Northern Cyprus Facts & Figures
Here are some facts and figures about the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus which you will find useful when on holiday here:
Language
Turkish is the official language of North Cyprus although there are some differences between the Turkish spoken in mainland Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot form.
Currency
Northern Cyprus uses the same currency as mainland Turkey, which is the New Turkish Lira (Yeni Türk Lirasi). This was introduced on January 1, 2005 to replace the old Turkish Lira. 1 new Lira consists of 100 new kurus.
The most cost effective way to obtain your Turkish liras is to wait until you come to Northern Cyprus and exchange your sterling here. Exchange rates are far better here than in the UK. Alternatively, if you have a bank/cheque card with the Cirrus symbol this means you can use this card in cash machines abroad, but do check with your bank whether they charge extra for this service.
Travellers Cheques and Eurocheques can be brought here too and are easily exchanged in banks, hotels or exchange bureaux or you can actually use major currencies, such as sterling and US Dollars in many of the large stores in North Cyprus.
Time
Northern Cyprus is 2 hours ahead of GMT.
Telephone
The North Cyprus international dialling code is the same as for Turkey, which is "90".
To call North Cyprus from the UK you would dial the international access code: 00, then the code for Turkey: 90, followed by the area code: 392, then the actual number.
To call out from Northern Cyprus you use the same international access code as from the UK: 00, then the code for the UK, which is 44, then you drop the first 0 from the area code, so for example:
To call the number 01483 123456, you would dial 00 44 1483 123456.
Electricity
Electricity voltage in North Cyprus is 220V which is perfectly compatible with electrical goods from the UK, which are generally 240V. All you’ll need to bring is an adaptor plug which are readily available and don’t cost much to buy.
The Northern Cyprus People
There are approximately 264,000 people living full-time in Northern Cyprus which is about a third of the population of southern Cyprus. Turkish-Cypriots are renowned for being kind and sociable people so by the time you leave North Cyprus you’ll feel like you’ve made a lot of friends!