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Lemba or Lempa village is located four kilometers northwest of the town of Paphos (Ktima). According to Goodwin, Lemba means “village of embarkation.” In 1958 Turkish Cypriots adopted the alternative name Çıralı, meaning “place with a torch.” The village is situated on top of an escarpment overlooking the sea. In 1981, the Cyprus College of Art was established in Lempa. The College renovated the damaged Turkish Cypriot school/mosque and turned it into an art studio. Many artists have moved into the village, which has since become an artists' colony. 

 

According to census reports, until 1911 Lempa was solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots. After that year, three or four Greek Cypriot families moved to the village. However the village was once again solely inhabited by Turkish Cypriot from 1960 to 1964, when all the Turkish Cypriots of Lempa were displaced.

Displacement:

Due to the intercommunal tensions of 1958 and with the encouragement of the Turkish Cypriot leadership, most of the Lempa Turkish Cypriots left the village and moved to Afanteia/Gaziköy(112) in the Famagusta district. After the establishment of the Republic in 1960, they all returned to their village. Due to intercommunal strife, however, on 2 January 1964, the villagers of Lempa fled to the Turkish Cypriot quarter in the city of Paphos (Ktima)(329). They stayed there until 1975, when they moved to the northern part of the divide. Some did not wait for the organized evacuation and left secretly over the mountains to the north or took refuge in the Akrotiri British Base Area, from where they were transferred to north Cyprus via Turkey in January 1975. Some remained in Paphos(329) and were eventually escorted by UNFICYP in September 1975 to the northern part of the barbed wire. They were mainly resettled in Famagusta(140), Morphou/Güzelyurt(072), Nicosia(074) and Kyrenia(236). There are another five families who were settled in other parts of north Cyprus. The number of Lempa Turkish Cypriots who were displaced after 1974 must have been around 170-180 (162 in 1960 census).

Current Inhabitants:

This village was used for the resettlement of some displaced Greek Cypriots from the island’s north, but until the art school mentioned above was built in 1981, the village was mostly abandoned and in ruin. Since the opening of the art school, many other artists have moved to the village, built summer houses, etc. According to the 2001 census, there were 334 persons living in the village.

  

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• Department of Statitstics and Research, 1997. Estimates of Turkish Cypriots and Settlers from Turkey, Ministry of Finance [Republic of Cyprus], Nicosia.
• Fehmi, Hasan (2003), “Güney’de Kalan Değerlerimiz,” Lefkoşa (Nicosia): Özyay Matbaacılık.
• Fellahoğlu, Esat (2010), “Ulusal Direnişte Baf Köyleri,” İstanbul: Bayrak Matbaacılık.
• Giray, Halil: KKTC Yerleşim Birimleri, Yürürlükteki ve Eski İsimler Listesi KKTC İskân Bakanlığı : KKTC Coğrafi İsimler Kataloğu : (Cilt – I and II), Lefkoşa.
• Goodwin, Jack C. (1984), “An Historical Toponymy of Cyprus (Forth edition),” Nicosia (copy number 6).
• Hart-Davis, C. H (1922), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1921, taken on the 24th April, 1921,” London: Waterlow & Sons.
• Hart-Davis, C. H (1932), “Report of the Census of 1931,” Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office.
• 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.
• Hill, Sir George, (1952). A History of Cyprus, Vol. IV., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Ioannides, Christos P., 1991. “In Turkey’s Image: The Transformation of Occupied Cyprus into a Turkish Province,” Aristide D. Caratzas, New York.
• KKTC Başbakanlık Devlet Planlama Örgütü Müsteşarlığı, “15 Aralık 1996 Genel Nüfus Sayımı Sonuçları (Özet), 26, November 1997,” Nicosia.
• Mavrogordato, Alexander (1901), “Report and general abstracts of the census of 1901, taken on the 1st April, 1901,” Nicosia: Government Printing Office.
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• Menardos, Simos (2001), Τοπωνημικαι και Λαογραφικαι Μελεται (Topographical and Folkloric Studies), Nicosia: Centre for Scientific Studies
  Perry, Frederic W., 1884. Report on the Census of Cyprus 1881, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London.
• Republic of Cyprus, 1961. “Census of Population and Agriculture, 1960: Volume I: Population by Location, Race, and Sex,” Nicosia
• TRNC 2006 census preliminary results can be found at:  www.devplan.org
  TRNC Prime Ministry State Planning Organisation Statistics and Research Department, Census of Population: Social and Economic Characteristics of Population, December 15, 1996, TRNC Prime Ministry, Nicosia, 1999.
• 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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• Patrick, Richard (1976), “Political Geography and the Cyprus Conflict: 1963-1971,” Department of Geography, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo.
• Percival, D.A. (1949), “Census of population and agriculture 1946 report,” Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office.
• 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.
• Republic of Cyprus (2003), “Census of population 2001,” Nicosia: Department of Statistics and Research, Ministry of Finance.
• St John-Jones, L. W., 1983. “The Population of Cyprus: Demographic Trends and  Socio-Economic Influences” (with a foreword by W. H. Morris-Jones), Maurice  Temple, Smith Limited, London.
• T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü (2000), “Osmanlı İdaresinde Kıbrıs (Nüfus-Arazi Dağılımı ve Türk Vakıfları),” Ankara: Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı Yayın No: 43.
• 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)