The village has always been a Turkish Cypriot village. As can be seen from the chart above, in the Ottoman census of 1831, Muslims (Turkish Cypriots) constituted the sole inhabitants. Throughout the British period, the population of the village showed a steady increase, rising from 51 in 1891 to 262 in 1960.
Displacement:
No one was displaced during the emergency years of the late 1950s or during the inter-communal strife of 1963-64. However, after December 1963, the village served as a reception center for many displaced Turkish Cypriots, mostly from villages such as Mathiatis/Matyat(069) and Agios Sozomenos/Arpalık(008). In 1971, Richard Patrick recorded 108 Turkish Cypriot displaced persons still living in the village. He also estimated the village’s population at 357 (262 in 1960). Although the village never surrendered militarily, the inhabitants moved to the northern part of the divide in September 1975. Many resettled in Dikomo/Dikmen(217), a village in the Kyrenia district, while many more are scattered throughout different villages and towns in the northern part of the divide. The number of displaced Turkish Cypriots from this village can be estimated to be approximately 340 persons, since their population was 333 in 1973.
Current Inhabitants:
Currently, the village is inhabited by displaced persons from north of the divide, who moved into the village immediately after the departure of Turkish Cypriots in September 1975. According to Goodwin almost 40% of the inhabitants in 1976 were Maronites, many originally from Ayia Marina in the Nicosia district. (The 2001 census put the village’s population at only 117, a drop from the 1982 census showing 286 inhabitants. It is believed that many moved to the cities during the 1980s. Today, half of the village’s houses are empty and in ruin.
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