Cyprus

:See also Cypress (a common misspelling) for other meanings.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Cyprus

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Greek and Turkish Cypriots share many customs but maintain their ethnicity based on religion, language, and close ties with their respective motherlands.

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Greek is the predominant language in the south, Turkish in the north. This delineation is only reflective of the post-1974 division of the island, which involved an expulsion of Greek Cypriots from the north and the analoguous move of Turkish Cypriots from the south. Historically however, Greek and Turkish (the Cypriot dialects) were largely evenly distributed throughout the island, although Greek-speakers were in a substantial majority (82%).

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English is widely understood, and is taught in schools from primary age.

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