| Disputes - international | hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964 and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the EU still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis communitaire) suspended in the north; Turkey protests Cypriot Government creating hydrocarbon blocks and maritime boundary with Lebanon in March 2007 |
| Illicit drugs | minor transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey; some cocaine transits as well; despite a strengthening of anti-money-laundering legislation, remains vulnerable to money laundering; reporting of suspicious transactions in offshore sector remains weak |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons | refugees (country of origin): 7,372 (Syria) (2019) IDPs: 228,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced since 1974) (2020) stateless persons: 56 (2020) note: 24,053 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-July 2021) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
