Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004
Capital city: Nicosia
Population: 796,740 (July 2009 est.)..
Currency: Euro
Language: Greek
The area of the Republic of Cyprus under government control has a market economy dominated by the service sector, which accounts for 78% of GDP. Tourism, financial services, and real estate are the most important sectors. Cyprus joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2) in May 2005 and adopted the euro as its national currency on 1 January 2008. Austerity An aggressive program in the preceding years, AIMED at paving the way for the euro, helped turn a soaring fiscal deficit (6.3% in 2003) into a surplus of 1.2% in 2008, and reduced inflation to 5.1%. This prosperity will come under pressure in 2009, due to the ongoing global financial crisis. Growth is expected to slow to less than 2%, which would be its lowest level since 2003. As in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots, water shortages are a perennial problem, a few desalination plants have been added to existing plants over the last year and are now on line. After 10 years of drought, the country received substantial rainfall from 2001-04. Since then, rainfall has been well below average, making water rationing a necessity.
GDP: composition by sector
agriculture: 2.1%
industry: 19.6%
Services: 78.3% (2008 est.)..
Source: CIA
