Portal:Gibraltar

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The Gibraltar Portal

Location of Gibraltar (dark green)

United Kingdom shown in pale green

Gibraltar (/dʒɪˈbrɔːltər/ jib-RAWL-tər, Spanish: [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar). It has an area of 6.8 km² (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to some 34,003 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

Gibraltar was founded as a permanent watchtower by the Almohads in 1160. It switched control between the Nasrids, Castilians and Marinids in the Late Middle Ages, acquiring larger strategic clout upon the destruction of nearby Algeciras c. 1375. It became again part of the Crown of Castile in 1462. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and it 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, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.

The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, and for shared sovereignty in a 2002 referendum. Nevertheless, Gibraltar maintains close economic and cultural links with Spain, with many Gibraltarians speaking Spanish as well as a local dialect known as Llanito. (Full article...)

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Section of the 1908 Ordnance Survey map of Gibraltar showing Flat Bastion. Note retired flank and orillon on west wall. Flat Bastion Magazine is highlighted in yellow. North is to the left.

Flat Bastion is a bastion which projects southward from the Charles V Wall in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Once known as the St. Jago's Bastion or the Baluarte de Santiago in Spanish, the fortification was built by the Spanish in the mid 16th century and formed part of the southern defences of the city of Gibraltar, together with Charles V Wall, Southport Gates, Southport Ditch, and South Bastion. In 1859, six guns, four 12-pounders and two 12-pound carronades, were installed on the bastion, and four years later, five 32-pounders were mounted on the fortification.

Flat Bastion takes its name from the angle that its south-facing walls form with each other and with the Charles V Wall. Within the eastern portion of Flat Bastion is Flat Bastion Magazine. The bastion and magazine within it are separately listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. The magazine has been restored and converted into a research facility. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: Gibnews

The West face of the Rock of Gibraltar, a monolithic limestone promontory. It is 426 metres (1,396 feet) high.

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“

Well, Gibraltar is a place which you either love or hate. I quite like it. It's a rock, that is essentially what it is. It's a British colony.

”

— Nigel Short, British chess player.

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Edward Cornwallis by Joshua Reynolds (1756)

Edward Cornwallis (5 March [O.S. 22 February] 1713 – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, he was appointed Groom of the Chamber for King George II (a position he held for the next 17 years). He was then made Governor of Nova Scotia (1749–1752), one of the colonies in North America, and assigned to establish the new town of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Later Cornwallis returned to London, where he was elected as MP for Westminster and married the niece of Robert Walpole, Great Britain's first Prime Minister. Cornwallis was next appointed as Governor of Gibraltar.

Cornwallis arrived in Nova Scotia during a period of conflict with the local indigenous Miꞌkmaq peoples of peninsular Nova Scotia. The Mi'kmaq opposed the founding of Halifax and conducted war raids on the colony. Cornwallis responded with the extirpation proclamation of 1749, orders to bring back scalps of those he considered to be rebels. His administration erected forts at Grand Pre, Chignecto and Halifax and organized a militia of 840 men. Despite these efforts, the conflict would continue for several years after Cornwallis' term. (Full article...)

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Peter Caruana Joe Bossano George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield George Don (British Army officer) Joshua Hassan Bruce Cooper Alfred Holmes Alexander George Woodford Sir William Green, 1st Baronet John Thomas Jones Clive Finlayson Simón Susarte John Mackintosh (philanthropist) John Leake John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort

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Did you know...

... that Dorothy Ellicott was the first woman to be elected to two different Gibraltar Councils and was posthumously awarded the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour on Gibraltar National Day 2008?
... that in 1939, excavations beneath John Mackintosh Square in Gibraltar for the construction of an air-raid shelter revealed no signs of any foundations, suggesting it has always been an open square?
... that capital punishment in Gibraltar was last enforced in 1944 when British hangman Albert Pierrepoint travelled undercover to the territory to hang two young Spanish spies? (25 July 2012, 5,697 views)
... that the Gibraltar Museum houses the remains of a 14th-century Moorish bath house, once the private baths of the Governor of Gibraltar during the Marinid dynasty? (26 July 2012, 2,222 views)
... that the Europa Point Lighthouse at Gibraltar is the only lighthouse operated by Trinity House on continental Europe outside the United Kingdom? (27 July 2012, 4,122 views)
... that Giovanni Battista Calvi was an Italian military engineer who worked on many important Spanish defensive projects in the 1500s, to include those in the now British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar?

