History

September—After a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President Anastasiades in New York, Tatar says talks on Cyprus's future will not start unless they consider "the sovereign equality and international status of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."

October - Anti-reunification nationalist Ersin Tatar wins narrow victory in Turkish Cypriot presidential election.

November—The first new buffer-zone crossings are opened in eight years at Deryneia in the east and Lefke in the west.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders met at the U.N. in Geneva for direct talks on reunification.

January: President Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci give an unprecedented joint New Year television address in the midst of reunification talks.

February—At talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, President Anastasiades agrees to let the Russian navy access Cypriot ports.

May - Government and Turkish Cypriot negotiators resume reunification talks, which ended inconclusively in July 2017.

October - Cyprus suspends peace talks with Turkish-held Cypriots in protest against what it calls efforts by Turkey to prevent it from exploring gas fields south of the island. The EU and US express concern over the tension.

February - Democratic Rally conservative candidate Nicos Anastasiades wins the presidential election.

March - President Anastasiades secured a €10 billion bank bailout from the European Union and the IMF. Laiki Bank, the country's second-biggest bank, is wound down, and deposit-holders with more than €100,000 will face big losses.

 April: The UN cancels plans for a Cyprus conference, citing a lack of progress on any of the substantial differences between the two sides.

Turkey's Turkish Petroleum Corporation begins drilling for oil and gas onshore in northern Cyprus despite protests from the Cypriot government that the action is illegal.

June - Cyprus appeals to European Union for financial assistance to shore up its banks, which are heavily exposed to the stumbling Greek economy.

 May - Parliamentary polls. Main right-wing opposition party DISY wins by a narrow margin.

 July - Navy chief Andreas Ioannides and 12 others die when people when impounded Iranian containers of explosives blow up at the main naval base and the country's main power plant.

September - Cyprus begins exploratory drilling for oil and gas, prompting a diplomatic row with Turkey, which responds by sending an oil vessel to waters off northern Cyprus.

April - Dervis Eroglu, who favors independence, wins the Turkish north's leadership contest, beating pro-unity incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat.

 May - Re-unification talks resume with a new hardliner representing the Turkish north.

January - Cyprus adopts the euro.

 March - New left-wing President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agree to start formal talks on reunification.

 April: The Symbolic Ledra Street crossing between the Turkish and Greek sectors of Nicosia reopened for the first time since 1964.

January-March - Greek and Turkish Cypriots demolish barriers dividing the old city of Nicosia. The moves are seen as paving the way for another official crossing point on what used to be a critical commercial thoroughfare.

July—UN-sponsored talks between President Tassos Papadopolous and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed to a series of confidence-building measures and contacts between the two communities.

August - Cypriot airliner crashes near Athens, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew. It is the island's worst peacetime disaster.

 April - Twin referendums on whether to accept the UN reunification plan in a last-minute bid to achieve united EU entry. Turkish Cypriots endorsed the plan but were overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.

May: Cyprus is one of 10 new states to join the EU, but it does so as a divided island.

 December - Turkey agrees to extend its EU customs union agreement to 10 new member states, including Cyprus. The Turkish prime minister says this does not amount to a formal recognition of Cyprus.

April: Turkish and Greek Cypriots cross the island's dividing "green line" for the first time in 30 years after Turkish Cypriot authorities ease border restrictions.

January: Clerides and Denktash begin UN-sponsored negotiations after decades of stalled talks. Their minds are concentrated on EU membership aspirations.

November - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presents a comprehensive peace plan for Cyprus which envisages a federation with two constituent parts, presided over by a rotating presidency.

December—The EU summit in Copenhagen invited Cyprus to join in 2004, provided the two communities agreed to the UN plan by early spring 2003. Without reunification, only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot part of the island will gain membership.

June - UN Security Council renews its 36-year mission. Some 2,400 peacekeepers patrol the buffer zone between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

EU lists Cyprus as potential member. Government drops plans to install Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles after Turkey threatens military action.

European Court of Justice rules that a list of goods, including fruit and vegetables, is not eligible for preferential treatment when exported directly to the European Union by the Turkish Cypriot community.

Denktash proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). 

President Makarios dies, succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.

Turkish Cypriots established an independent administration. 

The military junta in Greece backs the coup against President Makarios, who flees. Within days, Turkish troops landed in the north. Greek Cypriots flee their homes.

United Nations peacekeeping force set up. Turkish Cypriots withdraw into defended enclaves.

President Makarios raised Turkish fears by proposing constitutional changes abrogating power-sharing arrangements. Inter-communal violence erupts, and the Turkish community withdraws from power-sharing.

Cyprus gained independence after the Greek and Turkish communities agreed upon a constitution.

Archbishop Makarios returns and is elected president.

Archbishop Makarios, the leader of the enosis campaign, was deported to the Seychelles.

Cypriots began a guerrilla war against British rule.

 Britain becomes a colony.

Britain annexed Cyprus.

 Great Britain occupied Cyprus, but it remained under the Ottoman sovereignty.

Cyprus was under Ottoman rule for over 300 years.

Bronze Age

Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.

The first human settlement was in Cyprus.