1st October: Cyprus Independence Day

Today is Cyprus Independence Day. Here are 10 things you didn't know about Cyrpus:

1. The goddess Aphrodite is said to have been born in Cyprus, specifically at a place called Petra tou Romiou meaning Rock of the Greeks. It is called that because of the Greek hero Digenis Akritas, who threw rocks at his enemies.
2. The national symbol of Cyprus is the mouflon sheep, but they are so extremely shy that if you go there, you're unlikely to see one. They have good reason for hiding from people as they were once considered vermin and hunted down until there were only fifteen of them left. Then they became protected animals and now there are said to be thousands of them roaming in the mountains somewhere.
3. Talking of mountains, the highest point on Cyprus is Mount Olympus at 1,952 m (6,404 ft). It has a ski resort with four runs (one of the most southerly in Europe, making Cyprus a place where you can ski in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon). In ancient times, the mountain was home to a temple to Aphrodite that women were forbidden to enter.
4. Shakespeare's play Othello is largely set in Cyprus.
5. The last monarch of Cyprus was Queen Catherine Cornaro, who abdicated in 1489.
6. Cyprus is a divided country with Turkish Cypriots living in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The two groups don't get along and there is a United Nations buffer zone separating them, known as "the Green line". The capital, Nicosia, is the only capital in the world to be divided between two nations (even though one of them is self-proclaimed).
7. The oldest Wine in the world is a Cypriot dessert wine called Commandaria, which is thought to have been produced for five thousand years, and named by knight crusaders in the thirteenth century. Richard the Lionheart liked it - he drank it at his wedding (which, incidentally, was the only English royal wedding ever to take place abroad) and pronounced it "the wine of kings and the king of wines."
8. Haloumi cheese is from Cyprus. In fact, according to EU law, it can only be called haloumi if it is made there. It is made from goat or sheep milk (or a mixture of both).
9. Until 2008, Cyprus was the only country to have a map of itself on its Flag - although now, Kosovo does, as well.
10. In 2004, archaeologists found the remains of a person buried with a Cat on Cyprus. Dating back about 9,500 years, this is the oldest known pet cat.