15 Things You Didn't know About Cyprus
Hello Friends:
Welcome back to our website today we're revealing some interesting lesser-known facts about the tropical paradise of cyprus cyprus is known as the playground of the gods and the birthplace of Aphrodite the Greek goddess of love pleasure and beauty the island nation has a long and complicated history at different times it was controlled by Cleopatra and the Egyptians the Persians Phoenicians Romans the Turks and the British Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and it's a major tourist destination thanks to its a warm climate pristine beaches and rich history its closest countries are Turkey Syria and Lebanon its most famous landmark is perhaps Mount Olympus but there are plenty of other historical sites cultural events and luxurious destinations to visit there Cyprus is known for being a prosperous nation although they have suffered from some economic hardships in recent years along with internal conflict and the threat of drought and depletion of their water supplies Cyprus is one of the most beautiful intriguing conflicted and historical nations in the world and it's time now to take a closer look at this interesting Island with the 15 things you didn't know about Cyprus if you are new here welcome be sure and subscribe us our Website.
1 Cyprus became independent from Britain in 1960 in 1914 the united kingdom claimed sovereignty over cyprus at the beginning of World War 1 in 1925 Cyprus was officially named as a crown colony controlled by the British government after the Ottoman Empire dissolved between 1955 and 1959 a group of citizens from Cyprus launched a campaign to free the country from British rule and unite as a country with Greece ultimately Cyprus never became a part of Greece but instead became an independent republic in 1960.
2 The oldest wine label still in production is made in Cyprus command aria is a sweet dessert wine that has been made in Cyprus since 800 BC it's the oldest wine label in the world that is still in production its name comes from the region where it is made in Cyprus in the foothills of the Troodos mountains where Mount Olympus is it was a drink that was commonly consumed at ancient Greek festivals and it was declared to be the wine of kings by the British King Richard when he drank it at his wedding in Cyprus in 1191.
3 The earliest human activity in Cyprus dates back to 10,000 BC archaeologists found evidence on the southern coast of Cyprus of human activity dating as far back as 10,000 BC there were hunter-gatherers that started building communities in Cyprus around 80 200 BC the oldest water wells in the world were also discovered on the island they had been built nine to ten thousand years ago there is also a Neolithic village called Cairo CATIA that dates back to 6800 BC it's very well preserved and can still be visited today.
4 Turkey invaded Northern Cyprus but their new country is not recognized Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been in conflict for many years the tensions escalated to armed fighting on the island that led to the United Nations sending peacekeeping forces there in 1964 and they still remain there today to keep peace in 1974 Turkey invaded the northern part of Cyprus hundreds of thousands of Cyprus citizens were displaced by the conflict in 1975 turkey declared the portion they invaded would become the Turkish federated state of Cyprus as of 1983 it became known by the Turks as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus this nation is only recognized by Turkey other countries throughout the world still consider it to be a part of the Republic of Cyprus.
5 John Frederickson is the richest person in Cyprus with 7.3 billion dollars according to Forbes there are 7 billionaire's who have Cyprus citizenship as of 2018 five of them have just over a billion dollars the second richest person is a real estate mogul yuckier Gavi who is a net worth of 3.3 billion dollars the richest person by far in the country is John Frederickson who is the 228 richest person in the world with a fortune of 7.3 billion dollars he made his money largely through the oil industry he owns oil tankers and deepwater drilling rigs he originally had Norwegian citizenship but gave it up in order to become a citizen of Cyprus likely because of the benefits the country offers as a tax haven while holding a cyprus citizenship he spends most of his time in London and Marbella Spain.
6 Cyprus was a part of the Panama papers scandal the Panama papers scandal involved 11.5 million leaked documents that reveal many questionable shady or downright illegal dealings of celebrities politicians heads of state and other wealthy people primarily with offshore shell companies the Cyprien RCB bank was named in the documents most notably in connection with some shell companies that appeared to be tied to Russian president a demure Putin although Putin of course is not directly connected to the shell companies his close associates are accused of funneling hundreds of millions of euros through these shell corporations with the helps of banks to hide the money trail all of these shell companies were set up through mossack fonseca which was one of the most successful offshore law firms they had a branch in cyprus but it closed very shortly after the Panama papers came out.
7 JLo created some controversy when she scheduled a performance in North Cyprus Jennifer Lopez planned on celebrating her 41st birthday on an all-expenses-paid vacation to Cyprus all she had to do was to give one concert to celebrate the opening of a 220 million dollar luxury hotel the problem was the hotel was in the northern part of the island where the Turkish Cypriots live and the concert was scheduled thirty six years to the day that Turkey invaded Cyprus and pushed hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots off their land many of the Greek Cypriots claimed to be shocked and dismayed over 200 thousand of them signed a petition which stated it would be morally unconscious for JLo to go forward with the concert the protests were effective in the end and Lopez ended up canceling the performance.
