Famagusta

Famagusta District exemplifies territorial amputation in economics: the 1974 Turkish invasion bisected this district, leaving the ghost city of Varosha—once Cyprus's premier tourist resort—as a fenced, abandoned zone under Turkish military control. The district lost Cyprus's only deepwater port, 65% of the island's hotel capacity, and the economic infrastructure built over decades. What remains under Greek Cypriot control—Ayia Napa and Protaras—became substitute destinations for the tourism the occupation destroyed.

The Ayia Napa-Protaras tourism strip developed precisely because Famagusta proper became inaccessible. This is niche construction through catastrophe: resorts were built to replace what couldn't be accessed rather than what was optimal. The southeastern coast captured the beach tourism that Varosha once monopolized, but the development was reactive rather than planned.

The district's economy operates in permanent partial function. Greek Cypriot refugees from occupied Famagusta maintain property claims they cannot exercise. The UN buffer zone bisects territory. The ghost city remains frozen in 1974—hotels, shops, apartments decaying behind barbed wire as political negotiating chip. When Cyprus achieved 3.4% GDP growth in 2024, Famagusta's contribution came only from its Greek-controlled fragment, while its historical heart remained economically dead.