Gibraltar  is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a border with Spain to the north. Gibraltar has historically been an important base for the British Armed Forces and is the site of a Royal Navy base.

The name of the territory is derived from the Arabic name Jabal Tāriq (جبل طارق), meaning “mountain of Tariq”. It refers to the geological formation, the Rock of Gibraltar, and the Berber Umayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad, under the orders of Caliph Al-Walid I 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.

Gibraltar was ceded by Spain in perpetuity in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht though Spain requests its return, causing strain in Anglo-Spanish  relations. The British Government has stated it is committed to  respecting the wishes of the Gibraltarians, who strongly oppose the  idea of annexation along with any proposal for shared sovereignty with  Spain.

There is evidence of human habitation in Gibraltar going as far back as Neanderthal man, an extinct species of the Homo genus. 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. 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. In 1501 Gibraltar passed under the hands of the Spanish Crown, which had been established in 1479. 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 American Revolution,  the Spanish, who had entered the conflict against the British, imposed  a stringent blockade against Gibraltar as part of an unsuccessful siege  (the Great Siege of Gibraltar) that lasted for more than three years, from 1779 to 1783. On 14 September 1782,  the British destroyed the floating batteries of the French and Spanish  besiegers, and in February 1783 the signing of peace preliminaries  ended the siege. 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 colonies such as 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, later named Llona, were frustrated by Spain’s reluctance to allow the German Army onto Spanish soil and the excessive price Franco placed on his aid.

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, in application of one of the articles of the Treaty. 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.

The border with Spain was partially reopened in 1982, and fully reopened in 1985 prior to 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.

2006 saw representatives of the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Spain conclude talks in Córdoba, Spain, a landmark agreement on a range of cross-cutting issues affecting the Rock and the Campo de Gibraltar removing many of the restrictions imposed by Spain. This agreement resolved a number of long standing issues; improved flow  of traffic at the frontier, use of the airport by other carriers,  recognition of the 350 telephone code and the settlement of the  long-running dispute regarding the pensions of former Spanish workers  in Gibraltar, who lost their jobs when Spain closed its border in 1969.

 

Source; Wikipedia