The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri an Dhekelia are two UK administered areas on the island of Cyprus that comprise the Sovereign Base Areas military bases of the United Kingdom. The bases were retained by the UK following the EOKA struggle of the Cypriot people and the eventual Cyprus' transition from a colony in the British Empire to an independent Commonwealth republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. The United Kingdom retained the bases because of the strategic location of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.