About Nicosia

NICOSIA URBAN AREA
Journal Article by: Christodoulos Demetriou

(Extracts from his paper. Highly recommended)

Historically, Nicosia has been the main focal point for Cyprus and the seat of national government. Above all, Nicosia is the major centre for employment, culture, higher education and specialized services.

Although Cyprus is an island, its major urban settlement is located in the interior and in particular close to the geographical centre of the island on the western boundary of the Mesaoria Plain. The urban settlement is the city of Nicosia - the capital of the republic - and its environs (the Nicosia Urban Area).

The Nicosia Urban Area lies just to the north of the geographical centre of the island at
an elevation of 160 metres above sea level and is being traversed by the seasonal stream
of Pediaios. In 2001, the population of the Nicosia Urban Area was 230,000, by far
the biggest on the island. 198,200 live in the government-controlled southern quarter while the rest live in the Turkish-occupied northern quarter.

The United Nations-administered buffer zone is a no man’s land that crosses the island from
the western to the eastern coast (it is part of the area controlled by the Government of Cyprus and lies to the south of the positions of the Turkish invading forces). The length of
the buffer zone is 187 km and its width up to 5 km. The "Green Line", which is a component of the buffer zone, bisects the core of the old city of Nicosia (walled section) and in some parts its width is not greater than that of an alley. The "Green Line" originates as a term in the coloured line drawn on a map by the British General Young on 30 December 1963.

The existence of the "Green Line" has undermined the centrality of the old city and turned it into a "border" town or an "edge zone" of marginal importance. The psychological factor, which is associated with "border" areas, forced the relocation of major and important uses and
public/civic services in other parts of the city and the Urban Area. Even though the "Green
Line" is an invisible barrier - not a built one - it displays similar characteristics with those of the former Berlin Wall because it forcibly separates the two (ethnic) communities of Cyprus and prohibits human interaction