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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick (talk | contribs) at 10:51, 4 April 2007 (it is a BRITISH overseas territory, read the very first line of the 2002 BOT Act: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20008--a.htm). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
The name of the territory is derived from the original Arabic name Jabal Ţāriq (جبل طارق), meaning "mountain of Tariq", or from Gibr al-Ţāriq, meaning "rock of Tariq"). It refers to the BerberUmayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad, who led the initial incursion into Iberia in advance of the main Moorish force in 711. Earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules. Today, Gibraltar is known colloquially as "Gib" or "the Rock".
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major issue of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain requests the return of sovereignty, ceded by Spain in perpetuity in 1713. The overwhelming majority of Gibraltarians strongly oppose this, along with any proposal of shared sovereignty.
Human settlement in Gibraltar can be traced back to the Phoenicians around 950 BC, although there is earlier evidence of habitation by the Neanderthals, an extinct species of the Homo genus. Semi-permanent settlements were later established by the Carthaginians and Romans. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals, and would later form part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania until its collapse due to the Muslim conquest in 711 AD. At that time, Gibraltar was named as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the legend of the creation of the Straits of Gibraltar.
On April 30, 711, the Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad led a Berber-dominated army across the Strait from Ceuta. He first attempted to land at Algeciras but failed. Subsequently, he landed undetected at the southern point of the Rock from present-day Morocco in his quest for Spain. Little was built during the first four centuries of Moorish control.
The first permanent settlement was built by the Almohad Sultan Abd al-Mu'min, who ordered the construction of a fortification on the Rock, the remains of which are still present. Gibraltar would later become part of the Taifa Kingdom of Granada until 1309, when it would be briefly occupied by Castilian troops. In 1333, it was conquered by the Marinids who had invaded Muslim Spain. The Marinids ceded Gibraltar to the Kingdom of Granada in 1374. Finally, it was reconquered definitively by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1462, ending 750 years of Moorish control.
In the initial years under Medina Sidonia, Gibraltar was granted sovereignty as a home to a population of exiled Sephardic Jews. Pedro de Herrera, a Jewish converso from Córdoba who had led the conquest of Gibraltar, led a group of 4,350 Jews from Córdoba and Seville to establish themselves in the town. A community was built and a garrison established to defend the peninsula. However, this lasted only three years. In 1476, the Duke of Medina Sidonia realigned with the Spanish Crown; the Sefardim were then forced back to Córdoba and the Spanish Inquisition. Gibraltar passed under the hands of the Spanish Crown, which had been established in 1479, in 1501. One year later, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella granted Gibraltar a coat of arms.
The naval Battle of Gibraltar took place on April 25, 1607 during the Eighty Years' War when a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar. During the four-hour action, the entire Spanish fleet was destroyed.
During the War of the Spanish Succession, British and Dutch troops, allies of Archduke Charles, the Austrian pretender to the Spanish Crown, formed a confederate fleet and attacked various towns on the southern coast of Spain. On 4 August1704, after six hours of bombardment starting at 5 a.m., the confederate fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir George Rooke, captured the town of Gibraltar in the name of the Archduke Charles. Terms of surrender were agreed upon, after which much of the population chose to leave Gibraltar. Many others stayed.
Franco-Spanish troops failed to retake the town, and British sovereignty over Gibraltar was subsequently recognised by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the war. Spain ceded Gibraltar and Minorca to the United Kingdom, which has retained sovereignty over the former ever since, despite all attempts by Spain to recapture it.
Gibraltar subsequently became an important naval base for the Royal Navy and played an important part in the Battle of Trafalgar. Its strategic value increased with the opening of the Suez Canal, as it controlled the important sea route between the UK and its colonies in India and Australia. During World War II, the civilian residents of Gibraltar were evacuated, and the Rock was turned into a fortress. An airfield was built over the civilian racecourse. Guns on Gibraltar controlled the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, but plans by Nazi Germany to capture the Rock, codenamed Operation Felix, were frustrated by Spain's reluctance to allow the German Army onto Spanish soil. Germany's Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, also helped by filing a pointedly negative assessment of the options. Canaris was a leader of the German high command resistance to Hitler, and it is thought that he frustrated the attack to limit Germany's aggression.
