KARPAS 

(KARPAZ)

Karpas peninsula or 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 every- where. 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 altitudeof 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.