Nicosia (Greek: Lefkosia; Turkish: Lefkosa) is the capital and largest city on the island of Cyprus, as well as its main business centre. It is located near the centre of the Mesaoria plain, on the banks of the River Pedieos.
Nicosia is the capital and seat of government of the Republic of Cyprus. It is the most south-eastern capital of the EU member states. The northern part of the city functions as the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a disputed region recognized only by Turkey, and which the international community recognises as Cypriot territory under Turkish occupation, and has done so since the Turkish invasion in 1974. Through the years Nicosia has established itself as the island's financial capital and its main international business centre. The city is ranked as the 5th richest city in the world in per capita income terms. In the past few years Nicosia has seen remarkable progress regarding its infrastructure with the most remarkable being the central Eleftheria square currently in progress.

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These images acquired over Nicosia (Cyprus) in a time window of 30 years by the Landsat 5 and 8 satellites, aim to show the urban changes of the West area (Greek Government), from the East area (Turkish - Cypriot Government). Using this type of comparison it is possible to see all the changes around the two sides of the city. Another aim of these images is to promote the opportunity to download Landsat data through the ESA portals, where images captured every day are made available in near real time to the users and the scientific community.

For more information see the links below:

• LANDSAT-8 portal
• LANDSAT 1-7 portal

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View Landsat 5 TM high resolution image [JPG 648 KB]

View Landsat 8 OLI high resolution image [JPG 577 KB]

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