Cyprus

Notable facts

• Cyprus has been divided since 1974; the northern third is administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Türkiye.
• Nicosia is the world’s last divided capital city.
• Aphrodite was said in Greek myth to have risen from the sea at Petra tou Romiou on the south coast.
• The island’s Troodos mountains hold some of the best-preserved ocean crust exposed anywhere on land.

World Heritage 3 sites

• Paphos 1980 · Cultural
• Painted Churches in the Troodos Region 1985 · Cultural
• Choirokoitia 1998 · Cultural

National dish

Souvla Large chunks of pork or lamb turned slowly on a long spit over charcoal.

Kleftiko, lamb sealed in a clay oven for hours, is the other answer. Cypriot and Greek cooking overlap heavily.