(Kybris) an island in the N.E. corner of the Levant, lying at about equal distances from the shores of Cilicia and Phoenicia. Its extreme length from the promontory of Dinaricum to that of Acamas is about 140 miles; its extreme breadth, from the promontory of Crommyon to that of Curias, about 70 miles. The area is roughly estimated at about 4500 English square miles. The greater part of the island is occupied by the central ridge and spurs of the Stavro-Vuno and Santo Croce mountains (the ancient Olympus). The loftiest peaks of this range attain a height of from 8000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. Their northern slopes are rocky and bare, but on the side of the south they are well-wooded and highly picturesque, and inclose in various parts of their course valleys of unrivalled fertility. The outline of these mountains is rugged and highly imposing in general effect, but they are not remarkable in the legends or traditions of early history. Santa Croce, however, is noteworthy, as on it stands a church said to have been built by Helena, the mother of Constantine; and another peak on the northern side of the island still shows an old castle and a monastery commanding a magnificent view. The whole island only contains two plains of any magnitude. The largest of these begins at the city of Salamis, on the eastern side of the island, and extends westward to the city of Tamasus; the other, which also extends westward, begins at the town of Citium, and stretches inland to the southern slopes of Mount Olympus. The first of these plains, whose fertility has always been remarkable, was called Messara, and was watered by the Pediarus; the other, which was no less fertile, was watered by the Tretus. Except these two districts and occasional valleys in the range of Olympus, the island is for the most part beyond the reach of cultivation.

Considerable part of the wealth of ancient Cyprus arose from its copper mines, the most important of which were those of Tamasus in the centre of the island, Soli on the north coast, and Amathus and Cyrium on the south coast. In these mines gold and silver were also found. The precious stones of Cyprus were also highly valued. The chief of these were the emerald, agate, malachite, jasper, opal, and the minerals asbestos and rock crystal.

The first settlers in Cyprus appear to have been of Phoenician origin, and as early as the days of Solomon acknowled- Cyprus, the supremacy of the Syrians. To them the Greeks succeeded. They in turn were reduced by the Egyptians under Amasis, who kept the island until disposed of by the superior power of the Persian Cambyses. An attempt made shortly after this by the Greek portion of the inhabitants to throw off the Persian yoke was put down, and the island remained subject to its oriental conquerors till the overthrow of their naval power at Salamis. Afterwards Cyprus was governed alternately by Greeks and Persians till the days of Alexander the Great, when it declared for that monarch, and sent a fleet to assist him in his eastern conquests. Upon Alexander's death Cyprus was incorporated with Egypt, and fell to the lot of Ptolemy. It was wrested from Ptolemy by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who retained it for about ten years; at the end of which period it once more fell into the hands of Ptolemy, by whose successors it was carefully watched over, and to whose annual revenues it contributed a very large proportion. It remained in the family of the Ptolemies as a sort of storehouse for the jewels and plate belonging to the Egyptian crown, till in B.C. 58 it became a province of the Roman empire, and in the political distribution of the Roman conquests was annexed to Cilicia, having, however, a quasitorial and judicial courts of its own. Under Augustus it became an imperial province, and was governed by a proconsul with a staff of inferior officers. Before the close of the first century of the Christian era the Jewish population of the island had greatly increased, and in the reign of Hadrian is said to have risen in rebellion and slain 200,000 of the other inhabitants. In the seventh century Cyprus fell into the hands of the Saracens; and in the ninth it owned the supremacy of the "good" Haroun Al Raschid. At the close of the twelfth century it was conquered by Richard Coeur de Lion, who made it over first to the knights of the Temple, and ultimately to Guy of Lusignan, titular king of Jerusalem. For three centuries the island remained in the family of Lusignan, till in 1473 it became an appanage of the Venetian republic. Cyprus was retained by the Venetians till in 1571 it was overrun by an army of Turkish invaders, who stormed Lefkosa and Famagusta, and made a general massacre of the inhabitants. Since that date the island has remained in possession of the Turks, and now forms a pashalic in the Eyalet of Dijjairs. Under the Turkish rule the material prosperity of Cyprus has greatly declined. In the times of the Venetian supremacy the island maintained a population of 1,000,000; its present population is only about 150,000, of whom the great majority are Greeks. Many parts of the island formerly healthy and fertile are now, from malaria and other causes, barren and uninhabitable. Its trade was at one time valuable and important; now the value of its annual imports does not exceed L26,000; of its exports about L60,000. Besides corn, of which it produces about 120,000 quarters annually, Cyprus yields in considerable quantities cotton, wine, various kinds of fruit, opium, and madder; while the mountain districts furnish olives, pines, and many species of valuable timber. On the island are found great quantities of the Ferula graeca, which the Cypriote applies to a great variety of domestic purposes. This is the plant whose uses are feigned by the poets to have been taught to mortals of old by Prometheus.

Knights of Cyprus, an order instituted by Guy of Lusignan, titular king of Jerusalem, to whom Richard I. of England, after conquering Cyprus, made over that island, A.D. 1191.