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Karpas: (Iskele) |
Karpas peninsula (or the
panhandle) is the easternmost part of the island of Cyprus, where the land
tapers into a thin strip which streches out towards Turkey.
The area is rich in subterranean water reservoirs and thus crops such as tobacco
are grown in abundance. Another main source of income in the region is fishing.
Bogaz and Kumyali are the fishing centers in the Karpas.
As well as numerous Byzantine churches, the most notably the Monastery of
Apostolos Andreas, the area boasts some of the finest countryside in the
countryside. The Karpas peninsula has been called the nature reserve of Cyprus
for birds, wild flowers, and sea fossils are to be found everywhere.
Moreover, numerous picturesque beaches, both sandy and rocky, are said to be the
best in the whole island. With also pine, cypress and maquis covered hills
reaching an altitude of about 1,000 metres makes the Karpas region almost a
perfect natural reserve site of the whole island.
Karpas peninsula is also almost totally free from heavy concentration of
industry and people, and is one of the least polluted regions in the European
periphery. Escaping the last ice age, the island of Cyprus has managed to retain
a substantial amount of biological diversity with a significant amount of
endemic species -plant species number about 1,600 (22 endemic); bird species
about 350 (7 endemic); and there are 26 reptile and amphibian species for most
of which the Karpas is the natural home.
Being also on one of the main migration routes of birds between Eastern Europe
and Africa, each year approximately 300 species amounting to millions of birds
use this route in early spring and late summer.
Moreover, about 46 sandy beaches in the Karpas comprise the main nestling ground
for the endangered Chelonia Mydas and Caretta Caretta sea turtles in the Eastern
Mediterranean. In 1992, about 1,500 rare female turtles laid eggs on the shores
of North Cyprus.
The last colony of European Audouin seagulls nest on the small Klidhes isles at
the tip of the Karpas Peninsula in North Cyprus.
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