Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean (after the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia) and the world's 81st largest island by area. It is located south of Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula  of the Asian (or Eurasian) mainland (part of Turkey), so it may be included in Western Asia or the Middle East: Cyprus is close to Western Asia, Southern Europe, and Northern Africa, and has had lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, Byzantine, Turkish, and Western European influence. It is sometimes included in Europe, and the Republic of Cyprus has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004.