Question: Is Cyprus in Asia? Europe? or Africa?

by Traveling Seouls

Many weeks ago, Piano Man stated an interesting fact/opinion about Cyprus. “Cyprus is part of Asia.” I was like, “What? Who said that?” He mentioned an adult whom shall remain nameless made that statement, so I had to look up the information for myself.

And not that personal opinion on Yahoo is the go to source for such in depth questions about Cyprus, but it gives a sense of how people interpret where Cyprus’ origins lie. Let me give you a modified version of some of the comments:

1) Cyprus is part of Europe. That was where my mind initially thought Cyprus fit into the designated continental regions. After all, Cyprus aligns economically with Europe by using the Euro. (Well, I guess we’ll see if Cyprus stays with the euro currency by tomorrow.) Plus, if you look at where Cyprus plays football (aka soccer), then you would certainly see that it easily falls in the Europe category.

2) Cyprus is part of Asia. This is probably the most perplexing to me since I am Asian. When I think of Asia, I think of the big three: China/Korea/Japan, as well as, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, etc. But after taking an Asian-American history class in college, I realized that deciding which countries are a part of Asia can mean different things to different people. Some might even argue Australia as part of Asia, but I won’t get into that as that is out of scope on the topic. Take for example, Turkey, which can be considered part of Europe and Asia (i.e., Eurasia).

3) Cyprus is part of Africa/Middle East. Well, this one might be a stretch, but it is certainly in very close proximity to those regions. If you are at the water’s edge on Cyprus’ east coast, you can see Syria. One can’t help but think that Cyprus offers strategic and geo-political importance.

What do you think? Is Cyprus part of Asia, Europe, or Africa? Or some combination of the three or in a category all its own? Please share in the comments section below.

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0 comment

attaboyandy March 25, 2013 - 6:37 pm

Tough question! As a member of the E.U. my first instinct is to say Cyprus is part of Europe but given it’s ties to Turkey and it’s position on the map I realize the question is far more complicated. I guess it’s debatable depending on your politics, ideology, and even national identity. I think the same could be said for Turkey. When we visited Turkey we took the ferry to the Eastern side of Istanbul – the “Asian” side. It felt strange – like we were somehow crossing into a different country all together. We didn’t see any tourists on the “Asian” side and ended up going straight back to Istanbul proper after a quick meal.

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theseoulofcyprus March 26, 2013 - 10:49 am

Wow, I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing that perspective.

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Kerk Boon Leng April 1, 2013 - 3:19 am

Cyprus is a bit of an odd man out in the neighbourhood. It is geographically in the Middle East (therefore in Asia). But Asia is a “super-continent”, after all Europe is a peninsula of Asia. The decision to demarcate Asia/Europe at the Ural Mountains (Russia), the Strait of Bosphorus (Istanbul) and the Caucasus ( Iran / Azerbaijan/ Armenia) and now Cyprus is more cultural and religious grounds rather than geography. http://kerkboonleng.com/cyprus/

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theseoulofcyprus April 1, 2013 - 4:29 am

Hi Kerk,

Thanks for your comment! and for bringing your perspective to the discussion.

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zimmergoads April 1, 2013 - 4:08 am

it is part of the middle east if that helps

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Adnan Kamenica January 14, 2014 - 12:50 am

fully agree with Kerk. but I personally favour the geographical identification and don’t think Cyprus is a part of Europe, because it is considerably closer to the mainland of Asia. I believe this geographically logical classification should be accepted, this isn’t to say that its cultural ties with Europe should be forgotten nor abandoned. economical/political/cultural relations will exist with the European nations (whether Cyprus is classified as being in Asia or Europe).

If it was up to me, the following countries: Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Israel, Armenia would not be competing in European (UEFA) football qualifier competitions, nor be a contender to become an EU member state (otherwise don’t call it the European so and so), because the line has to be drawn somewhere.

but I don’t see why they are ashamed to be a part of Asia (Its a beautiful and culturally diverse continent). also the qualifier groups are against easier opponents.

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theseoulofcyprus January 14, 2014 - 1:28 am

Thanks for sharing, Adnan.

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superendergames October 30, 2015 - 9:30 pm

I am Cypriot and I generaly think that its part of Europe cause the people are Greek (Im talking about the Rep. Of Cyprus not Northern Cyprus). Aswell,Cyprus is part of Eu

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Heide Fabrigas February 7, 2016 - 7:54 am

originally, cyprus belongs to southeast asia but now it’s not anymore

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Vincent Verstijnen March 1, 2016 - 10:07 pm

What a nonsens is told most of the posts above!

The question is Europe, Asia or Africa. These are continents, not (political) organisations. Cyprus is part of the Middle East and therefore part of Asia. 100% sure about that!!!

Despite lying in Asia, Cyprus can be part of all kind of European organisations. EU, EUFA, Eurovision Song Contest, etc, but that means nothing to its geographical location. Australia is competing in the Eurovision Song Contest as well…

That Cypriotic people are descendants of the Greek people, and that they might feel an European, has nothing to do with the question. I’m Dutch, but I feel (let’s say) Mongolian. That doesn’t mean The Netherlands is part of Asia. In French Polynesia live a lot of French people, but Bora Bora is definitely not a part of Europe!

Whaah, China, Japan and Korea are mentioned as the big three of Asia. Don’t tell India and Indonesia 🙂 So short-sighted…

If you know nothing about the world it may be wiser not to answer…

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arguemore March 9, 2016 - 10:03 pm

Vincent guy, Australia only competed once in Eurovision. They were invited as guests. Now, Cypriots don’t just feel Greek, they are ETHNICALLY Greek. Very ignorant of you to compare this situation with yours. Why should this matter? Because Cyprus is in European waters. It’s actually close to Europe, it’s classified as European. Because borders aren’t a straight line, Europe is NOT the USA. Cyprus is definitely European. The European commission DOESN’T accept Asian countries in EU. It’s one of the reasons Turkey isn’t accepted. And last, Europeans consider Cyprus part of Europe. Cypriots consider Cyprus as part of Europe. Asians consider Cyprus part of Europe. Case closed.

Did some people really say Middle East? And Africa? You know, ISIS would take your head for saying that.

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baran kurtbir March 24, 2016 - 10:31 pm

Hi. Seeing most of these comments, I see that many people talk about the ‘ Greek ‘ side of Cyprus. I ( and my family ) are all from the Turkish side of Cyprus. Many people think we are European because South is too, but that’s not the point… The point is, North and South will never agree with destroying the borders hence making Cyprus part of thr EU. Aswellas this, I myself am brown and mongloid eventhough every single website shows that Turks are caucassian and white. But, a majority of us may not be Mongloid, we still are Asian due to many Turks coming from Mongolia ( Northern China ) and then migrating to Turkey where we reproduced with the people all ready there. So, I should say we are practically everything but – as everyone else is saying which is correct – Cyprus is part of the Middle East ( as well as Turkey ) therefore making it an Asian island. And for Vincent: If you just said that Asians think we are European, why is it that on every single ” Flags of Asia ” post I see, I see the flag of Cyprus? 😛

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