Akrotiri

British Forces Broadcast Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite TV service as well as BFBS radio broadcasts to the Akrotiri Sovereign Base (2009)

AM NA, FM 1, shortwave NA (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia) (2006)

0 (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia) (2006)

Economic activity is limited to providing services to the military and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.

note: uses the euro

total: 123 sq km | note: includes a salt lake and wetlands | country comparison to the world: 224

about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC

temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters

56.3 km

hunting around the salt lake; note - breeding place for loggerhead and green turtles; only remaining colony of griffon vultures is on the base

34 37 N, 32 58 E

British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus; of the Sovereign Base Area (SBA) land, 60% is privately owned and farmed, 20% is owned by the Ministry of Defense, and 20% is SBA Crown land

total: 48 km | border countries (1): Cyprus 48 km

Eastern Mediterranean, peninsula on the southwest coast of Cyprus

Middle East

name: Episkopi Cantonment (base administrative center for Akrotiri and Dhekelia) | geographic coordinates: 34 40 N, 32 51 E | time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) | daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

presented 3 August 1960, effective 16 August 1960; amended 1966 (The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960, serves as a basic legal document) (2013)

conventional long form: none | conventional short form: Akrotiri

a special form of UK overseas territory; administered by an administrator who is also the Commander, British Forces Cyprus

none (overseas territory of the UK)

none (overseas territory of the UK)

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) | head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Michael WIGSTON (since 21 January 2015); note - administrator reports to the British Ministry of Defense; the Chief Officer is responsible for the day-to-day running of the civil government of the Sovereign Bases | elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; administrator appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Ministry of Defense

the flag of the UK is used

highest court(s): Senior Judges' Court (consists of several visiting judges from England and Wales) | judge selection and term of office: judges appointment and tenure NA | subordinate courts: Resident Judges' Court; Courts Martial

laws applicable to the Cypriot population are, as far as possible, the same as the laws of the Republic of Cyprus; note - the Sovereign Base Area Administration has its own court system to deal with civil and criminal matters

note: as a United Kingdom area of special sovereignty, "God Save the Queen" is official (see United Kingdom)

By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The southernmost and smallest of these is the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Western Sovereign Base Area.

defense is the responsibility of the UK; Akrotiri has a full RAF base, headquarters for British Forces Cyprus, and Episkopi Support Unit

English, Greek

approximately 15,700 live on the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia including 7,700 Cypriots, 3,600 Service and UK-based contract personnel, and 4,400 dependents