In the 1950s, Spain, then under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, renewed its claim to sovereignty over Gibraltar, sparked in part by the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Rock's capture. For the next thirty years, Spain restricted movement between Gibraltar and Spain. A referendum was held on September 10, 1967, in which Gibraltar's voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty, or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of continuance of British sovereignty, with 12,138 to 44 voting to reject Spanish sovereignty. In response, Spain completely closed the border with Gibraltar and severed all communication links.
The border with Spain was partially reopened in 1982, and fully reopened in 1985 after Spain's accession into the European Community. Joint talks on the future of the Rock held between Spain and the United Kingdom have occurred since the late 1980s, with various proposals for joint sovereignty discussed. However, another referendum organised in Gibraltar rejected the idea of joint sovereignty by 17,900 (98.97%) votes to 187 (1.03%). The British Government restated that, in accordance with the preamble of the constitution of Gibraltar, the "UK will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes." The question of Gibraltar continues to affect Anglo-Spanish relations.
In September 2006, representatives of the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Spain concluded in Cordoba, Spain, a landmark agreement on a range of cross-cutting issues affecting the Rock and the campo Gibraltar removing many of the restrictions imposed by Spain.
As an overseas territory of the UK, the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. The UK retains responsibility for defence, foreign relations, internal security, and financial stability. The Governor is not involved in the day-to-day administration of Gibraltar, and his role is largely as a ceremonial head of state. The Governor officially appoints the Chief Minister and government ministers after an election. He is responsible for matters of defence, security, and the Royal Gibraltar Police. A new governor, Lt General Sir Robert Fulton KBE, replaced Sir Francis Richards in September 2006. . On 17 July 2006, Sir Francis left on HMS Monmouth leaving the symbolic keys of the fortress of Gibraltar with the Deputy Governor.
The Government of Gibraltar is elected for a term of four years. The unicameralHouse of Assembly consists of fifteen elected members (eight Government members, seven opposition members) and two ex-officio members appointed by the Governor: the Financial Development Secretary and the Attorney-General. The speaker is nominated by the Government.
As a result of the continued Spanish claim, the issue of sovereignty features strongly in Gibraltar politics. All local political parties are opposed to any transfer of sovereignty to Spain, instead supporting self-determination for the Rock. This policy is supported by the main UK opposition parties. In view of the UK Government's repeated commitment to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar, as laid out in the Constitution, the proposal for joint sovereignty is now considered dead.
In March 2006, Jack Strawannounced that a new Gibraltar constitution had been agreed upon and would be published prior to a referendum on its acceptance in Gibraltar that year. In July, in a statement to the UK Parliament, Geoff Hoon, the Minister for Europe, confirmed that the new Constitution confirms the right of self-determination of the Gibraltarian people.
On 30 November 2006, the Gibraltar constitutional referendum, 2006 was held. The turnout was 60.4% of eligible voters of which 60.24% voted to approve the constitution and 37.75% against. The remainder returned blank votes. The acceptance was welcomed by the Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, as a step forward for Gibraltar's political development.
Geography
The Rock of Gibraltar, West Side town area, 2006.
The territory covers 2.53 square miles (6.543 km²). It shares a three-quarter of a mile (1.2 km) land border with Spain and has 7½ miles (12 km) of shoreline. There are two coasts (sides) of Gibraltar – the East Side, which contains the settlements of Sandy Bay and Catalan Bay, and the West Side, where the vast majority of the population lives.
The climate is Mediterranean with mild winters and warm summers. There are two main prevailing winds, an easterly one known as the "Levante" coming from the sahara in Africa which brings humid weather and warmer sea and the other as "poniente" which is westerly and brings fresher air in and colder sea. Its terrain consists of the 1,396 foot (426 m) high Rock of Gibraltar and the narrow coastal lowland surrounding it.
It has negligible natural resources and limited natural freshwater resources, until recently using large concrete or natural rock water catchments to collect rain water. It now has a desalination plant using reverse osmosis, built into the Rock itself.
Gibraltar is one of the most densely populated territories in the world, with approximately 11,154 people per square mile (4,290/km²). The growing demand for space is being increasingly met by land reclamation, which comprises approximately one tenth of the territory's total area.
The Rock itself is made of limestone and is 1,396 feet (426 m) high. It contains many miles of tunnelled roads, most of which are operated by the military and hence closed to the public.
