water Area | 10 km2 |
Total Area | 9,251km2 (#162) |
Population | 1,205,575 (#159) |
Population Density | 130.46/km2 |
Government Type | Republic Of Cyprus - Presidential Democracy; Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus (self-declared) - Semi-presidential Democracy |
GDP (PPP) | $29.26 Billion |
GDP Per Capita | $34,400 |
Currency | Euro (EUR) |
Largest Cities |
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BC
- (709BC) Cyprus was conquered and unified by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II
- (669BC) Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus declared independence from Assyrian rule
- (570BC) Cyprus conquered by the Egyptians under Amasis II
- (565BC-545BC) Cyprus under Egyptian control
- (526BC) Amasis died; Psammetichus III, Amasis' son, succeeded him as pharaoh
- (525BC) Kingdoms of Cyprus pledged allegiance to Cambyses II of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in anticipation of the invasion of Egypt
- (499BC) Aristagoras rebelled against Persian rule; the kingdoms of Cyprus joined the revolt
- (498BC) Persian army re-established control over Cyprus
- (411BC) Teucrid Evagoras I regained the throne of Salamis
- (400BC) Evagoras attempted to establish himself as an independent ruler for Cyprus with Athenian help
- (386BC) Persian rule accepted by Athens under the Treaty of Antakidas
- (380BC) Persia reconquered Cyprus
- (350BC) Cypriot rebellion began
- (344BC) Cypriot rebellion crushed by Artaxerxes
- (58BC) Cyprus became a Roman province
- (45AD) Christianity introduced to Cyprus
- (115-116) Kitos war, 240,000 Cypriots massacred in a messianic Jewish revolt; Kitos war ended
- (395) Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire
- (647) Arabs under Muawiya, invaded and occupied Cyprus
- (965) Cyprus restored to Byzantine rule
- (1571) First Ottoman settlers arrived
- (1878) Ottoman Empire turned over control of Cyprus to the British
- (1914) Cyprus annexed by Britain
- (1925) Cyprus became British Crown Colony
- (1955) Greek Cypriots began guerrilla war against British rule
- (1960) Britain granted independence to the Crown Colony of Cyprus; Archbishop Makarios served as first post-independence president
- (1961) Cyprus was accepted into the Council of Europe
- (1963) Turk minority rioted in Cyprus to protest anti-Turkish revisions in the constitution; Greeks and Turks rioted in Cyprus
- (1974) Military junta in Greece backed coup against Makarios; coup collapsed; Glafcos Clerides, president of the House of Representatives, became president until Makarios returned in December
- (1975) Turkish Cypriots established independent administration, Raul Denktash president; Denktash and Clerides agreed to population exchange
- (1980) UN-sponsored peace talks resumed
- (1983) Denktash suspended talks and proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey
- (1988) Georgios Vassiliou elected Greek Cypriot president
- (1989) Vassiliou-Denktash talks abandoned
- (1992) UN-sponsored talks began between the two sides; talks collapsed again
- (1993) Glafcos Clerides replaced Vassiliou as president
- (1996) Violence continued along buffer zone
- (1997) UN-mediated peace talks between Clerides and Denktash failed
- (1998) Clerides re-elected second term; EU listed Cyprus as potential member; Russia planned to deliver anti-aircraft missile system to the Greek Cypriot government; Clerides decided not to deploy missiles in Cyprus
- (2001) UN Security Council renewed 36 year mission; peacekeepers patrolled buffer zone between Greek and Turkish Cypriots; Dr. Chrisitian Barnard, South African cardiologist, died in Paphos, Cyprus (performed the world's first human heart transplant in 1967)
- (2002) Clerides and Denktash met on the border in Nicosia in first formal negotiations in four years; EU reached agreement to accept 10 new countries in 2004, included Cyprus
- (2003) Tassos Papadopoulos took office as fifth Greek Cypriot president, pledged to strive for reunification; rival Greek and Turkish leaders failed to agree on UN power-sharing agreement to unify the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus; parliament voted to approve the accession of the Mediterranean island to the EU; Turkish Cypriot authorities eased border restrictions
- (2004) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, expressed disappointment after Cypriot leaders on both sides rejected a reunification plan; EU agreed to end isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community; Cyprus was one of the 10 new states that joined EU, joined as a divided island; Rauf Denktash, Turkish Cypriot leader, left after decades in politics
- (2005) UN officials and Greek Cypriot began exploratory talks for new diplomatic peace effort; proposed EU constitution ratified by parliament; Cypriot airliner crashed into hill north of Athens, killed all 121 people on board
- (2006) Greek Cypriots backed ruling coalition in parliamentary elections; EU foreign ministers reached agreement with Cyprus on a formula to enable Turkey to take steps in detailed accession talks with the 25 nation bloc; UN sponsored talks with Papadopolous and Talat, agreed to a series of confidence building measures and contacts between the two communities; Cyprus impounded a Panama-flagged vessel on arms smuggling suspicion; EU president backed a proposal to partially suspend EU membership talks because of Ankara's refusal to open up trade with Cyprus; Turkey offered to open a major seaport to longtime foe Cyprus to keep EU entry talks on track; EU foreign ministers decided to suspend eight out of 35 parts of entry talks with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to open its ports to trade with EU member Cyprus
- (2007) Greek and Turkish Cypriots demolished barriers dividing the old city of Nicosia; Turkey denied sending extra warships to the eastern Mediterranean over oil drilling rights off Cyprus; Cyprus and Malta received approval from EU finance ministers to adopt the euro
- (2008) Cyprus adopted the euro; left-winged leader Demetris Christofias won presidential election; President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed to start formal talks on reunification; Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders launched intensive negotiations aimed at ending the division of the island
- (2009) Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat remained in office; right-winged nationalist National Unity Party won parliamentary elections in northern Cyprus, possibly hampered peace talks; reunification talks continued, little progress made
- (2010) President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat resumed talks on reunification, no progress made; Turkish Cypriot head of government Dervis Eroglu, candidate of the pro-independence National Unity Party in the self-proclaimed state's presidential election, beat the pro-unity incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat
- (2011) Blast at munitions dump in southern Cyprus killed 12, including country's navy commander, wounded 60; Defense Minister and National Guard Chief resigned due to accident
This page was last updated on April 7, 2017.
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