The third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and Sardinia), Cyprus is geographically situated in the eastern Mediterranean and just south of the Anatolian peninsula (or Asia Minor) of the Asian mainland; thus, it is commonly included in the Middle East (see also Western Asia and Near East). Turkey is 75 kilometres (47 miles) north; other neighbouring countries include Syria and Lebanon to the east, Israel to the southeast, Egypt to the south, and Greece to the west-north-west.

Historically, politically and culturally, however, it is closely aligned with Europe – the Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised Government controlled area with Greece and the Turkish Cypriots in the illegally occupied North with Turkey. Historically, Cyprus has been at the crossroads between Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, with lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, and British influences. Thus, it is generally considered a transcontinental island.

 
General Map of Cyprus