The Island of Cyprus is located at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea to the south of Turkey. The Island was divided in 1974, into the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north. Currently, the north is acknowledged only by Turkey, whilst the south has full international recognition.
As the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia (or Lefkosia in Greek) is located almost in the centre of the Island and is the administrative, commercial and cultural core of the Republic of Cyprus. A 2005 estimate puts its population at around 39,300.
The “Green Line”, a buffer zone that extends 300 kilometres across the country, separating the Turkish controlled north from the rest of the island, divides the city.

The Republic of Cyprus has developed a modern and thriving open free market economy, which, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus, recorded real GDP growth of 3.4 per cent in the period 2000 to 2004. The economy is largely based on the service sectors, primarily tourism and financial services. However on the 20th of July 2005 a memorandum of understanding was signed in Nicosia between Egypt the Republic of Cyprus to collaborate in the exploitation of oil and gas fields under the sea that separates the two countries, which would bring extra revenue to the republic of Cyprus.
Travel to Nicosia is via the international airports at Paphos and Larnaca, also the city can be accessed from the seaport at Limassol. There is an airport in Nicosia, however owing to its location in the ‘no-mans land’ of the buffer zone, it has not been used for many years.