Apart from being turbulent and uneasy, the history of Cyprus is also very ancient. Its early history is still shrouded in some mystery and uncertainty but it seems probable that the first settlements on the island appeared more than 10,000 years ago. Cyprus was not inhabited in the Stone Age, which led to the survival of numerous dwarf forms, such as dwarf elephants (Elephas cypriotes) and pygmy hippos (Phanourios minutis) up to the beginning of the Holocene (modern geologic period). These animals are thought to have appeared on the island from the nearby continental coasts.
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In the history of Cyprus no period lasted for very long. Its geographical position once again thrust it into the political whirl of events with the rise of new Asian empires. This time it was the Assyrians, followed by the Persians. For the next 400 years from 725 BC these two powers played a dominant role on the island but in comparison with the previous conquests the conditions were significantly different. More
After the division of the Roman Empire into the eastern half and the western half, Cyprus came under the rule of Byzantium. The cities of Cyprus were almost completely destroyed by two successive earthquakes in 332 and 342 AD. And these events marked the end of the old era and at the same time the beginning of the new one in the history of Cyprus, which is greatly connected with the modern life on Cyprus. Most of the cities were not rebuilt, except Salamis which was reconstructed on a smaller scale and renamed into Constantia after the Roman Emperor Constantius II, son of Constantine The Great, who was residing in Constantinople. The new city has become the capital of the island. Further
By the 19th century the Ottoman empire was in a state of steady, if rather prolonged, decline and once more Cyprus became the focus of interest to other outside powers. This time it was the Russians and the British, the former in its pursuit of warm water ports, for better access to the Mediterranean, the latter to counter this possible threat to its strategic interests in the area and, especially with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, to safeguard its route to its extensive imperial interests in the Far East. The British won. In 1878 as the result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom took over the government of Cyprus as a protectorate from the Ottoman Empire. Read
Cyprus occupies such a strategically advantageous position in the Eastern Mediterranean for both the eastern and western worlds that it has inevitably captured the interest and attention of the most powerful countries which, for geopolitical and commercial reasons, have always sought to make it their own. Almost all powerful world countries, both ancient and modern, have turned up here intertwining their features with the character of the island and bringing in repeated invasions, internal wars and changes of ownership and, as a rule, with scant regard to the interests of the indigenous population.
All the countries, which ever turned up on the island, tried to leave their imprints. Assyrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Byzantines in the Ancient times, Crusaders, French Lusignans, the Genoese and Venetians in the Middle Ages and, much later, the Ottomans and the British were the owners of the island at different times. Even today, but more slightly, Cyprus continues to attract the attention of the outside world principally through the European Union and the United Nations.
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