What language they speak in Cyprus, and why you'll be fine

It’s one of the questions people ask most before a trip to Cyprus, and the answer is reassuring. Officially, Cyprus speaks Greek and Turkish, but the language that matters to visitors is English, widely used according to the Spanish foreign ministry. Here I explain what’s spoken where, how to read the signs and why one place can have three names.

Greek and Turkish, the two official languages

The EU sums it up in a sentence. Cyprus has two official languages, Greek and Turkish, and only Greek is an official EU language. The Spanish foreign ministry adds that Greek dominates in the south and Turkish in the north, and that English is widely used.

Behind that lies the Republic’s history. Under the 1960 constitution, the UN notes, the president was to be Greek Cypriot and the vice-president Turkish Cypriot. Since 1974 the Republic hasn’t governed the north in practice, and each language is heard mostly on one side of the Green Line. Walk across at Ledra Street in Nicosia and you go from one side to the other in a few minutes, and the currency changes along with the language, to the Turkish lira, although the Spanish foreign ministry says the euro is commonly accepted there. How many people live on each side is in the population of Cyprus.

The communities behind each language

The UN gives the proportions in 1960, when the Republic was born, as roughly 80% Greek Cypriot and 18% Turkish Cypriot. The rest included Armenians, Maronites and Latin-rite Catholics, three groups that each elect a representative to the House today. Their languages aren’t official, though the communities themselves are officially recognised, the Spanish foreign ministry says.

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Is English widely spoken in Cyprus?

Yes, very. The Spanish foreign ministry talks of English being widely used, and that makes sense, because the island was a British colony until independence in 1960, as the House of Representatives recalls. In hotels, restaurants and museums you’ll get by in English. The Greek words you’ll actually use every day are sketo, metrio and glykis, for ordering Cypriot coffee without sugar, with half a spoon or with a full one.

For a British visitor that history is everywhere. You drive on the left, and two patches of the south, the bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia, still belong to the UK. It’s about as easy as a non-English-speaking country gets, and you’ll rarely need more than a ‘thank you’ in Greek, which is a courtesy rather than a necessity.

Why every place seems to have several names

This is what confuses people most. Greek has its own alphabet, and names are transliterated into Latin letters in several ways. Official documents use one system, Lefkosia, Lemesos, Larnaka, while English uses another, Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos. On maps and signs you’ll often see both together.

Villages are the same. You’ll see Agia Napa and Ayia Napa, Pegeia and Peyia, Kalopanagiotis and Kalopanayiotis, and each pair is the same place. In the north a Turkish form is added, such as Lefkoşa for north Nicosia. Where the island’s own name comes from is in the name of Cyprus.

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Coping with all those spellings on the road

My advice is to go by the Latin-alphabet name, which is the one your satnav will give you, and not to worry if a village is spelt two ways on two signs in a row. The driving is on the left, as gov.uk reminds you, which at least is one thing British visitors don’t need to adjust to. The rules are in driving in Cyprus.

And if oral tradition interests you, look out for tsiattista, a form of poetic duelling in verse that has had UNESCO recognition since 2011. To place the island in the eastern Mediterranean, and see why so many languages have passed through it, read where is Cyprus.

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