🇬🇮 Gibraltar

National Flag

Geography & Borders

Spain

Introduction & Background

Gibraltar (/dʒɪˈbrɔːltər/ jih-BRAWL-tər, Template:IPA-es) is a British Overseas Territory and city6 located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.78a It has an area of 6.7km2 (2.6sqmi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to over 32,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.10

In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, as it controlled the narrow entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, which is only 14.3km (8.9mi) wide. This choke point remains strategically important, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.111213 Gibraltar's economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, and bunkering.14151617