General characteristics.
• Geography: Cyprus
is the third largest Mediterranean island having an
area of 9.251 sq. km. It is situated at the crossroads
of three continents Europe, Asia and Africa and close
to the busy routes linking Western Europe with the
Arab World and the Far East. It is situated within
four hours flying time from London, three from Moscow
and two from Dubai. The island's time zone is 7 hours
ahead of New York and 7 hours behind Tokyo. The island
has a pleasant and healthy climate with about 340
days of sunshine a year. The capital of Cyprus is
Nicosia and the main industrial and commercial center
is Limassol.
• Population: The majority of its
population about 80% are of Greek origin. The republic's
official language is Greek but English is widely spoken
and understood and is regularly used in commerce and
government. The population is highly educated and
international statistics show that it ranks third
after USA and Canada in terms of university degrees
per capita.
• History: The island was a British
colony till 1960 when it was granted its independence
and the Republic of Cyprus was established. However,
in July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and till today
occupies 37% of its territory. The international community
condemns the invasion and occupation and called for
the withdrawal of the Turkish troops. But after so
many years the status quo created by the Turkish invasion
is maintained. Cyprus is a full member of the EU since 2004.
• Political stability; the political
and legal system: Cyprus has a presidential system
of government which is modeled on western democratic
systems where human rights, political and private
property are safeguarded. The legal system is based
on the same principles applicable in the United Kingdom
and all statutes regulating matters and procedures
are essentially based on English law and European
Union system towards which Cyprus is harmonizing to
comply with its obligations under its agreement for
accession to the European Union.
• Economy: Despite the above, after
the invasion and the full economic destruction of
the island, Cyprus has undergone a spectacular economic
growth and today it enjoys very high standards of
living comparable to Europe, with low inflation and
conditions of full employment and cost of living substantially
lower than in most countries offering comparable conditions.
Cyprus has an open economy, which is prospering and
growing with emphasis on tourism and services
• Infrastructure: Cyprus has excellent
transportation and telecommunications infrastructure
with modern ports and two international airports and
a road network in a very good condition with dual
carriage-ways linking all the towns. With respect
to telecommunications, Cyprus holds the fourth place
worldwide as regards direct dialling telecommunication
facilities.
• Professional services in the
area of banking, accounting and legal are of very
high standards, very reputable and efficient.
• Banking: Highly developed, fast
linked to the SWIFT transfer service system, consisting
of 8 local and foreign commercial banks as well as
a large number of offshore banking units about 40.Banks
are supervised by the Central Bank of Cyprus, which
is rapidly liberalizing the financial system to harmonise
it with the European Union requirements.
• Accounting: The members of the
local institute of Certified Public accountants of
Cyprus are members of The Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, USA (CPAs), The Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and Wales and the Chartered
Association of Certified Accountants in UK. The accounting
profession follows the international accounting and
auditing standards.
