The physical setting for life on the island is dominated by the
mountain masses and the central plain they encompass, the Mesaoria. The
Troodos Mountains cover most of the southern and western portions of the
island and account for roughly half its area. The narrow Kyrenia Range,
extending along the northern coastline, occupies substantially less
area, and elevations are lower. The two mountain systems run generally
parallel to the Taurus Mountains on the Turkish mainland, whose
silhouette is visible from northern Cyprus. Coastal lowlands, varying in
width, surround the island.
Terrain
The rugged Troodos Mountains, whose principal range stretches from
Pomos Point in the northwest almost to Larnaca Bay on the east, are the
single most conspicuous feature of the landscape. Intensive uplifting
and folding in the formative period left the area highly fragmented, so
that subordinate ranges and spurs veer off at many angles, their slopes
incised by steep-sided valleys. In the southwest, the mountains descend
in a series of stepped foothills to the coastal plain.
While the Troodos Mountains are a massif formed of molten igneous
rock, the Kyrenia Range is a narrow limestone ridge that rises suddenly
from the plains. Its easternmost extension becomes a series of foothills
on the Karpas Peninsula. That peninsula points toward Asia Minor, to
which Cyprus belongs geologically.
Even the highest peaks of the Kyrenia Range are hardly more than half
the height of the great dome of the Troodos massif, Mount Olympus (1,952
meters), but their seemingly inaccessible, jagged slopes make them
considerably more spectacular. British writer Lawrence Durrell, in Bitter
Lemons, wrote of the Troodos as "an unlovely jumble of crags
and heavyweight rocks" and of the Kyrenia Range as belonging to
"the world of Gothic Europe, its lofty crags studded with crusader
castles."
Rich copper deposits were discovered in antiquity on the slopes of
the Troodos. Geologists speculate that these deposits may have
originally formed under the Mediterranean Sea, as a consequence of the
upwelling of hot, mineral-laded water through a zone where plates that
formed the ocean floor were pulling apart.
Drainage
Deforestation over the centuries has damaged the island's drainage
system and made access to a year-round supply of water difficult. A
network of winter rivers rises in the Troodos Mountains and flows out
from them in all directions. The Yialias River and the Pedhieos River
flow eastward across the Mesaoria into Famagusta Bay; the Serraghis
River flows northwest through the Morphou plain. All of the island's
rivers, however, are dry in the summer. An extensive system of dams and
waterways has been constructed to bring water to farming areas.
The Mesaoria is the agricultural heartland of the island, but its
productiveness for wheat and barley depends very much on winter
rainfall; other crops are grown under irrigation. Little evidence
remains that this broad, central plain, open to the sea at either end,
was once covered with rich forests whose timber was coveted by ancient
conquerors for their sailing vessels. The now-divided capital of the
island, Nicosia, lies in the middle of this central plain.
Cyprus - Climate
The Mediterranean climate, warm and rather dry, with rainfall mainly
between November and March, favors agriculture. In general, the island
experiences mild wet winters and dry hot summers. Variations in
temperature and rainfall are governed by altitude and, to a lesser
extent, distance from the coast.
The higher mountain areas are cooler and moister than the rest of the
island. They receive the heaviest annual rainfall, which may be as much
as 1,000 millimeters. Sharp frost also occurs in the higher districts,
which are usually blanketed with snow during the first months of the
year. Plains along the northern coast and in the Karpas Peninsula area
average 400 to 450 millimeters of annual rainfall. The least rainfall
occurs in the Mesaoria, with 300 to 400 millimeters a year. Variability
in annual rainfall is characteristic for the island, however, and
droughts are frequent and sometimes severe. Earthquakes, usually not
destructive, occur from time to time.
Summer temperatures are high in the lowlands, even near the sea, and
reach particularly uncomfortable readings in the Mesaoria. Because of
the scorching heat of the lowlands, some of the villages in the Troodos
have developed as resort areas, with summer as well as winter seasons.
The mean annual temperature for the island as a whole is about 20� C.
The amount of sunshine the island enjoys enhances the tourist industry.
On the Mesaoria in the eastern lowland, for example, there is bright
sunshine 75 percent of the time. During the four summer months, there is
an average of eleven and one-half hours of sunshine each day, and in the
cloudiest winter months there is an average of five and one-half hours
per day.
