The total area of Cyprus is approximately 9,251 square kilometers from which 10 are covered by water (CIA WORLD FACT BOOK,2014) . In comparison to the world, it is number 171 in total area(CIA WORLD FACT BOOK,2014) . The total coastline of Cyprus is of 648 km. The temperature in the country is hot and dry during the summer and cool winters. This can be comfortable for the people that live there due to the fact that they don´t need to suffer from the harsh winters that many countries in Europe suffer from. Cyprus has some nice ecosystems but the one that they take advantage from more are the beaches because everybody loves beaches to go on vacation and this a key factor in a countries economy. Cyprus´s terrain is mainly flat along the coastline but has some mountains in the northern and southern part of the country. The lowest point is the Mediterranean sea and the highest point is Mount Olympus with 1, 951 meters high (CIA WORLD FACT BOOK, 2014) . Some snow could be found in the winter in the Troodos Mountain range. Cyprus has not had many deaths from natural disasters, but some of the most common are due to wildfires and droughts. (PREVENTION WEB, 2014) This is also a factor for the countries agriculture because it is very hard to grow crops in a country that has drought problems like Cyprus. The current climate crisis that the world is facing could affect Cyprus in the future at a bigger scale.
Since it is not a very big country and has a fairly small population, not many big cities are going to be found in this country. The city/village distribution is fairly equal but like I said, not many big cities will be found.
Cyprus´s history has changed a lot throughout history. The first humans found in Cyprus where around the year 10,000 BC. A curious fact about this date is that it matches with the date the the dwarf hippo and the dwarf elephant (WIKIPEDIA, 2014) . From the years 1,100 to 1,050 BC, it is believed that the Island was settled by the greeks from Mycenae. Cyprus is believed to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, a very important goddess in greek mythology (WIKIPEDIA, 2014) . Between the years 700 BC and 500 BC, Cyprus was under the control of the Persian and Egyptian empire. In 333 BC Cyprus was conquered by Alexander the Great and was fully hellenized. In 58 BC, Cyprus was acquired by the Roman Empire. (WIKIPEDIA, 2014)
In the following years, Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire and was victim from muslim attacks that killed thousands of people in Cyprus as well as many important monuments. In 1570, the Island came under the control of the Ottomans. After the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-1878, Cyprus was given to the British. When WW I began, Britain annexed Cyprus. Many cypriots fought in both world wars hoping that Cyprus could eventually join Greece. In 1960, Cyprus gained it´s Independence. Turkey tried to invade Cyprus in the following years but came to an agreement with the US not to because the US told them that if they did so, they would not protect them incase there was a Soviet invasion in Turkey. (WIKIPEDIA, 2014)
Okay, let´s analyze how the geography, the climate and many other factors relate to the history that Cyprus had, has and will have in a close future. So, the first people that arrived at Cyprus did so because they thought that the weather was nice and it was a nice place to stay. Everything was going well for the first original cypriots, but then came the trouble. In the following years, they had bad luck in being on the way of the Mycenaean Empire that had a very strong ambition in controlling the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, so bad luck geographically. The next invasion was by the Persians and the Egyptians, again bad luck on being the Island neighbors that are next to the big nation that is growing just like this two. The next to invasions were by Alexander the Great and we know what he did as well as the Roman Empire. We can start to see that Cyprus has a tendency to be under the biggest power that there is in the world in a certain time in history. Cyprus then came under the Ottoman Empire, again the biggest power of the time and that didn´t change for some 200 years until one event that had nothing to do with them changed the faith of the country once more. A war conceded the British power over Cyprus. The British were the growing power of the world and they were no fools. They took advantage of the location and turned Cyprus into a port that kept an eye on the turks and ottomans, as well as giving them a perfect route to India. In both of the world wars, the strategic location that Cyprus holds had many big nations trying to convince Cyprus to fight for them. They wanted to fight for Greece. We have already analyzed the geographical location that Cyprus has and how that went for them, now the climate.
Like I said before, many people in Cyprus find the weather quite suitable for a nice life. The climate allowed Cyprus to be a maritime nation in the industry due to the fact the land is not very fertile. This led to certain agreements and treatments with nearby countries so its commerce could grow. The mountains divided the country geographically and ethnically. People from greek and turkish origin were divided by their differences but mainly by the territories that the Island has to offer us.
The climate and the geography, played a huge role in all the events that the Island of Cyprus lived. It is a very small country that in the course of history, depends on a bigger country. We would never know if the Island would prosper if they would´ve never been invaded. I am sure that in the future, Cyprus will play a crucial role if there is to be a war.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia, 2014, "Cyprus", online article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus#Geography
Wikipedia, 2014, "Cyprus", online article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus
Central Intelligence Agency, 2014, "Cyprus", online article.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cy.html
Prevention Web, 2008, "Cyprus-Disaster Statistics", online article.
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/statistics/?cid=45
European Union, "Cyprus", online article.
http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/cyprus/index_en.htm
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