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Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots (Greek: Ελληνοκύπριοι, romanized: Ellinokýprioi) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypriot citizens and over 77.9% of the 923,381 total residents of the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.[citation needed] These figures do not include the 29,321 citizens of Greece residing in Cyprus, ethnic Greeks recorded as citizens of other countries, or the population of illegally occupied Northern Cyprus.
The majority of Greek Cypriots are members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. In regard to the 1960 Constitution of Cyprus, the term also includes Maronites, Armenians, and Catholics of the Latin Church ("Latins"), who were given the option of being included in either the Greek or Turkish communities and voted to join the former due to a shared religion.
Cyprus was part of the Mycenaean civilization with local production of Mycenaean vases dating to the Late Helladic III (1400–1050 BC). The quantity of this pottery concludes that there were numerous Mycenaean settlers, if not settlements, on the island. Archaeological evidence shows that Greek settlement began unsystematically in c. 1400 BC, then steadied (possibly due to Dorian invaders on the mainland) with definite settlements established in c. 1200 BC. The close connection between the Arcadian dialect and those of Pamphylia and Cyprus indicates that the migration came from Achaea. The Achaean tribe may have been an original population of the Peloponnese, Pamphylia, and Cyprus, living in the latter prior to the Dorian invasion, and not a subsequent immigrant group; the Doric elements in Arcadian are lacking in Cypriot. Achaeans settled among the old population, and founded Salamis. The epic Cypria, dating to the 7th century BC, may have originated in Cyprus.
The Byzantine era profoundly molded Greek Cypriot culture. The institution of Greek Orthodox Christianity soon became an integral part of Greek Cypriot identity during this period, and its legacy persisted under foreign domination throughout the succeeding centuries. Since Cyprus was never the "final goal" of any external ambitions – insofar as destroying its civilisation and citizenry did not become a military objective, or necessity – the island simply fell under the dominion of whichever power controlled the Eastern Mediterranean region at the time.
Greek Cypriots did, however, endure oppressive rule under both the Lusignans and successive Venetian Republic, from the 1190s to 1570. King Aimery – whom succeeded his brother, Guy of Lusignan, in 1194 – was known for being particularly intolerant of the Orthodox Church, and saw Greek Cypriot land appropriated for use by newly-established Latin churches in major towns on the island. In addition, oppressive taxation was imposed upon locals by occupying forces, with tax collection conducted, by proxy, under administration of the Latin churches.
The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571 replaced Venetian rule. Despite the inherent oppression of foreign subjugation, the period of Ottoman rule (1570–1878) had a limited impact on Greek Cypriot culture. The Ottomans tended to administer their multicultural empire with the help of their subject millets, or religious communities. The millet system allowed the Greek Cypriot community to survive,[citation needed] administered on behalf of Constantinople by the Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus. Cypriot Greeks were now able to take control of the land they had been working on for centuries.[citation needed] Although religiously tolerant, Ottoman rule was generally harsh and inefficient. The patriarch serving the Ottoman sultan acted as ethnarch, or leader of the Greek nation, and gained secular powers as a result of the gradual dysfunction of Ottoman rule, for instance in adjudicating justice and in the collection of taxes. Turkish settlers suffered alongside their Greek Cypriot neighbors, and the two groups together endured centuries of oppressive governance from Constantinople.[citation needed] A minority of Greek Cypriots converted to Islam during this period, and are sometimes referred to as "neo-Muslims" by historians.
Politically, the concept of enosis – unification with the Greek "motherland" – became important to literate Greek Cypriots after Greece declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. A movement for the realization of enosis gradually formed, in which the Church of Cyprus played a dominant role during the Cyprus dispute.
"Hellenism is a race as aged as the world,
Nobody could be found to eliminate it,
Nobody, for it is protected from above by my God,
Hellenism will be lost, only when the world is gone."
