Cyprus has a population of roughly 1.3 million, split unevenly by the island's political division. The Republic of Cyprus in the south is home to the large majority — Greek Cypriots, plus a substantial and growing expat population drawn by EU residency and the island's relatively low cost of living. Northern Cyprus has a more complex demographic: original Turkish Cypriots, settlers from mainland Turkey who arrived after 1974, and a growing number of expats and students from Turkey and elsewhere.
Greek Cypriots identify strongly as Greek in culture and Orthodox Christian in religion, though they will often tell you they are "Cypriot first." They speak a dialect of Greek that sounds notably different from Athenian standard, with Turkish loanwords woven in from centuries of Ottoman rule.
Turkish Cypriots are predominantly Muslim but tend to be secular in practice. Their culture has been shaped by both Anatolian and distinctly Cypriot traditions — they share more with Greek Cypriots in terms of food, music, and outlook than the political division might suggest.
Cypriots on both sides are warm and hospitable to visitors. English is widely spoken, a legacy of British colonial rule that ended in 1960. The British maintained two Sovereign Base Areas on the island — at Akrotiri and Dhekelia — which still exist today.
The 1974 division displaced around 200,000 people — Greek Cypriots who fled or were expelled from the north, and Turkish Cypriots who moved from the south. For older generations on both sides, this remains an open wound. Most families have a story of a village they can no longer visit, a house they can no longer enter. The emotional weight of this is worth understanding before you make cheerful comments about "crossing into the other side."