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 GibraltarComments on Gibraltar
About Gibraltar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the British overseas territory. For other uses, see Gibraltar (disambiguation).
Gibraltar ( An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was an important base for the British Royal Navy; today its economy is based largely on tourism, financial services, and shipping.[4][5] The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory.[5] Gibraltarians resoundingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in referenda held in 1967 and 2002. Under its 2006 constitution Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.
[edit] EtymologyThe name Gibraltar is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Tāriq (جبل طارق), meaning "mountain of Tariq".[6] It refers to the geological formation, the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn was named after the Berber Umayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad who led the initial incursion into Iberia in advance of the main Moorish force in 711 under the command of Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. Earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules. Today, Gibraltar is colloquially referred to as Gib or The Rock. [edit] History
Main article: History of Gibraltar
Evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar between 128,000 and 24,000 BCE has been discovered at Gorham's Cave, making Gibraltar the last known holdout of the Neanderthals.[7] Within recorded history, the first inhabitants were the Phoenicians, around 950 BCE. Subsequently, Gibraltar became known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the Greek legend of the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar by Heracles. The Carthaginians and Romans also established semi-permanent settlements. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals. The area later formed part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania until the Islamic conquest of Iberia in 711 CE. Seven centuries of Moorish control ended when Gibraltar was recaptured by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1462 as part of the Spanish Reconquista. After the conquest, King Henry IV assumed the title of King of Gibraltar, establishing it as part of the municipal area of the Campo Llano de Gibraltar.[8] Six years later Gibraltar was restored to the Duke of Medina Sidonia who sold it in 1474 to a group of Jewish conversos from Córdoba and Seville in exchange for maintaining the garrison of the town for two years, after which time the 4,350 Jews were expelled by the Duke as part of the Inquisition.[9] In 1501 Gibraltar passed back to the hands of the Spanish Crown and Isabella I of Castile issued a Royal Warrant granting Gibraltar the coat of arms that it still uses today.
On 4 August 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, a combined Anglo-Dutch force captured the town of Gibraltar. The terms of surrender provided certain assurances but commanders lost control, sailors and marines engaged in rape and pillage, desecrating most churches, and townspeople carried out reprisal killings.[10][11][12] By 7 August order was restored but almost all the population fled to San Roque and other nearby areas of Spain.[11] Gibraltar subsequently became a key base for the Royal Navy, first playing an important part prior to the Battle of Trafalgar. In the 19th Century, commerce began to have an increased importance for Gibraltar. The office of Governor Sir George Don saw one of Gibraltar's most prosperous periods and major developments in the civilian population and administration.[13] An Exchange and Commercial Library was founded in 1817,[14] with the Exchange Committee initially focused on furthering the interests of merchants based in the fortress. The Exchange Committee evolved into an organ that provided for a local voice in government, although of itself it had no real powers. Gibraltar was declared to be a colony in 1830,[15] the 1830 Charter of Justice gave Gibraltar an independent judiciary and a Supreme Court of Justice.[16] The Gibraltar Police Force was also established following the model of the Metropolitan police; the first British overseas territory to do so.[17] The Crimean War of 1854-56 once again proved Gibraltar's importance for its strategic location and its strategic value increased with the opening of the Suez Canal as it controlled the sea route between the UK and the British Empire east of Suez. In the later 19th Century there were major investments in improving the fortifications and the port.[18] During World War II, Gibraltar's civilian population was evacuated (mainly to London, England, but also to parts of Morocco, Madeira and Jamaica) and The Rock was strengthened as a fortress. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco's reluctance to allow the German Army onto Spanish soil frustrated a German plan to capture The Rock, codenamed Operation Felix. In the 1950s, Franco renewed Spain's claim to sovereignty over Gibraltar and restricted movement between Gibraltar and Spain. Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain under British sovereignty in a 1967 referendum which led to the passing of the Gibraltar Constitution Order in 1969. In response, Spain completely closed the border with Gibraltar and severed all communication links.[19] The border with Spain was partially reopened in 1982, and fully reopened in 1985 prior to Spain's accession into the European Community. In a referendum held in 2002, Gibraltarians rejected by an overwhelming majority (99%) a proposal of shared sovereignty on which Spain and Britain were said to have reached "broad agreement".[20][21] The British government has committed itself to respecting the Gibraltarians' wishes.