The Cyprus Green Line
A strip of no-man’s land, about 180 km long, that the UN has patrolled across Cyprus since 1974. It began in 1963 as a line drawn in green pencil through Nicosia, and in the old city it is only a few metres wide.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 2 October 2026Suggest a correction
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A line in green pencil
In December 1963 fighting between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots broke out in Nicosia, and in a month left more than a hundred dead, most of them Turkish Cypriots. In the small hours of 30 December the British general Peter Young drew a ceasefire line across a map of the city in green pencil.[3]
It was meant to be temporary, but the name stuck and so did the line.[4] In March 1964 the UN Security Council recommended a peacekeeping force for Cyprus, UNFICYP, to prevent a recurrence of fighting.[2]
Across the whole island
On 15 July 1974 Greek officers of the National Guard staged a coup, and from 20 July Turkish forces responded with military action, including air raids on Nicosia airport. When ceasefire lines were drawn on 16 August 1974, the zone between them became the UN buffer zone.[5][1] It runs about 180 km across Cyprus, a few metres wide in parts of old Nicosia and a few kilometres elsewhere. It stops where it meets Britain’s Dhekelia base, where the UN does not operate.[1]
Inside it lies Nicosia’s old international airport. UNFICYP took it over during the fighting in July 1974 and it has been a UN Protected Area ever since; a Cyprus Airways Trident, stripped of its engines in 1974, still stands beside the terminal.[5]
Life in no-man’s land
Much of the zone is farmed or lived in: more than 10,000 people live or work in its villages and Civil Use Areas, and in Pyla Greek and Turkish Cypriots live side by side. Other parts are almost untouched, and wildlife thrives there. UNFICYP patrols by vehicle, on foot, by bicycle and by helicopter, and logs about 1,000 incidents a year, from name-calling to unauthorised use of firearms.[1]
Since April 2003 crossing points have opened between north and south, three of them in Nicosia, including Ledra Street in the old city; two more opened on 12 November 2018.[1]
Timeline
196330 December 1963
Green pencil
19644 March 1964
UNFICYP
The Security Council recommends a UN force for Cyprus.[2]
197416 August 1974
Ceasefire lines
The buffer zone takes its present shape.[1]
2003April 2003
Crossings open
People can cross between north and south.[1]
201812 November 2018
Two more crossings
Dherynia and Lefka/Aplici open.[1]
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Sources
- [1]About the buffer zone · United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
- [2]Establishment of UNFICYP · United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
- [3]Nicosia, the last divided capital in the world · Angelo Attanasio, Peace in Progress (International Catalan Institute for Peace)
- [4]ON THIS DAY: The Green Line is drawn in Nicosia (1963) · Sigmalive · 30 December 2025
- [5]The United Nations Protected Area and Old Nicosia Airport · United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
- [6]Admin 0 – Countries, 1:10m · Natural Earth (via the world-atlas package)
The buffer zone and Dhekelia on the map.
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.