Cyprus

Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean off the Levant coast in West Asia, the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, with Nicosia as its capital and largest city. Britain administered Cyprus after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and formally annexed it in 1914; the island gained independence through the London-Zurich Agreements of 19 February 1959 and formally proclaimed independence on 16 August 1960, with 1 October observed as Independence Day. A coup staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists on 15 July 1974 was followed five days later by a Turkish invasion, dividing the island along what is now the United Nations Buffer Zone, with the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey, in the north. Cyprus operates as a unitary presidential republic and is classified as a developed country with a very high human development index, ranked 32nd in the world.