[22] A new Constitution Order was approved in referendum in 2006. A process of tripartite negotiations started in 2006 between Spain, Gibraltar and the UK, ending some restrictions and dealing with disputes in some specific areas such as air movements, customs procedures, telecommunications, pensions and cultural exchange.[23] More recently, the Spanish Government has started to claim Gibraltar's territorial waters insisting that the territory has none. Spain has reverted to tactics such as listing Gibraltar's waters as Spanish under European Union mechanisms, despite the UK previously having registered the said territorial waters using the same mechanism. Although international law recognises Gibraltar's waters (and its right to claim a greater area) Spain is loath to agree. The European Union is presently reviewing the matter but traditionally does not take the views of Gibraltar into account, preferring to consider the dispute as bilateral so as not to offend the sovereignty sentiments of its more influential member states. [edit] Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Gibraltar, Disputed status of Gibraltar, and Foreign relations of Spain#Disputes - international
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory. The British Nationality Act 1981 granted Gibraltarians full British citizenship. Under its current Constitution, Gibraltar has almost complete internal democratic self-government through an elected parliament.[24][25][26][27] The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. Defence, foreign policy and internal security are formally the responsibility of the Governor; judicial and other appointments are also made on behalf of the Queen in consultation with the head of the elected government.[28][29][30][31][32][32][33] Both the British [34] and Gibraltar governments assert that Gibraltar has been effectively decolonised.[5][35][36][37] On the other hand, Gibraltar remains on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.[38] Spain opposes any attempt to remove it from this list[39] and Spanish commentators still commonly describe Gibraltar as a colony.[40][41] The Gibraltar Parliament is elected for a term of up to four years. The unicameral Parliament presently consists of seventeen elected members, and the Speaker who is not elected, but appointed by a resolution of the Parliament.[42] The Government consists of ten elected members. All local political parties oppose any transfer of sovereignty to Spain, instead supporting self-determination. The main UK opposition parties also support this policy and it is UK Government policy not to engage in talks about the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of the people of Gibraltar.[43] The 2007 election was contested by the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP)-Gibraltar Liberal Party (GLP) Alliance, the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and two independents. Two parties which fielded candidates in the 2003 election did not present candidates in the 2007 election; the Reform Party was wound up and Gibraltar Labour Party absorbed into the GSD in a merger in 2005. A new party, the PDP, was formed in 2006 and fielded candidates in the 2007 election, but none were elected. Three political parties are currently represented in the Parliament: the governing GSD, and two opposition parties - the GSLP and the GLP which are in an electoral alliance and form a single parliamentary grouping. The head of Government is the Chief Minister (as of June 2010, Peter Caruana QC[44]). Gibraltar is part of the European Union, having joined via the Single European Act 1972 and British Treaty of Accession in 1973, with exemption from some areas such as the Customs union and Common Agricultural Policy. The Treaties relating to coal and steel, agriculture and fisheries do not apply simply because Gibraltar does not produce any of those resources. After a ten-year campaign for the right to vote in European Elections, from 2004, the people of Gibraltar participated in elections for the European Parliament as part of the South West England constituency.[45] [edit] Geography
The territory covers 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi) and shares a 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) land border with Spain. On the Spanish side lies the town of La Línea de la Concepción, a municipality of the province of Cádiz. The Spanish hinterland forms the comarca of Campo de Gibraltar (literally Gibraltar Countryside). The shoreline measures 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) in length. There are two coasts (sides) of Gibraltar – the East Side, which contains the settlements of Sandy Bay and Catalan Bay, and the Westside, where the vast majority of the population lives. Gibraltar has no administrative divisions but is divided into seven Major Residential Areas. Having negligible natural resources and few natural freshwater resources, limited to natural wells in the north, until recently Gibraltar used large concrete and/or natural rock water catchments to collect rainwater. Fresh water from the boreholes is supplemented by two desalination plants: a reverse osmosis plant, constructed in a tunnel within the rock, and a multi-stage flash distillation plant at North Mole.[46] Gibraltar's terrain consists of the 426-metre (1,398 ft) high Rock of Gibraltar made of Jurassic limestone, and the narrow coastal lowland surrounding it.[47] It contains many tunnelled roads, most of which are still operated by the military and closed to the general public. [edit] ClimateMain article: Climate of Gibraltar
Gibraltar has a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa),[48][ This country information has been retrieved from wikipedia.org and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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![Location of Gibraltar (dark green)– on the European continent (green & dark gray)– in the European Union (green) — [Legend]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Location_Gibraltar_EU.png)
