| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Throughout its history, Cyprus has proven to be something of a political enigma. It had been inhabited by Greeks since the second millennium BC. They sometimes called it Aphrodite's island, because according to Greek mythology, the goddess was born near the city of Paphos, having risen from the sea foam of the Mediterranean.
Due to its strategic location, the island was occupied by several major powers over the centuries: by the Romans, later by the Byzantines (becoming part of the Byzantine Empire), by Arabs, the Crusaders, the Venetians, and in 1570 by the Ottomans. In 1878 the Ottomans leased the island to the British, in 1914 the British Empire formally annexed Cyprus, and in 1925 Cyprus was declared a British crown colony. It remained under the British rule until 1960, when, after a difficult struggle, Cyprus attained its independence.
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