Dhekelia

By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The larger of these is the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area.

• British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus;
• of the Sovereign Base Area land 60% is privately owned and farmed, 20% is owned by the Ministry of Defense, and 20% is SBA Crown land

conventional long form:

Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area

conventional short form:

Dhekelia

name:

Episkopi Cantonment (base administrative center for Akrotiri and Dhekelia); located in Akrotiri

geographic coordinates:

34 40 N, 32 51 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• the Sovereign Base Area Administration has its own court system to deal with civil and criminal matters;
• laws applicable to the Cypriot population are, as far as possible, the same as the laws of the Republic of Cyprus

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)

head of government:

Administrator Major General Jamie GORDON (since October 2008); note - reports to the British Ministry of Defense

elections:

• none;
• the monarch is hereditary;
• the administrator is appointed by the monarch