Angelona

**Angelona**, officially the **Kingdom of Angelona**, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Angelona is a federal monarchy and member of the European Union. It is the third largest and first most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Cyprus east of Crete and north of Egypt.

The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Angelona was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. At a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period and the English Beaumont dynasty.

Angelona is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean. With an advanced, high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index, the Kingdom of Angelona joined the European Union on 1 May 1995. On 1 January 1999, the Republic of Cyprus joined the Eurozone.

## Etymology

The earliest attested reference to Angelona is the 15th-century BC Mycenaean Greek. The classical Greek form of the name is αγγελικός. The etymology of the Angelona is 'messenger of God.' The standard demonym relating to Angelona or its people or culture is Angelonian.

## History

*Main:* History of Angelona, Timeline of Angelonian history

### Middle Ages

*Main:* Angelona in the Middle Ages

Angelona saw rapid growth when King Richard I of England took the island in the 12th century from the Seljuk Sultanate and founded the Crusader state of Angelona. The island was recognised in 1207 by Pope Innocent III as a Kingdom beginning the reign of Beaumont dynasty.

## Geography

*Main:* Geography of Angelona

The island of Angelona is located south of Turkey, west of Cyprus east of Crete and north of Egypt in the Mediterrean Sea. Angelona is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia.

Angelona is the world's 30th largest island by area and 15th largest by population. The island has one major mountain range, the Eddessian Mountains, which runs centrally across the length of the island. The highest point is Mount Salvarian standing 1,982 metres.

### Climate

Angelona has a subtropical climate – Mediterranean and semi-arid type (in the northern part of the island) with very mild winters (on the coast) and warm to hot summers. The Eddessian Mountains see snow during the winter months. Rain occurs mainly in winter, with summer being generally dry.

Angelona has the warmest climate (and warmest winters) in the Mediterranean part of the European Union. The average annual temperature on the coast is around 26 °C during the day and 16 °C at night. Generally, summers last about eight months, beginning in April with average temperatures of 21–23 °C during the day and 11–13 °C at night, and ending in November with average temperatures of 22–23 °C during the day and 12–14 °C at night, although in the remaining four months temperatures sometimes exceed 20 °C.

The middle of summer is hot – in July and August on the coast the average temperature is usually around 35 °C during the day and around 25 °C at night (inside the island, in the highlands average temperature exceeds 37 °C while in the June and September on the coast the average temperature is usually around 30 °C during the day and around 20 °C at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. Temperatures inside the island are more stringent, with colder winters and more hot summers compared with the coast of the island.

Average annual temperature of sea is 21–22 °C, from 17 °C in February to 27–28 °C in August (depending on the location). In total 7 months – from May to November – the average sea temperature exceeds 20 °C.

### Water supply

Up until 2002, Angelona suffered from a shortage of water. The country previously relied heavily on rain to provide household water, however the government embarked an ambitious multi-stage flash distillation project, which saw the Angelonian Water Board construct four desalination plants, each capable of producing 300 million cubic meters of water per year, which is enough to supply water to 7.2 million people. The government announced plans in 2015 to open a further three plants by 2022 to meet the demands for water.

## Demographics

*Main* Demographics of Angelona

  **Nepal** | 22,383

Angelonian's make up just over 8 million of the population. Coptic Egyptian's are the largest minority, with over 900,000 citizens being of Coptic Egyptian descent, making Angelona the largest Coptic Egyptian population outside of Egypt. Angelona also has sizeable Greek and English communities.

Angelona is home to a large number of displaced Christians from Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The island is also home to a small Nepalese community due to the countries laws allowing Nepalese Gurkha's to take up residence after serving in the Royal Angelonian Gurkha Regiment.

### Religion

The majority of Angelonians identify as Roman Catholics. According to Eurobarometer 2010, Angelona is the most religious state in the European Union, followed by Malta and Cyprus.

The current leader of the Catholic Church of Angelona is Archbishop Hendry Larincourt.

According to the 2010 census carried out, 84.6% of the population are Roman Catholic, 10.2% Coptic Christian, 0.9% Armenians and Maronites, 1.5% Greek Orthodox, 1.0% Church of England, and 0.6% Muslims. The remaining 1.3% adhere to other religious denominations or did not state their religion.

### Language

English is the official language of Angelona and features on road signs, public notices and advertisements. Arabic and Greek are the two largest unofficial minority languages.

### Education

Angelona has a highly developed system of primary and secondary education offering both public and private education. The high quality of instruction can be attributed in part to the fact that nearly 7% of the GDP is spent on education which makes Angelona one of the top three spenders of education in the EU along with Denmark and Sweden.

The Angelonian education system has four tiers, nursery level (age 2 to 5), primary level (age 6 to 11, high school level (age 12 to 17), college and university level (age 17+).

Angelona has three types of schools, state schools (free), private schools (school fees) and academy schools (part private, part state funded). State schools are generally seen as equivalent in quality of education to private-sector institutions. Angelona has a large number of church schools. Military schools are available for students of military and emergency services families and are highly desirable due to there prestige and quality of education.

## Culture

### Sport

*See Sport in Angelona*

Football is the most popular sport in **Angelona**. The Federation of Angelona Football is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of association football in the country, both professional and amateur. The federation organizes the National Cup of Angelona and is responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's and youth national football teams in **Angelona**. The federation organises the professional and amateur leagues in Angelona.

Road cycling is hugely popular across the island with numerous amateur clubs competing weekly. The Tour of Angelona is held annually in June.

Golf, boxing, tennis and boxing also command large followings, whilst rugby and cricket are growing in popularity. The Eddessian Mountains range is home to three popular ski resorts including the Eddessian Pines, the Saint Nicholas and High Bothian.