8 It is illegal to eat or drink while driving there if you like grabbing a quick meal and eating on the go then Cyprus might not be the place for you it's actually illegal to eat or drink anything while driving in the country if you're caught even taking a sip of water you can be fined about $100 also if you flip off a driver or shake your fist at someone while driving in Cyprus you could face a fine for that if caught as well.
9 Evidence of the first domesticated cat was found in Cyprus in 2004 French scientists discovered the bones of a human and a cat that were buried together in an ancient gravesite it was determined the bones were 9,500 years old this is considered the oldest evidence of a domesticated before this proof of cats being capped by humans as pets was only traced back 4,000 years to the ancient Egyptians the cat was found in Cyprus and is now recognized as being the world's oldest pet cat.
10 Cypresses most expensive mansion cost about thirty five million dollars the so-called Santa Barbara residence is a massive seaside mansion that's the most expensive residence on the island at thirty five million dollars the unique modern home is built in five levels that include seven bedrooms nine bathrooms a cinema a spa a billiards room two huge aquariums a wine cellar a gym a pool two garages and multiple verandas the home is built on the southern shore where the Greek Cypriots live if you want to learn some more about the country in control over the northern shore click in the top right corner to watch our video about the 15 things you didn't know about Turkey.
11 They competed in the Olympics for over 30 years before getting a medal Cyprus began competing in the Olympics back in 1980 and they have been consistently sending athletes to every Olympics ever since they usually send 10 to 20 athletes to the summer events but only one or two to the winter events the first and only metal that was ever won by a representative from Cyprus was a silver medal back in 2012 Summer Olympics that pavlo scanty toss earned in the men's laser sailing event.
12 Cypresses capital city is the 42nd most expensive city in the world in 2018 Swiss bank UBS did an extensive study to find out which cities in the world are most expensive to live in they published a list of the top 50 most expensive cities and one city in Cyprus made that list according to UBS the capital city of Cyprus Nicosia is the 42nd most expensive city to live in out of the thousands of cities worldwide New York City was used as a baseline for comparison it was determined that $62 in Nikko's I could buy $100 of products in New York City also for every $100 New Yorkers earn the people of nicosia earned the equivalent of $50 the most expensive city in the world as of 2018 is in fact Zurich Switzerland followed by Geneva New York Oslo Copenhagen and Tokyo.
13 It has one of the lowest murder rates in the world for more than 20 years cypresses murder rate has been right around 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year since I Perez has a population of 1.17 million that means there are about 12 murders in the country per year Cyprus is about one of only a handful of countries worldwide who have a murder rate of around 1 per 100,000 or less some other countries include Switzerland Luxembourg Aruba Hong Kong Japan and Singapore countries on the other end of the spectrum with the highest rates include Venezuela El Salvador South Africa and Jamaica.
14 There are 140 flowering plants that can only be found in Cypress Cypress is climate and geographical location makes it a prime location for a wide variety of plants there are approximately 1,900 types of plants that grow in Cypress and 140 of those can only be found in Cypress among these are the Cypress tulip the Cypress crocus and the a spiralis Ipreo Cypress also has three species of birds that are only found on the island these are the cypress Warbler the Cypress wheat ear and the Cypress cops.
15 Simon Fuller was born in Cyprus even if you're not sure who Simon Fuller is you're probably familiar with at least some of his work he's probably best known for creating the idol franchise including American Idol and Pop Idol in the UK he's also managed a number of talents including David and Victoria Beckham this Spice Girls Carrie Underwood Lewis Hamilton Amy Winehouse Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Clarkson Simon grew up in England but he was born in Cyprus in 1960 and is perhaps the most famous person to be born in the country in recent history and there you have it Alexis some interesting lesser-known facts about Cyprus now that you've learned some more about Cyprus we'd like to know would the conflict in the country keep you from visiting there let us know in the comments still here of course you are here's a bonus fact just for you number 16 the dwarf hippopotamus lived exclusively on Cyprus before it became extinct the smallest of all hippopotamus species the cypress dwarf hippopotamus was the largest animal on the island of Cyprus thousands of years ago it was only about 30 inches or 76 centimetres tall and 47 inches or 121 centimeters long the dwarf hippo had no natural predators so it possibly could have still been alive today if it hadn't been hunted to extinction by the humans on Cyprus between 9,000 and 11,000 years ago.
Thank you for spending some time with us make sure to subscribe so you never miss a Article if you want more we hand-picked these Article you might enjoy this Article we see you again in the next one Goodbye.
