Until 1974, the village was a mixed one. Apart from a short period of time in 1931, Turkish Cypriots (Muslims) always constituted the majority. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, the Muslim (Turkish Cypriot) share of the population was almost 76%. In 1891 their percentage decreased to 72%. All the same, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the Greek Cypriot population increased from 24% in 1891 to 42% in 1960. By 1973, however, their numbers declined, dropping from 224 persons in 1960 to 192, constituting 29% of the total village’s population.
Displacement:
It is important to note that some of the Greek Cypriot inhabitants started to leave the village in the 1960s due to intercommunal disturbances and the village’s partial inclusion in the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Lefka/Lefke(060), a stronghold of the Turkish Cypriot Fighter force. Although no Turkish Cypriots were displaced from Kalo Chorio, the village’s Turkish sector became a reception center for displaced Turkish Cypriots from nearby villages such as Peristerona(085) and Agios Georgios/Madenliköy(006) in the Solea region. Richard Patrick recorded 40 displaced Turkish Cypriots still living in the village in 1971. At the beginning of the 1974 war, in late July, all Turkish Cypriot males of fighting age then found in the Lefka/Lefke(060) enclave were taken prisoner and sent to the POW camp in Limassol, where they remained for three months until they were exchanged. As the Turkish army advanced towards the village, its remaining Greek Cypriot inhabitants eventually fled, and there were no Greek Cypriots left in the village by the time the army entered it on 17 August. Currently, like other displaced Greek Cypriots from the island’s north, the Greek Cypriots of Kalo Chorio are scattered throughout the island’s south.
Current Inhabitants:
Currently the village is inhabited by its original Turkish Cypriot inhabitants. Since the mines of Lefka/Lefke ceased operations after the 1974 war , many people from the region migrated to cities or abroad. The 2006 census puts the village’s population at 255, less than half of its population in 1973.
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