Most of its upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 250 Barbary Macaques, commonly known as 'apes' the only wild monkeys found in Europe. They sometimes visit the town area. Recent genetic studies and historical documents point to their presence on the Rock before its capture by the British. A superstition analogous to that of the ravens at the Tower of London states that if the monkeys ever leave, so will the British.
Gibraltar has no administrative divisions. It is, however, divided into seven Major Residential Areas, which are further divided into Enumeration Areas, used for statistical purposes. The Major Residential Areas are listed below, with population figures from the Census of 2001:
The British military traditionally dominated the economy of Gibraltar, with the naval dockyard providing the bulk of economic activity. This has however diminished in the last twenty years, and it is estimated to account for only 7% of the local economy, compared to over 60% in 1984.
Today, Gibraltar has an extensive service-based economy, dominated by financial services and tourism. Financial services and persons involved in the industry are regulated by the Financial Services Commission, which operates in a similar manner to the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority. In Investment International magazine's 2005 Offshore Finance Centre Awards, readers voted Gibraltar the "Best International Finance Centre".
A number of British and international banks have operations based in Gibraltar. Recently a number of large bookmakers and online gaming operators have opened offices to benefit from operating in a well regulated jurisdiction with a favourable tax regime.
Tourism is also a significant industry. Gibraltar is a popular stop for cruise ships and attracts day visitors from resorts in Spain. The Rock is a popular tourist attraction, particularly among British tourists and residents in the southern coast of Spain. It is also a popular shopping destination, and all goods and services are VAT-free. Many of the large British high street chains have branches in Gibraltar, including Early Learning Centre, Marks and Spencer, Mothercare, BHS, Dorothy Perkins, Next and the supermarket Morrisons.
Other areas of activity are services related to shipping, like bunkering, and ship repair and construction. The economy is considered to be strong and diversified.
Figures from the CIA World Factbook state that Gibraltar has a GDP of over £432 million ($769 million) with a per capita figure of £15,700 ($28,000). The main export markets in 2004 were France (19.4%), Spain (14.1%), Turkmenistan (12.1%), Switzerland (11.7%), Germany (10.1%), the United Kingdom (9.1%), and Greece (6.8%).
The unit of currency in use is the Pound Sterling with notes issued by the Government of Gibraltar although there is an ISO code of GIP for the Gibraltar Pound.
The population of Gibraltar was 27,884 (2005) and has been fairly constant
around that number.
Gibraltarians are often described as British or Spanish, but they are a distinctive racial and cultural fusion of the many European immigrants who came to the Rock over three hundred years. They are the descendants of economic migrants that came to Gibraltar after the majority of the Spanish population left in 1704; by 1753, 185 Spaniards remained. Genoese, Maltese, and Portuguese people formed the majority of this new population. Other groups include Minorcans (forced to leave their homes when Minorca was returned to Spain in 1802), Sardinians, Sicilians and other Italians, French, Germans, and the British. Immigration from Spain and intermarriage with Spaniards from the surrounding Spanish towns was a constant feature of Gibraltar's history until General Francisco Franco decided to close the border with Gibraltar, cutting off many Gibraltarians from their relatives on the Spanish side of the frontier. The Spanish socialist government reopened the land frontier, but other restrictions remain in place.
The official language is English, which is used for government and business purposes. Most Gibraltarians use Llanito (pronounced "Yanito") as their vernacular language, a dialect of Andalusian Spanish strongly influenced by English that also incorporates some words native to neither. Arabic is also spoken by the Moroccan community.
The culture of Gibraltar reflects Gibraltarians' diverse origins. While there are Andalusian and British influences, the ethnic origins of most Gibraltarians are not confined to British or Andalusian ethnicities. Most ethnicities include Genoese, Maltese, Portuguese, and Germans. A handful of other Gibraltar residents are Jewish of Sephardic origin, North African, or Hindu.
British influence remains strong. Although Gibraltarians often speak to each other in an English-influenced Andalusian dialect called Yanito or Llanito, English is the language of government, commerce, education, and the media. Gibraltarians going on to higher education attend university in the UK. Patients requiring medical treatment not available on the Rock receive it there as private patients paid for by the Gibraltar Government.
