CYPRUS 🇨🇾 OFFICIAL COVERAGE: COMING TO GEOGUESSR IN 2025!!

It's been confirmed by Google that they planned to collect Street View imagery in the Republic of Cyprus around late 2024. Since we're now in 2025, it's safe to assume Google has finished obtaining the imagery and will release it in the coming months. Apple Maps has already been capturing imagery there with backpackers and cars but I've done some research and haven't seen any confirmed sightings of the Street View car in Cyprus. It's also unclear which generation camera Google will use for the official coverage or if there will be any car metas.

So I have a lot of questions:

1. Is Google actually going to go through with this? I know Apple and Google tend to follow each other around, but as I said, there's no actual proof that it happened yet.

2. Will it include the disputed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) or the UN buffer zone? There have been reports that Google will cover the TRNC, but it comes from a singular Turkish media source, and there hasn't been any chatter since then. The UN buffer zone separates the island into the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish-occupied zone, and it's interesting to see whether or not Google will venture into publicly accessible UN-patrolled areas, most notably the village of Pyla. If so, what country will it technically be in?

I feel if Google adds Cyprus, it's going to be excepted from country streaks and country royale just like Taiwan, Palestine, Western Sahara, and Kashmir. As of right now, however, clicking on Cyprus highlights the whole island, so I wouldn't be surprised if GeoGuessr decides to keep it like that or just remove the TRNC's clickability. Of course, either option would entail negative reactions from the community, so I wish the GeoGuessr team good luck in dealing with this controversy.

3. Will it include the Akrotiri and Dhekelia Sovereign Base Areas and their enclaves? These are British military bases and surrounding areas controlled by the United Kingdom which are considered to be in the UK on Google Maps. There's plenty of public areas within the base zones, and a few motorways run through them. There's no customs or immigration checks entering the SBAs, which makes it easy for Google to collect imagery there.

There's an RoC-controlled area east of the Dhekelia SBA called Ayia Napa which isn't part of any official district, as well as two Cypriot enclaves within Dhekelia. Ayia Napa is a popular tourist resort, and there's no way to get there without driving through Dhekelia or the TRNC. If Google does as indicated on its website and only drives in the four districts of RoC-controlled Cyprus, they probably will not publish imagery here, and hence won't need any reason to drive through Dhekelia. Akrotiri should be fine, though, because the A6 motorway runs through the British zone and essentially connects the Paphos and Limassol districts.

Any thoughts about Cyprus' addition to Street View? Does anyone have any other news or sightings about Cyprus official coverage? Please let me know!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick facts about Cyprus

To practice, unofficial coverage is available all across the island!!

Driving side: left (🇬🇧)

Official languages: Greek 🇬🇷 (η γρήγορη καφετιά αλεπού πηδάει πάνω από το τεμπέληκο σκύλο), Turkish 🇹🇷 (hızlı kahverengi tilki tembel köpeğin üzerinden atlar)

Currency: Euro (€/EUR) [TRNC: Turkish lira (₺/TRY)]

Internet domain: .cy [TRNC: .tr]

International calling code: +357 [TRNC: +90]

License plates: mostly Euro-style with blue strip on left, white plates on most cars, yellow plates on taxis, red plates on rentals in both RoC and TRNC. SBA-registered cars are just like UK, with white front and yellow rear plates (no blue strip). UN patrol cars have light blue plates. [On vehicles registered before 2013 from RoC, and 2018 from TRNC, plates are UK-style (with yellow on rear) but still contain the blue strip.] Wikipedia

Hint: Don't get confused with Greece! Cypriots in the RoC love their Greek flags!

Happy guessing! 🇨🇾