About the town » Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

For the Italian town, see: Nicosia, Sicily. Also see: Nicosia (disambiguation). Nicosia, known locally as Lefkosia, is the capital and largest city on the island of Cyprus, as well as its main business center. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Nicosia remained the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line. It is located near the center of the island, on the banks of the Pedieos River. Nicosia is the capital and seat of government of the Republic of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost capital of the EU member states. The northern part of the city functions as the capital of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a disputed breakaway region whose independence is recognized only by Turkey, and which the rest of the international community considers as occupied territory of the Republic of Cyprus since the Turkish invasion in 1974. Through the years Nicosia has established itself as the island's financial capital and its main international business centre. Nicosia is consistently ranked as one of the richest cities in the world in per capita income terms. In the past few years Nicosia has seen remarkable progress regarding its infrastructure with the most remarkable being the central Eleftheria square currently in progress.