FACTBOX: Facts and figures on Cyprus

(Reuters) - Following are some key facts on Cyprus, which holds a fiercely contested presidential election on Sunday affecting the fate of a stalled peace process on the divided island, and Turkey's aspirations to join the EU.

ECONOMY - Services such as finance and tourism represent almost 80 percent of the island's gross domestic product. GDP in total is forecast at 8.9 billion Cyprus pounds ($22.25 billion) for 2007, making up 0.2 percent of the GDP of the 15 euro zone members. Cyprus joined the euro zone on January 1 with Malta.

GEOGRAPHY - Third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sardinia and Corsica, lying south of Turkey. At 9,251 square km, it is comparable in size to the U.S. state of Connecticut. Only 10 percent of its landscape is arable, and the island suffers from severe water shortages. Water is desalinated from the sea.

HISTORY - Invaded repeatedly throughout the ages. Became part of the Ottoman empire in 1571, ceded to Britain in 1878, became a Crown Colony in 1925. Gained independence in 1960, invaded by Turkey in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup.

Joined the European Union in 2004, but membership effectively excludes the north, a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state which unilaterally declared independence in 1983 and is recognized only by Ankara. Situation in Cyprus source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

CONSTITUTION - Provides for Greek Cypriot President, Turkish Cypriot vice president; the latter seat has been empty since 1963, when a power-sharing administration collapsed because of constitutional changes pursued by the Greek Cypriots.

Cyprus has a presidential system, with a strong executive.

PEOPLE - Main ethnic group are Greek Cypriots, followed by Turkish Cypriots. Population of around one million; some 750,000 people living on southern Greek Cypriot side, 250,000 on Turkish Cypriot side. About a quarter of the population were internally displaced in 1974, and in inter-ethnic violence after independence. Sides are separated by a U.N. peacekeeping force first dispatched in 1964.

Official languages are Greek and Turkish; English widely spoken. Cypriot dialect -- featured recently in Hollywood blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest -- is used widely in everyday language, and is a parlance mainlanders from Greece and Turkey can rarely follow.

(Writing by Michele Kambas)