Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean. Currently the island is divided into two separate states. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Republic of Cyprus in the south. The partition of Cyprus took place in 1974 when Turkish troops intervened to stop the internecine attrition between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The problems between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots is a long and complicated story but after the end of British Colonial rule the situation between the two groups worsened and hence came about the partition and now the only divided capital city in the world – Lefkosa/ Nicosia