The map of Cyprus, explained for travellers

The map of Cyprus reads quickly once you know what to look for. A long island with a thin tail stretching north-east, two parallel mountain ranges and a plain in between, and on top of that several lines that have nothing to do with geography and everything to do with recent history. Here’s what each one means for your trip, and why names on the map change depending on who drew it is covered in the name of Cyprus. If you want to place the island in the wider world, see where is Cyprus.

The shape of the island

Measured by CYSTAT, the island stretches 240 km lengthways and 100 km across, and the Spanish foreign ministry puts its area at 9,253 km². What catches the eye on the map is the Karpas peninsula, the narrow north-eastern tail, which lies in the north. To the west, the Akamas peninsula rounds off the Paphos coast, and in the south-east Cape Greco marks the end of the Ayia Napa coast. How that size compares with places you know is in how big is Cyprus.

Inland there are two ranges. The northern one runs close to the coast, and the Spanish foreign ministry calls it the Pentadaktylos. The other, in the centre and south-west, is the Troodos, whose summit, Olympus, reaches 1,953 m according to CYSTAT. Between them lies the Mesaoria plain, with Nicosia in the middle of it.

Six districts, and where the towns fall

The Republic is divided into six districts named after their main towns. Nicosia district in the centre, Limassol on the south coast, Larnaca in the south-east, Paphos in the south-west, Famagusta in the east and Kyrenia on the north coast. According to the Spanish foreign ministry, Kyrenia falls completely north of the line, and Nicosia, Famagusta and Larnaca only in part. Each gets its own section in the districts of Cyprus.

For travellers, what matters is that almost everything aimed at visitors sits on the south coast and in the Troodos. From west to east, the liveliest towns in the Republic are Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca and, at the tip, Ayia Napa and Protaras. They’re set side by side in towns and villages in Cyprus.

One thing that confuses people on tourist maps. Many group the island into regions that don’t quite match the districts and treat the Troodos as a region of its own, even though the mountains are split administratively between several districts. That’s why you’ll find Kykkos Monastery listed ‘in the Troodos’ and, as the monastery itself says, in Nicosia district at the same time.

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What is the line across the map of Cyprus?

It’s the UN buffer zone, the Green Line. UNFICYP says it extends about 180 km across the island, that in parts of old Nicosia it’s only a few metres wide and that elsewhere it reaches several kilometres. It traces the August 1974 ceasefire line, and north of it the Republic’s government exercises no effective control. It isn’t a border between countries, and you cross it at crossing points open since 2003.

In the east, the UN zone stops at Dhekelia, where, as UNFICYP explains, the UN doesn’t operate because it’s a British base. All of this, with dates and what it means for crossing, is in the Green Line.

The British bases in the south

In the southern half you’ll see two patches that aren’t part of the Republic. These are the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri, the western one, on the peninsula west of Limassol, and Dhekelia, the eastern one, which the UK kept under the 1960 Treaty of Establishment. Their Administration puts them at 98 square miles, about 3% of the island, and says some 10,000 Cypriots live in them. Dhekelia also contains two crossings north, Pergamos and Strovilia, staffed by the bases’ own officers, all covered in the British bases in Cyprus.

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Using the map to get around

The Republic’s two international airports sit at either end of the south coast, Larnaca in the east and Paphos in the west. There’s no railway, so what looks like a short hop on the map is done by road, on the left. If you’d rather not move hotels, my pick is Limassol, between Paphos and Larnaca at roughly 57 and 60 km as the crow flies. And if you’re heading for the Troodos, expect mountain roads, because the 30 km in a straight line to Troodos Square stretch out a lot on the road. Every figure, town by town, is in distances in Cyprus. Each district has its own guide, from Limassol district to Paphos district. The towns have their own, such as Larnaca, next to the main airport.

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If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Larnaca for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.