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General images

The following are images from various Gibraltar-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Foreign Secretary William Hague and Minister for Europe David Lidington with Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo at a meeting in London, 28 August 2013 (from Culture of Gibraltar)
Image 2The First Battle of Algeciras (6 July 1801) off Gibraltar, portrayed in Algéciras, 6 Juillet 1801 by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 3View across Gibraltar looking north, by Frederick William J. Shore (1883) (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 4Sir George Rooke, the commander of the Anglo-Dutch fleet that conquered Gibraltar in the name of Archduke Charles of Austria (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 5Gibraltar, 1654 by Jan Peeters I (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 6The 14th-century Tower of Homage, the largest surviving fragment of Gibraltar's Moorish Castle (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 7MV Aurora (2000) berthed adjacent to the Gibraltar Cruise Terminal at the Western Arm of the North Mole (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 8Gibraltar Bus Company bus routes (right-click to enlarge). (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 9The arms granted to the city of Gibraltar by a Royal Warrant passed in Toledo on 10 July 1502 by Isabella I of Castile (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 10The Pillars of Hercules depicted erroneously as an island on the Tabula Peutingeriana, an ancient Roman map (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 11Calypso Transport open top bus on discontinued route 10 (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 12The Gibraltar House of Assembly (now the Gibraltar Parliament), established in 1969. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 13Special passes were required to enter Gibraltar proper at night, whilst the Spanish civil war was raging 1936. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 14Traffic drives on the right (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 15Castle Street, Gibraltar, by Frederick Leeds Edridge, 1833 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 16A current Gibraltar rear number plate featuring the country identifier GBZ (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 17Searchlights on the Rock of Gibraltar during an air raid practice on 20 November 1942 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 18Gibraltar's Moorish Baths, now incorporated into the Gibraltar Museum (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 19The Sortie made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of 27 November 1781 by John Trumbull, depicting a British attack that occurred during the Great Siege of Gibraltar (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 20Gibraltar Bus Company Dennis Dart on route 4 at the Both Worlds bus terminus, Sandy Bay. (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 21Annotated satellite view of the Strait of Gibraltar (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 22The Charles V Wall, built by the Spanish to control access to the south side of Gibraltar after the pirate raid of September 1540 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 23The Explosion of the Spanish Flagship during the Battle of Gibraltar by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 24Veüe du d'Estroit de Gibraltar et des Environs, avec les tranchées du Siège mis en 1704, by Louis Boudan (1704) (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 25Spanish border pass for Gibraltarian residents, permitting day visits only. (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 26"Gibraltar Woman" – a Neanderthal who lived in Gibraltar some 50,000 years ago (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 27The closed gates at the border between Gibraltar and Spain, 1977 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 28Timetable on a bus shelter (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 29Thousands of Gibraltarians dress in their national colours of red and white and fill Grand Casemates Square during the 2013 Gibraltar National Day celebrations (from Culture of Gibraltar)
Image 30Location of Gibraltar in the far south of the Iberian Peninsula (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 31Gibraltar Airport and border area. Showing runway (Gibraltar) and pier behind (Spain). Officially, any exact line is still disputed (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 32A map of Gibraltar and its fortifications, drawn in 1799 by Jean-Denis Barbié du Bocage (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 33Aerial view of Gibraltar as seen in 2011 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 34Gibraltar's country identifier is GBZ (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 35Gibraltar's Royal Navy Base (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 36The United States' Great White Fleet visiting Gibraltar harbour in February 1909 (from History of Gibraltar)
Image 37Gibraltar Cable Car (from Transport in Gibraltar)
Image 38North View of Gibraltar from Spanish Lines by John Mace (1782) (from History of Gibraltar)