Total population | |
---|---|
c. 1.2 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Cyprus 659,115 (2011 census)[1] ≈500,000 in diaspora[2] | |
United Kingdom | 270,000 |
Australia, South Africa, Greece, United States, Germany and others | ≈230,000 |
Languages | |
Modern Greek (Cypriot and Standard) | |
Religion | |
Christianity (Greek Orthodox) Judaism (Romaniote Jews) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Greek subgroups |
Part of a series on |
Greeks |
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History of Greece (Ancient · Byzantine · Ottoman) |
Greek Cypriots (Greek: Ελληνοκύπριοι, romanized: Ellinokýprioi, Turkish: Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus,[3][4][5][6] forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 667,398 Cypriot citizens and over 78% of the 840,407 total residents of the area controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.[1] These figures do not include the 29,321 citizens of Greece residing in Cyprus, ethnic Greeks recorded as citizens of other countries, or the population of Northern Cyprus.
The majority of Greek Cypriots are members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.[5][7] In regard to the 1960 Constitution of Cyprus, the term also includes Maronites, Armenians, and Catholics of the Latin Church ("Latins"), who were given the option of being included in either the Greek or Turkish communities and voted to join the former due to a shared religion.
The population of Greek Cypriots currently living in Cyprus is around 650,000. In addition, it is estimated that up to 500,000 Greek Cypriots live outside Cyprus, the major concentrations being in the United Kingdom (270,000), Australia, South Africa, Greece, and the United States.