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CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. The World Edition includes 200+ country profiles, written for junior high students and older. CultureGrams also has a Kids Edition, Provinces Edition, and a States Edition, geared for upper elementary students. These editions include kid-friendly profiles of 70+ countries, all 50 states (including Washington, D.C.), and 13 Canadian provinces and territories.
CultureGrams goes beyond mere facts and figures to deliver an insider's perspective on daily life and culture, including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people.
Country: Cyprus
- Capital: Nicosia
- Population: 1,048,473 (rank=161)
- Area, sq. mi.: 3,571 (rank=167)
- Area, sq. km.: 9,250
- Human Dev. Index rank: 29 of 177 countries
- Adjusted for women: 27 of 140 countries
- Real GDP per capita: $22,805
- Adult literacy rate: 99% (male); 95% (female)
- Infant mortality rate: 5 per 1,000 births
- Life expectancy: 76 (male); 81 (female)
Did You Know?
- Cyprus, home to Mount Olympus, began appearing in Greek myths and legends around 1200 BC, when Greeks settled on the island.
- Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots were allowed to cross the Green Line separating their communities for the first time in nearly 30 years when Turkish Cypriot officials eased border restrictions in 2003.
- Education is highly valued, and Cyprus is home to a disproportionately high number of people with advanced degrees for its population size.
General Attitudes
While many Greek Cypriots are proud of their links to Greece, and Turkish Cypriots to Turkey, the majority in both communities remain ultimately loyal to Cyprus, and a common Cypriot culture includes traditional clothing, food, and art. That being said, passions are easily aroused when it comes to discussing partition and recent history. The events of 1974 are seen as a peacemaking operation by Turkish Cypriots and a catastrophic invasion by Greek Cypriots.
Visiting
There is a strong coffee-drinking culture in Cyprus. Older people, especially men, meet in traditional coffee houses (kafenion) to drink coffee, play cards, and talk for hours about sports and politics. Women and younger people prefer more modern shops and iced coffee. Women without formal employment have coffee breaks at home with neighbors.
Housing
Land is one of the most important sources of wealth in Cyprus, and home ownership is a widespread aspiration. Since property prices have shot up and the island is becoming increasingly urbanized, apartment living has necessarily become more common. Wealthier families may live in suburban villas. Construction materials include concrete, brick, and more recently, wood. Walls tend to be poorly insulated. Exteriors are usually painted in neutral colors like white, beige, or light brown.
Dating and Marriage
While dating, young couples like to dine out, attend movies, and go dancing. Marriage is an important cultural institution, and parents usually exert pressure on their children to marry, which most do before age 30, and start a family. Unmarried women were looked down upon in the past, though this attitude has largely been overcome. Couples often live together after they have become engaged, even if they postpone the actual wedding ceremony for one or even two years. Children are rarely born out of wedlock, however. Before marriage, all couples are tested for Sickle Cell disease, which affects a sizable minority of the population. Wedding receptions are expensive, lavish events, to which hundreds of guests are invited. Guests give gifts of domestic appliances or money and may pin money to the clothing of the bride and groom. Divorce, historically stigmatized, is on the rise.
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