This article documents the status of various religions in the limited-recognition state of Northern Cyprus. The dominant religion is Sunni Islam, followed by 99% of the population, with

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

comprising 0.5%, and the remainder of the population comprising other Christian groups and religions.

Islam

Sunni Muslims make up about 99% of the Northern Cypriot population. Talip Atalay is the current Head of The Department of Religious Affairs of Northern Cyprus (DRA). There are 7 representatives of the Department: 5 of them in the 5 districts of Northern Cyprus, one in Lefka village, one in the south part of the Cyprus.The Department of Religious Affairs of Northern Cyprus
/ref> Islam was first introduced to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

when

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...

, the third

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Rashidun Empire The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...

, conquered the island in 649. Cyprus remained a disputed territory between the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

and

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

for the following centuries, until it passed to Latin authority during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. The island was conquered by the Ottoman general

Lala Mustafa Pasha Lala Mustafa Pasha ( – 7 August 1580), also known by the additional epithet ''Kara'', was an Ottoman Bosnian general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia. Life He was born around 1500, near the Glasinac in Sokolac Plateau in Bosnia t ...

from the Venetians in 1570. This conquest brought with it Turkish settlement from 1571 until 1878. During the 17th century especially, the Muslim population of the island grew rapidly, partly because of Turkish immigrants but also due to Greek converts to Islam.

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...

are the overwhelming majority of the island's Muslims, along with Turkish settlers from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. Sufism also plays an important role. Historically, Muslims were spread over the whole of

, but since 1974 they have lived primarily in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

. The

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

Muslim Community itself has a presence in north. Several important Islamic shrines and landmarks exist on the island including: * The Arabahmet Mosque in Nicosia (built in the 16th century) * The

Hala Sultan Tekke Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram ( el, Τεκές Χαλά Σουλτάνας ''Tekés Chalá Soultánas''; tr, Hala Sultan Tekkesi) is a mosque and tekke complex on the west bank of Larnaca Salt Lake, in Larnaca, Cyprus. Umm Haram ( ...

/Umm Haram Mosque in

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 1 ...

(built in the 18th century) * The

Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque ( tr, Lala Mustafa Paşa Camii), originally known as the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas and later as the Saint Sophia (Ayasofya) Mosque of Mağusa, is the largest medieval building in Famagusta, Cyprus. Built between 129 ...

, Selimiye Mosque and the Haydarpasha Mosque; former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cathedrals left from the

Crusader era The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...

, which were meant to cater exclusively to the Catholic minority which ruled the island and were converted to mosques after the Muslim conquest in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. All of the listed, apart from the Hala Sultan Tekke, are in Northern Cyprus.

Christianity

Orthodoxy

Orthodox Christians in Northern Cyprus make up 0.5% of the population. The Greek Cypriots are members of the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus (

Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Κύπρου, translit=Ekklisia tis Kyprou; tr, Kıbrıs Kilisesi) is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communio ...

). In addition to the Orthodox Christian and Sunni Muslim communities, there is also small Maronite (Eastern Rites Catholic) community. In Northern Cyprus are the historical churches of

Notre Dame de Tyre Notre Dame de Tyre or Our Lady of Tyre ( hy, Հայկական Սուրբ Աստուածածին եկեղեցի), or simply as Armenian church ( tr, Ermeni Kilisesi) is a monastic church in Nicosia, Cyprus. It is located in the Arab Ahmet quarter ...

in Nicosia (1308) and Ganchvor in Famagusta (1346).

Maronite Church

Out of 209,286 Cypriots 1,131 were Maronites in 1891. The Maronites were 2,752 in 1960, in four villages all situated in currently Northern Cyprus. The origin of the Maronite Church is

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

The others

Turkish Cypriot Protestants and Anglicans are a very small community. The leader and

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the community is Kemal Başara

The vast majority are Anglican and use Anglican churches in the

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

area along with the island's

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

community.

References

External links

The Department of Religious Affairs of Northern Cyprus, Representatives

Jewish Cyprus

Rabbinate Cyprus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Religion In Northern Cyprus