Famagusta, town in eastern Cyprus, administrative center of Famagusta District, near the capital city of Nicosia. A seaport, Famagusta is a center for the export of citrus fruits and other agricultural products and livestock; other major economic activities include cotton spinning, the distillation of brandy, and fishing. Near the town are the ruins of the ancient city of Salamis, destroyed in AD647. Famagusta was a haven for Christian refugees in 1291 after the fall of Acre ('Akko, in what is now Israel) to the Ottoman Turks. The Genoese seized the town in 1376 and controlled it until 1464, when it became a part of the kingdom of Cyprus. In 1489 Famagusta passed into the hands of the Venetians, under whose control it became a rich and flourishing seaport with 30,000 inhabitants. In 1571, after a long siege, it fell to the Turks. Over a period of several decades it began to diminish in importance, and in 1735 an earthquake brought about its ruin. The town came under British administration in 1878. Its harbor, once choked with silt, has been dredged. During the Cypriot fighting in 1974, the town was occupied by Turkish forces and its residents were displaced. Population (1989 estimate) 20,516.
