Rock of Gibraltar (Lat. Calpe), one of the Pillars of Hercules Pillars of Hercules, ancient mythological name for promontories flanking the east entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. They are usually identified with Gibraltar in Europe and with Mt. Acha at Ceuta in Africa.
..... Click the link for more information. , which guards the northeastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar, linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. The town of Gibraltar lies at the northwest end of the Rock of Gibraltar. The peninsula is connected with the mainland by a low sandy area of neutral ground. West of the peninsula is the Bay of Gibraltar, an inlet of the strait. There is a safe enclosed harbor of 440 acres (178 hectares). The rock, of Jurassic limestone, contains caves in which valuable archaeological finds have been made. It is honeycombed by defense works and arsenals, which are largely concealed. A tunnel bisects the rock from east to west.
The town is a free port, with some transit trade. Financial services and duty-free shopping are economically important, and Gibraltar is also an online gambling center. The climate is mild and pleasant, and tourism is also an significant industry. During the many years that Gibraltar was a British fortress, most of the area was taken up by military installations, and the civilian population was kept small. Many of the laborers lived in the Spanish border town of La Línea. The population is mostly of English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or Maltese descent. Nearly three quarters of the population is Roman Catholic, and there are Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish minorities. English is the official language. The colony is largely self-governing, with an elected 15-member legislative assembly.
History
The name Gibraltar derives from the Arabic Jabal-al-Tarik [mount of Tarik], dating from the capture (711) of the peninsula by the Moorish leader Tarik. The Spanish Held the peninsula (1309–33) but did not definitively recover it from the Moors until 1462. The English have maintained possession since 1704 despite continual Spanish claims. The British post was besieged unsuccessfully by the Spanish and French (1704), by the Spanish (1726), and again by the Spanish and French (1779–83).
In World War I, Gibraltar served as a naval station. Many refugees fled there in the Spanish civil war (1936–39). In World War II its fortifications were strengthened, and most of the civilian population was evacuated. It was frequently bombed in 1940–41, but not seriously damaged.
After the war Spain renewed claims to Gibraltar, which, as a British strategic air and naval base, continued to be a major source of friction between Britain and Spain. The residents affirmed (1967) their ties with Britain in a UN-supervised referendum, and in 1981 all residents were granted full British citizenship. From 1969 to 1985, Spain closed its border with Gibraltar, although pedestrian traffic was again permitted across beginning in 1982.
In 1991, Britain removed its military forces from Gibraltar, while retaining it as a dependency. Tensions between Spain and Gibraltar continued through the 1990s, however, as Spain accused Gibraltar of being a hotbed of drug trafficking, tobacco smuggling, money laundering, and tax evasion. A 1997 Spanish proposal for joint British-Spanish sovereignty was rejected by the Gibraltarian government, and a referendum in 2002 on shared British-Spanish sovereignty almost unanimously approved of that rejection. In 2006 Gibraltar, Spain, and Britain signed an agreement intended to ease crossing the Spanish border and traveling by air to Gibraltar and to improve telephone service in Gibraltar. The same year a new constitution for the colony was approved that increased its government's autonomy.
Bibliography
See studies by H. S. Levie (1983) and G. J. Shields (1987).
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