There exists a small but interesting amount of literary writings by native Gibraltarians. The first prominent work of fiction was probably Héctor Licudi's 1929 novel Barbarita, written in Spanish. It is a largely autobiographical account of the adventures and misadventures of a young Gibraltarian man. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, several noteworthy anthologies of poetry were published by Leopoldo Sanguinetti, Albert Joseph Patron, and Alberto Pizzarello. The 1960s were largely dominated by the theatrical works of Elio Cruz and his two highly acclaimed Spanish plays La Lola se va pá Londre and Connie con cama camera en el comedor. In the 1990s, the Gibraltarian man-of-letters Mario Arroyo published Profiles (1994), a series of bilingual meditations on love, loneliness and death. Of late there have been interesting works by the essayist Mary Chiappe such as her volume of essays Cabbages and Kings (2006) and by the UK-educated academic M. G. Sanchez, author of the hard-hitting novel Rock Black 0-10: A Gibraltar fiction (2006).
National Day
Symbolic release of red and white balloons on National Day.
Gibraltar's National Day commemmorates the 1967 referendum when the people of Gibraltar voted to reject Spanish annexation by a massive majority. It is celebrated annually on September 10. The day is a public holiday, during which most Gibraltarians dress in the national colours of red and white and, among other events, attend a rally. The rally culminates with the release of thirty thousand red and white balloons representing the people of Gibraltar.
The Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell described the event as "a magnificent celebration of the Gibraltarian people, showing not only their pride in being British, but also their love of their homeland — the rock itself"
Tercentenary
Gibraltarians encircle the Rock in 2004.
In 2004, Gibraltar celebrated the tercentenary (the 300th anniversary) of its capture by British forces. In recognition of and with thanks for its long association with Gibraltar, the Royal Navy was given the freedom of the City. Another event saw a gesture of solidarity, when nearly the entire population, dressed in red, white and blue, linked hands to form a human chain encircling the Rock.
Within Gibraltar, the main form of transport is the car. Motorbikes are popular and there is a good modern bus service. Unlike in other British territories, traffic drives on the right, as the territory shares a land border with Spain.
There is a cable car which runs from ground level to the top of the rock, with an intermediate station at the apes' den.
Restrictions on transport introduced by the Spanish dictator Franco closed the land frontier in 1969 and prohibited any air or ferry connections. In 1982, the land border was reopened. As the result of an agreement signed in Cordoba on September 182006 between Gibraltar, the United Kingdom and Spain, the Spanish government agreed to relax the border controls at the frontier that have plagued locals for decades; in return, Britain will pay increased pensions to workers who lost their jobs when Franco closed the border. Restrictions on telephones were removed in 2007 and restrictions on movements at the airport were removed On 16 December 2006
Gibraltar maintains regular flight connections to London and Manchester. Flights to Morocco were cancelled after insufficient demand to sustain the service. A new airline, Fly Gibraltar promises to operate flights to the UK and Ireland, but has yet to start operations, and keeps revising its start date.
The Spanish national airlineIberia operates a daily service to Madrid.
Motorists, and on occasion pedestrians, crossing the border with Spain have been randomly subjected to long delays and searches by the Spanish authorities. Spain has closed the border during disputes or incidents involving the Gibraltar authorities, such as the Aurora cruise ship incident and when fishermen from the Spanish fishing vessel Pirana were arrested for illegal fishing in Gibraltar waters.
Gibraltar has a digital telephone exchange supported by a fibre optic and copper infrastructure. The telephone operator Gibtelecom also operate a GSM network.
There are also a number of newspapers in Gibraltar. The largest and most frequent is The Gibraltar Chronicle, the second oldest daily newspaper in the world (first published 1801) with daily editions six days a week. Panorama who publish on week days, and the weekly newspapers - Vox, 7 Days, The New People, and Gibsport.
Military
Royal Navy base in Gibraltar.
Gibraltar's defence is the responsibility of the tri-service British Forces Gibraltar. The army garrison is provided by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, originally a part-time reserve force which was placed on the permanent establishment of the British Army in 1990. The regiment includes full-time and part-time soldiers recruited from Gibraltar, as well as British Army regulars posted from other regiments.
The Royal Navy maintains a squadron at the Rock. The squadron is responsible for the security and integrity of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW). The shore establishment at Gibraltar is called Rooke after Sir George Rooke who captured the Rock for Archduke Charles (pretender to the Spanish throne) in 1704. Gibraltar's strategic position provides an important facility for the Royal Navy and Britain's allies. Ships from the Spanish Navy do not call at Gibraltar.
