Demography
It appears that during the very first years of the Ottoman Era (1570–1878), about 20.000 Armenians used to live in Cyprus. Their number, however, rapidly declined, due to the harshness and the oppression of the regime, the onerous taxation and natural disasters: in 1630 there were only 2.000 Armenians in Cyprus. In the mid–19th century, the number of Armenian-Cypriots ranged between 150–200, according to the censuses of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian Prelature and the estimations of European travellers.
The British colonial censuses that took place between 1881 and 1956 provide us with fairly accurate data on the Armenian population of Cyprus. The following numbers are the combined figures of those recorded as Armenian (by religion) and those recorded as speakers of Armenian: in 1881 there were 201 Armenians in Cyprus, who increased to 291 in 1891 and 553 in 1901; the numerical increase was due to the influx of Armenian refugees from the Hamidian massacres. In 1911 there were 616 Armenians in Cyprus, while in 1921 their number rose to 1.573 and to 3.617 in 1931, as a result of the huge wave of refugees from the Armenian Genocide. In 1935 the Armenian Prelature recorded 3.819 Armenians in Cyprus. In 1946 there were 3.962 Armenians in Cyprus, while in 1956 they numbered 4.549. The table below shows the geographical distribution of Armenian-Cypriots per district from 1881 through 1960.
The last accurate census of the population of Cyprus with regard to its ethnic breakdown was carried out in 1960; it recorded 3.628 Armenians in Cyprus. In 1978 and 1987 the Armenian Prelature recorded the Armenian population of Cyprus, which was 1.787 and 2.742, respectively. Currently, about 3.500 Armenians live in Cyprus; 65% live in the capital, Nicosia, 20% in Larnaca, 10% in Limassol and 5% in Paphos and some villages. Over 95% of the Armenian population speak Armenian and are Armenian Orthodox (also known as Armenian Apostolic or Gregorian); some 5% belong either to the Armenian Evangelical Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Latin Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Anglican Church, the Plymouth Brethren Church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church or they are Jehovah's Witnesses. About 1.000 out of the 3.500 Armenians who live in Cyprus hail from Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Russia, Georgia, Persia, Greece, Iraq, Ethiopia, Turkey and Kuweit. Most of the first wave of Armenians from Armenia who arrived in Cyprus from 1991 onwards were in fact the Armenian-Cypriots and their descendants who emigrated to Armenia between 1962–1964, as part of the nerkaght (ներգամթ - repatriation) movement.
The map on the right shows the places of origin of Armenian-Cypriots, based on a survey that Archbishop Bedros Saradjian conducted in 1935. According to available information, the about 1.000 refugees from the Hamidian massacres (1894–1896) mainly originated from Diyarbakir, Aintab and Kilis; only about 100 of them stayed. The next wave of Armenian refugees were the about 2.000 who fled the Adana massacre in 1909, most of whom returned to their ancestral homes in Adana within the same year. However, the biggest wave of refugees - some of whom had come before and returned - were the nearly 9.000 who escaped the massive deportations, the horrific massacres and the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottomans and the Young Turks; about 1.300 of them decided to stay, while the others eventually made arrangements to settle in other countries. These refugees came mainly from Adana and Seleucia, while there a significant number of them came from Sis, Marash, Tarsus, Caesarea, Hadjin and Aintab; smaller numbers came from the other places noted on the map, alphabetically: Adapazar, Adrianople (Edirne), Afion-Karahisar, Alexandretta (Iskenderoun), Arapgir, Armash Baghche, Bardizag, Balian Dagh, Biredjik, Bitlis Brusa, Chemishgezek, Constantinople (Bolis) Dortyol, Edessa (Urfa), Erzerum, Eskishehir, Everek, Ikonion (Konya), Jeyhan, Kesab, Kharpert, Kutahia, Malatia, Mersin, Misis, Musa Dagh (Musa Ler), Nicomedia (Izmit), Rhaedestos (Tekirdagh), Sasun, Sebastia (Sivas), Shar, Sivri Hisar, Smyrna (Izmir), Tokat (Evdokia), Trepizond, Van, Yerzinga, Yozgat and Zeitun.
Read more about this topic: Armenians In Cyprus