Gibraltar

Gibraltar (British overseas territory)
Grand Casemates Square
Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti
Area:	2.6 sq miles
Population:	29,431  (2009 est.)
Time zone:	GMT+1
TLD:	.gi

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula in south-western Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean. It is a peninsula of 2.6 square miles connceted by a low-lying isthmus to the north with the European mainland. Its only land frontier is here, with Spain.

The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities. The city now spreads out far beyond the Rock into lands reclaimed from the Bay of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar has been British territory since 1704 when it was captured by a joint English-Dutch force during the War of the Spanish Succession. Gibraltar was subsequently ceded to Britain by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the British Royal Navy, which for most of the colony's history drove the local economy and provided employment for a large portion of the local population. Today the territory's economy is based largely on tourism, financial services and shipping

The name "Gibraltar" is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Tāriq (جبل طارق), meaning "mountain of Tariq". The name refers to the geological formation, the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn was named apparently 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. In classical times Gibraltar was known as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules. The first reference to Gibraltar in English is in King Alfred's translation of the History of paulus Orosius, in which it is named Calpis.

Today, Gibraltar is colloquially referred to as "Gib" or "The Rock".

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