Karpaz peninsula (or the panhandle) is the easternmost part of the island of Cyprus, where the land tapers into a thin strip which stretches out towards Turkey.

The area is rich in subterranean water reservoirs and thus crops such as wheat , grape , olive and carob are grown in abundance.  Another main source of income in the region is fishing.  Bogaz , Kumyali and Dipkarpaz are the fishing centers in Karpaz.

As well as numerous Byzantine churches, the most notable of these is the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, the area boasts some of the finest countryside on the island. The Karpas peninsula has been called the nature reserve of Cyprus for birds, wild flowers, and sea fossils are to be found everywhere. 

Moreover, numerous picturesque beaches, both sandy and rocky, are said to be the best in the region.  With pine, cypress and maquis covered hills reaching an altitude of about 1,000 metres also makes the Karpas region almost a perfect natural reserve site of the whole island. 
  
  
Karpaz peninsula is also almost totally free from heavy concentration of industry and people, and is one of the least polluted regions in the European periphery.  Escaping the last ice age, the island of Cyprus has managed to retain a substantial amount of biological diversity with a significant amount of endemic species - plant species number about 1,600 (22 endemic); bird species about 350 (7 endemic); and there are 26 reptile and amphibian species for most of which the Karpaz is their natural home.

Being also on one of the main bird migration routes between Eastern Europe and Africa, each year approximately 300 species amounting to millions of birds use this route in early spring and late summer. 

Moreover, about 46 sandy beaches in the Karpaz comprise the main nestling ground for the endangered Chelonia Mydas and Caretta Caretta sea turtles in the Eastern Mediterranean.  
The last colony of European Audouin seagulls nest on the small Klidhes isles at the tip of the Karpaz Peninsula in North Cyprus.