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Potamos tou Kambou is a village situated near Morphou/Güzleyurt bay, on the western outskirts of Xeros, immediately west of the Soli ruins. Potamos tou Kambou means “river of the field” in Greek. Turkish Cypriots called it Kambo Deresi, meaning “river of kambo.” It was not listed as a separate settlement until 1960. According to Goodwin no one lived here before the 1920s. In 1975, Turkish Cypriots changed the name to Yedidalga, meaning “seven waves.”  

 

Until 1960, the village was not listed as a separate entity so it is very hard to determine the actual population. It was, however, always solely inhabited by Greek Cypriots. The 1960 census put the population at 461. Most of the inhabitants of the village in the 1970s were recent immigrants to the region who were working in Xeros for the Cyprus Mine Corporation.

Displacement:

In August 1974, all the Greek Cypriots of the village fled from the advancing Turkish army. Currently, like most of the displaced Greek Cypriots, those of Potamos tou Kambou are scattered throughout the island’s south, with concentrations in towns. The number of the Potamos tou Kambou Greek Cypriots who were displaced in 1974 was approximately 1020 (1010 in the 1973 census). It is important to note that the majority were families of the miners who were working in the nearby mines.

Current Inhabitants:

Currently the village is mainly inhabited by displaced Turkish Cypriots from Vroshia/Yağmuralan(105), Amadies/Günebakan(015) and nearby villages. The 2006 Turkish Cypriot census put the village’s population at 775.

  

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• Giray, Halil: KKTC Yerleşim Birimleri, Yürürlükteki ve Eski İsimler Listesi KKTC İskân Bakanlığı : KKTC Coğrafi İsimler Kataloğu : (Cilt – I and II), Lefkoşa.
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• Hart-Davis, C. H (1922), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1921, taken on the 24th April, 1921,” London: Waterlow & Sons.
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• Hatay, Mete, (2005). “Beyond Numbers: An Inquiery into the Political Integration of the Turkish ‘Settlers’ in Northern Cyprus,” PRIO/Cyprus Centre Report  4/2005, Nicosia/Oslo, PRIO.
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• Republic of Cyprus, 1961. “Census of Population and Agriculture, 1960: Volume I: Population by Location, Race, and Sex,” Nicosia
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• Standing Cypriot Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names (2007), “Οδηγος Τυποποιησης Ονοματων (Guide to Standardized Names),” Nicosia: Ministry of Education and Culture.
• Ministry of Finance (1973), “Micro-Census (April 1973) Population by Village and Ethnic Group, Volume I.” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research.
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• Republic of Cyprus (1962), “Census of population and agriculture, 1960,” Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
• Republic of Cyprus (1984), “Census of population 1982,” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research, Ministry of Finance.
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• Yorgancıoğlu,  Oğuz: Kıbrıs’ta Türkçe Yer Adları ve Veriliş Yöntemleri Üzerine Bir Araştırma Kıbrıs Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt : 2, Sayı : 3, Yıl : 96

Websites:

• http://www.cyprus-village.com/ (for the villages)
• http://news.karpasha.com/
• http://human-rights-archaeology.blogspot.com/
• http://kypros.org/Occupied_Cyprus/ (for the villages in the north)