The road network in Cyprus is asbizarre and confusing as the island's history itself.
Since 1974, Cyprus island is split intotwo separate geographical areas - the turkish in the north and thegreek in the south - , each with its own language, culture, religion,legislation and political and economic system.
On the other hand,the maps available in the south still display the Greek names thatwere in use before the Turkish occupation of 1974, although TurkishCypriots do not understand the Greek language and even use adifferent alphabet. Thus, for example, Kyrenia, Morphou andAmmostochos are also referred to as Girne, Guzelyurt and Gazimagusa.
Mobile phones with Greek Cypriot SIMcards do not work in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Inaddition, once the border checkpoint has been crossed, the GPS nolonger recognises the streets' names, as the Republic of NorthernCyprus is officially acknowledged only by Turkey.
This system of duplicate namesobviously leads to a great deal of confusion, and makes it nearlyimpossible to reach a destination following the directions ofofficial maps.
This is the motivation undelryingthe "Roundabout#cyprus" project, is aimed at analyzing theconsequences of the Cyprus political deadlock on the geography andtopography of an island that remains, to this day, the last dividedcountry in Europe.