Unitary state, federation, confederation and partition.

These concepts do not have clear definitions. It’s best to think of them as a range where at the one end lies the unitary state and at the other end lies partition. Based on characteristic elements or criteria, such as how much power the states/ regions enjoy in relation to the central power, we may consider a state to be a federation, a confederation, and so on. Below you will find examples and explanations of what each of these concepts represent, with 0 meaning a unitary state and 10 meaning two separate independent states.

The idea of federalism as a solution to the Cyprus issue has existed since 1977 and since then it has been the basis of the negotiations. Even the recent joint declaration, simply sets a Federation as the basis for negotiations. The following forms of Federation have been widely discussed:

Bizonalism
Bizonalism means that there are 2 areas/ constituencies/ states

Bicommunalism
Bicommunalism is when the population is separated in 2 communities which are represented in the state

Multi-regional
This basically is the idea if splitting the island in, let’s say, 6 regions, which is as many as the provinces are. This, clearly, consists of a geographical separation and most federations are like this, such as Germany and Switzerland.

http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/0/E2D264056F00ACB1C22576DC0034DEC5/$file/pdfomospondia.pdf?openelement