World’s tallest building lights up with Cyprus flag for Independence Day

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, was lit up in the colours of Cyprus to mark Independence Day, as the country celebrates the 66th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Cyprus on Thursday. It is not the first time the tower has honoured Cyprus. The Burj Khalifa also displayed the colours of the Cypriot flag in 2020, for Cyprus’s 60th Independence Day. The skyscraper regularly marks other countries’ national days in the same way, and it was lit up in the flags of Pakistan and India in 2024 as the two countries celebrated their independence days. Cyprus was declared an independent, sovereign state on August 16, 1960, under the Zurich and London agreements of 1959, after the EOKA struggle against British colonial rule from 1955 to 1959. On July 11, 1963, the Council of Ministers set October 1 as Cyprus’s official Independence Day, so that it could be celebrated with full honours in the presence of the diplomatic corps. The day is marked with military parades and ceremonies across the island. At 828.5 metres and with 163 floors, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and in human history. Construction began on September 21, 2004, and was completed on October 1, 2009. The building officially opened on January 5, 2010. Read more: The Independence Day military display in pictures and videos