British and US nuclear submarines frequently visit the Z berths at Gibraltar . A Z berth provides the facility for nuclear submarines to visit for operational or recreational purposes, and for non-nuclear repairs.
The Royal Air Force station at Gibraltar forms part of Headquarters British Forces Gibraltar. Although aircraft are no longer permanently stationed at RAF Gibraltar, a variety of RAF aircraft make regular visits to the Rock and the airfield also houses a section from the Met Office.
The Rock is believed to be a SIGINT listening post for telecommunications throughout North Africa. Its strategic position also keeps it a key GCHQ and NSA base for Mediterranean coverage.
During the Falklands War, an Argentine plan to attack British shipping in the harbour using frogmen (Operation Algeciras) was foiled. The naval base also played a part in supporting the task force sent by Britain to recover the Falklands.
In January 2007, the Ministry of Defence announced that services to the base would be provided by the private company SERCO, resulting in industrial action from the trade unions involved.
An inquest was held which ruled the SAS's action to be lawful. The families of the deceased, however, took the case to the European Court of Human Rights and in 1995 it held by ten votes to nine that the British government had violated Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also ruled, however, that the three killed had been engaged in an act of terrorism, consequently dismissing unanimously the applicants' claims for damages, for costs and expenses incurred by the original inquest, and for any remaining claims for just satisfaction.
The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) applied to UEFA for independent membership of the football confederation, which would enable it to play as a national team in international matches in Europe and around the world (as participation in FIFA flows from UEFA membership).
The Spanish football federation has objected strongly to Gibraltar's membership, leading UEFA to deny entry to the GFA. However, following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), UEFA have now been ordered to overturn their decision and admit Gibraltar. The Spanish government has threatened to withdraw Spanish teams, including their national side, from UEFA, although under current rules this would preclude Spanish involvement in all international football.
The GFA was founded in 1895, making it one of the oldest associations in the world. It complies with all aspects of UEFA membership; the Spanish objection is based on its facilities being built on "disputed land". Gibraltar home games would be staged at Victoria Stadium, adjacent to the Gibraltar airport.
On 8 December2006, UEFA announced that Gibraltar was "a provisional member"; on 26 January2007, however, the UEFA Congress voted on and overwhelmingly rejected Gibraltar's application for full membership by forty-five votes to three, with four abstentions. Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar Llona told delegates: "This is a political problem".
Although it is a peninsula, Gibraltar has played football (and other sports) in most meetings of the Island Games, a tournament of small islands around Europe and North America.
Gibraltar in popular culture
The film The Silent Enemy was filmed on location in Gibraltar in 1958. It is a dramatisation of the period during the Second World War when Lionel "Buster" Crabb served as a mine and disposal officer in Gibraltar while frogmen of the Italian Navy's Tenth Light Flotilla were sinking vital shipping.
The 1987James Bond film The Living Daylights begins with a training exercise to test Gibraltar's defences. Bond parachutes with other "00" agents onto the Rock, only to see one assassinated. His pursuit of the assassin culminates in a fight on board a moving Land Rover laden with explosives.
Gibraltar is where Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono, earning it a mention in the Beatles' hit The Ballad of John and Yoko
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album Nocturama features the song Rock of Gibraltar
Satirical novel "Gil Braltar" by Jules Verne (1887) describes an almost successful attack of the monkeys on the fortress.
The Day of an American Journalist in 2889, a Jules Verne's 1889 short story, also mentions Gibraltar as the last territory of a British Empire that has lost the British Isles themselves.
File:Raffles gibraltar.JPGRaffles' Crime in Gibraltar (aka They Hang Them in Gibraltar).Raffles' Crime in Gibraltar by Barry Perowne, a Sexton Blake story set in Gibraltar in 1937 (US title: They Hang Them in Gibraltar).
Scruffy by Paul Gallico is set on Gibraltar during World War II. It follows the steady decline in the size of the Macaque colony and the possible fulfilment of the superstition that Gibraltar will fall if it disappears.
The Rock's image as a symbol of strength and fortification led to its use as a corporate logo by the Prudential Financial Company.
As Molly Bloom is a native Gibraltarian, references to Gibraltar appear throughout James Joyce's Ulysses (1921). A sculpture of Molly Bloom as imagined by local artist Jon Searle is on display in the Alameda Gardens.
Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under the Antarctic Treaty.
Flag
Coat of arms of Gibraltar
Coat of arms
