1914 - Cyprus was annexed by Great Britain, after more than 300 years of Ottoman rule.
1925 - Cyprus became a British crown colony.
1955 - Greek Cypriots began a guerrilla war against British rule. The guerrilla movement, the National Organisation of Cypriot Combatants (EOKA), sought enosis, or unification with Greece.
1956 - Archbishop Makarios, head of enosis campaign, was deported to the Seychelles.
1959 - Makarios returned to Cyprus and was elected president.
1960 - Cyprus won its independence from Britain after Greek and Turkish communities agreed on a constitution. Britain kept its sovereignty over two military bases.
1963 - Makarios raised Turkish fears by proposing constitutional changes which would have ended power-sharing arrangements. Inter-communal violence erupts. Turkish side withdrew from power-sharing.
1964 - United Nations peacekeeping force was sent to Cyprus.
1974 - The Cyprus War divided the island. The military junta in Greece sought to unify Cyprus and backed a coup against Makarios, who escaped. Within days Turkish troops landed in the Turkish-dominated north, forced 120,000 Greek Cypriots to flee to the Greek-dominated southern part of the island. The Attila Line, or "green line," divided the north, called after 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, from the south, called the Republic of Cyprus after joining the EU in 2004. The Green Line also divided the capital city of Nicosia.
1975 - Turkish Cypriots gained control of 36% of the island and established an independent administration, with Rauf Denktash as president.
1977 - Makarios died, and was ucceeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
1980 - UN-sponsored peace talks resumed.
1983 - Denktash suspended talks and proclaimed the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It was recognized only by Turkey.
1985 - No agreement at talks between Denktas and Kyprianou.
1988 - Georgios Vassiliou was elected Greek Cypriot president.
1989 - Vassiliou-Denktash talks abandoned.
1992 - Talks resumed and collapsed again.
1993 - Glafcos Clerides replaced Vassiliou as president.
1994 - European Court of Justice ruled that all direct trade between northern Cyprus and European Union was illegal.
1996 - Increased tension and violence along buffer zone.
1997 - Failure of UN-mediated peace talks between Clerides and Denktas.
1998 - Clerides was re-elected to a second term by narrow margin.
2001 - The UN Security Council in June renewed its 36-year mission in Cyprus. Some 2,400 peacekeepers patroled the buffer zone between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Turkey kept 35,000 troops in the north. In July, dozens of police officers were injured as protesters attacked a British military base at Akrotiri over plans to build telecommunications masts alleged to pose a health hazard. In November, Turkey threatened to annex the north if the Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union before a settlement was reached.
2002 - Clerides and Denktash in January began UN-sponsored negotiations. In November, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presented a comprehensive peace plan for Cyprus for a federation with two constituent parts, presided over by a rotating presidency. In December, the EU summit in Copenhagen invited Cyprus to join in 2004 provided the two communities agreed to UN plan by early spring 2003. Without reunification, only the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot part of the island would gain membership.
2003 - Tassos Papadopoulos defeated Clerides in February presidential elections with just weeks to go before deadline for agreeing UN plan for the island's future. In March, the UN deadline for agreement on reunification plan passed without agreement. Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged that the plan has failed. In April, Turkish and Greek Cypriots crossed the island's dividing "green line" for first time in 30 years after Turkish Cypriot authorities eased restrictions. Within three days some 17,000 people made the crossing. The December elections in Turkish part of island split seats in parliament equally between parties backing UN reunification plan and parties opposed to it. Mehmet Ali Talat of Republican Turkish Party, which supported UN settlement plan, was invited to form coalition government.
2004 - Mr Talat in January reached a coalition agreement with Democratic Party, headed by Serdar Denktash, son of Turkish Cypriot leader. In April, twin referendums on whether to accept a UN reunification plan were put to a vote in an effort to achieve united EU entry. Plan was endorsed by Turkish side but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots.
