Geography of Cyprus
Location: | Middle East, island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey |
Geographic coordinates: | 35 00 N, 33 00 E |
Map references: | Middle East |
Area: | total: 9,250 sq km (of which 3,355 sq km are in north Cyprus) land: 9,240 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative: | about 0.6 times the size of Connecticut |
Land boundaries: | total: NA; note - boundary with Dhekelia is being resurveyed border countries: Akrotiri 47.4 km, Dhekelia NA |
Coastline: | 648 km |
Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Climate: | temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters |
Terrain: | central plain with mountains to north and south; scattered but significant plains along southern coast |
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Olympus 1,951 m |
Natural resources: | copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt, marble, clay earth pigment |
Land use: | arable land: 10.81% permanent crops: 4.32% other: 84.87% (2005) |
Irrigated land: | 400 sq km (2003) |
Natural hazards: | moderate earthquake activity; droughts |
Environment - current issues: | water resource problems (no natural reservoir catchments, seasonal disparity in rainfall, sea water intrusion to island's largest aquifer, increased salination in the north); water pollution from sewage and industrial wastes; coastal degradation; loss of wildlife habitats from urbanization |
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note: | the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia) |