As can be seen from the chart above, Spathariko had been a mixed village with a Greek Cypriot majority since the Ottoman period. In the Ottoman census of 1831, Christians made up almost 72% of the population. This percentage increased during the first decades of the British occupation to 87% in 1891. During the first half of the 20th century, while the Greek Cypriot population increased steadily, the Turkish Cypriot population became stagnant. In the 1946 census, Turkish Cypriots constituted only 6% of the population. This percentage was almost 14% in 1891.
Displacement:
In 1958, due to intercommunal strife, all the Turkish Cypriots fled Spathariko and took refuge in nearby villages and in Nicosia(074). They remained in these locations throughout the 1960s, and only a handful showed an interest in being relocated back to their village after 1974. The majority remained where they had sought refuge in 1958 or resettled in other locations, mainly in the cities.
All the Greek Cypriots of Spathariko were displaced in August 1974. Currently, like the rest of the displaced Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriots of Spathariko are scattered throughout the island’s south. The displaced population of Spathariko could be estimated to be around 570, since its Greek Cypriot population was 566 in 1973.
Current Inhabitants:
Apart from a small number of original Spathariko Turkish Cypriots who returned and Turkish Cypriots from nearby villages who moved to Spathariko after 1974, the village was mainly repopulated by displaced Turkish Cypriots from Menoyia(367) in the Larnaca district of south Cyprus. There are also a handful of families from the Trabzon province of Turkey who were settled in the village in 1976. The 2006 census puts the village’s population at 386.
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