Hub AI
Greek Cypriots AI simulator
(@Greek Cypriots_simulator)
Greek Cypriots
Greek Cypriots (Greek: Ελληνοκύπριοι, romanized: Ellinokýprioi) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypriot citizens and over 77.9% of the 923,381 total residents of the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.[citation needed] These figures do not include the 29,321 citizens of Greece residing in Cyprus, ethnic Greeks recorded as citizens of other countries, or the population of illegally occupied Northern Cyprus.
The majority of Greek Cypriots are members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. In regard to the 1960 Constitution of Cyprus, the term also includes Maronites, Armenians, and Catholics of the Latin Church ("Latins"), who were given the option of being included in either the Greek or Turkish communities and voted to join the former due to a shared religion.
Cyprus was part of the Mycenaean civilization with local production of Mycenaean vases dating to the Late Helladic III (1400–1050 BC). The quantity of this pottery concludes that there were numerous Mycenaean settlers, if not settlements, on the island. Archaeological evidence shows that Greek settlement began unsystematically in c. 1400 BC, then steadied (possibly due to Dorian invaders on the mainland) with definite settlements established in c. 1200 BC. The close connection between the Arcadian dialect and those of Pamphylia and Cyprus indicates that the migration came from Achaea. The Achaean tribe may have been an original population of the Peloponnese, Pamphylia, and Cyprus, living in the latter prior to the Dorian invasion, and not a subsequent immigrant group; the Doric elements in Arcadian are lacking in Cypriot. Achaeans settled among the old population, and founded Salamis. The epic Cypria, dating to the 7th century BC, may have originated in Cyprus.
The Byzantine era profoundly molded Greek Cypriot culture. The institution of Greek Orthodox Christianity soon became an integral part of Greek Cypriot identity during this period, and its legacy persisted under foreign domination throughout the succeeding centuries. Since Cyprus was never the "final goal" of any external ambitions – insofar as destroying its civilisation and citizenry did not become a military objective, or necessity – the island simply fell under the dominion of whichever power controlled the Eastern Mediterranean region at the time.
Greek Cypriots did, however, endure oppressive rule under both the Lusignans and successive Venetian Republic, from the 1190s to 1570. King Aimery – whom succeeded his brother, Guy of Lusignan, in 1194 – was known for being particularly intolerant of the Orthodox Church, and saw Greek Cypriot land appropriated for use by newly-established Latin churches in major towns on the island. In addition, oppressive taxation was imposed upon locals by occupying forces, with tax collection conducted, by proxy, under administration of the Latin churches.
The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571 replaced Venetian rule. Despite the inherent oppression of foreign subjugation, the period of Ottoman rule (1570–1878) had a limited impact on Greek Cypriot culture. The Ottomans tended to administer their multicultural empire with the help of their subject millets, or religious communities. The millet system allowed the Greek Cypriot community to survive,[citation needed] administered on behalf of Constantinople by the Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus. Cypriot Greeks were now able to take control of the land they had been working on for centuries.[citation needed] Although religiously tolerant, Ottoman rule was generally harsh and inefficient. The patriarch serving the Ottoman sultan acted as ethnarch, or leader of the Greek nation, and gained secular powers as a result of the gradual dysfunction of Ottoman rule, for instance in adjudicating justice and in the collection of taxes. Turkish settlers suffered alongside their Greek Cypriot neighbors, and the two groups together endured centuries of oppressive governance from Constantinople.[citation needed] A minority of Greek Cypriots converted to Islam during this period, and are sometimes referred to as "neo-Muslims" by historians.
Politically, the concept of enosis – unification with the Greek "motherland" – became important to literate Greek Cypriots after Greece declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821. A movement for the realization of enosis gradually formed, in which the Church of Cyprus played a dominant role during the Cyprus dispute.
"Hellenism is a race as aged as the world,
Nobody could be found to eliminate it,
Nobody, for it is protected from above by my God,
Hellenism will be lost, only when the world is gone."