GIBRALTAR

About:

• Governance: Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar is self-governing, with some responsibilities, such as defence and foreign relations, remaining with the British government.
  
  
• Geography: It is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.
  • Gibraltar's territory covers 6.7 square kilometres and shares a 1.2-kilometre land border with Spain. It shares a maritime border with Morocco.
    
    
  • Gibraltar's terrain consists of the 426-metre-high Rock of Gibraltar made of Jurassic limestone, and the narrow coastal lowland surrounding it.
    
    
  • Gibraltar is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and has “NO CONTACT WITH THE ATLANTIC OCEAN”.
    
    
  
  
  
• History and dispute:
  • 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.
    
    
  • The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations because Spain asserts a claim to the territory.
    
    
  • Gibraltarians rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum and, in a 2002 referendum, the idea of shared sovereignty was also rejected.
    
    
  
  
  
• Significance: It remains strategically important, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through the strait. It is also an important Tourist and cargo ship refuelling centre.