Visit Gibraltar

Visit Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of theMediterranean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and shares itsnorthern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. Visit Gibraltar 

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At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg

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pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During World War II it was an enormously important base for the Royal Navy as it controlled the entrance and exit to theMediterranean Sea, which is only eight miles (13 km) wide at this point. Today Gibraltar's economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services, and shipping.

The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major 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 again in 2002. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of Government of the United Kingdom.
The name Gibraltar is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal, meaning "Mountain of Tariq". It refers to the Rock of Gibraltar, which was named after the Umayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad who led the initial incursion into Iberia in advance of the main Umayyad force in 711 under the command of Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. Earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules.

Over 500 different species of flowering plants grow on the Rock. Gibraltar is the only place in Europe where the Gibraltar candytuft (Iberis gibraltarica) is found growing in the wild; the plant is otherwise native to North Africa. It is the symbol of the Upper Rock nature reserve. Olive and pine trees are among the most common of those growing around the Rock.
Most of the Rock's upper area is covered by a nature reserve which is home to around 230 Barbary Macaques, the famous apes of Gibraltar, albeit that biologists insist that technically the apes are wild monkeys. These are the only wild apes or monkeys found in Europe. This species, known scientifically as Macaca sylvanus, is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List and is declining. Three-quarters of the world population live in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco.

Recent genetic studies and historical documents point to their presence on the Rock before itscapture by the British. A superstition analogous to that of the ravens at the Tower of London states that if the apes ever leave, so will the British. In 1944 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was so concerned about the dwindling population of apes that he sent a message to the Colonial Secretary requesting that something be done about the situation.
Other mammals found in Gibraltar include rabbits, foxes and bats. Dolphins and whales are frequently seen in the Bay of Gibraltar. Migrating birds are very common and Gibraltar is home to the only Barbary partridges found on the European continent.
In 1991, Graham Watson, Gibraltar's MEP, highlighted conservationists' fears that urban development, tourism and invasive plant species were threatening Gibraltar's own plants as well as birds and bat species.
The official language of Gibraltar is English, and is used by the government and in schools. Most locals are bilingual, also speaking Spanish, due to Gibraltar's proximity to Spain. However, because of the varied mix of ethnic groups which reside there, other languages are also spoken on the Rock. Berber and Arabic are spoken by the Moroccan community, as are Hindi and Sindhi by the Indian and the Pakistani communities of Gibraltar respectively. Hebrew is also spoken by the Jewish community and the Maltese language is spoken by some families of Maltese descent. Portuguese is also widely spoken.
Gibraltarians often converse in Llanito (pronounced: [?a'nito]), a vernacularunique to Gibraltar. It is based on Andalusian Spanish with a strong mixture of British English and elements from languages such as Maltese, Portuguese, Genoese Italian and Haketia (Ladino). Over 500 Llanito words, for example, are of Genoese and Hebrew origin. Llanito also often involves code-switching to English, with technical terms and complex ideas mostly expressed in English.Gibraltarians often call themselves Llanitos.
The culture of Gibraltar reflects Gibraltarians' diverse origins. While there are Spanish (mostly from nearby Andalusia) and British influences, the ethnic origins of most Gibraltarians are not confined to these ethnicities. Other ethnicities includeGenoese, Maltese, Portuguese, and German. A few other Gibraltar residents areJewish of Sephardic origin, Moroccan, or Indians. British influence remains strong, with English being the language of government, commerce, education and the media.
Gibraltar's first sovereignty referendum is celebrated annually on Gibraltar National Day (10 September). It is a public holiday, during which most Gibraltarians dress in their national colours of red and white and 30,000 similarly coloured balloons are released, to represent the people of Gibraltar. The 300th anniversary of Gibraltar's capture was celebrated in 2004 on Tercentenary Day (4 August), when in recognition of and with thanks for its long association with Gibraltar, the Royal Navywas given the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar and a human chain of Gibraltarians dressed in red, white and blue, linked hands to encircle the Rock. On 4 June 2012, the Gibraltar Diamond Jubilee Flotilla, inspired by the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, celebrated sixty years of the Queen's reign.
The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation operates a television and radio station on UHF, VHF and medium-wave. The radio service is also internet-streamed. Special events and the daily news bulletin are streamed in video. The other local radio service is operated by the British Forces Broadcasting Service which also provides a limited cable television network to HM Forces. The largest and most frequently published newspaper is the Gibraltar Chronicle, Gibraltar's oldest established daily newspaper and the world's second oldest English language newspaper to have been in print continuously with daily editions six days a week. Panorama is published on weekdays, and 7 Days, The New People, and Gibsport are weekly.
Native Gibraltarians have produced some literature of note. The first in fiction was probably Héctor Licudi's 1929 novel Barbarita, written in Spanish, chronicling the largely autobiographical adventures of a young Gibraltarian man. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, several anthologies of poetry were published by Leopoldo Sanguinetti, Albert Joseph Patron and Alberto Pizzarello. The 1960s were largely dominated by the theatrical works of Elio Cruz and his two highly acclaimed Spanish language plays La Lola se va pá Londre and Connie con cama camera en el comedor. In the 1990s, the Gibraltarian man-of-letters Mario Arroyopublished Profiles (1994), a series of bilingual meditations on love, loneliness and death. Visit Gibraltar

Of late there have been works by the essayist Mary Chiappe, such as her volume of essays Cabbages and Kings (2006) and by M. G. Sanchez, author of the books Rock Black: Ten Gibraltarian Stories (2008) and Diary of a Victorian Colonial(2009). Mary Chiappe and Sam Benady have also published a series of detective books centred on the character of the nineteenth-century Gibraltarian sleuth Bresciano.
Musicians from Gibraltar include Charles Ramirez, the first guitarist invited to play with the Royal College of MusicOrchestra, successful rock bands like Breed 77, Melon Diesel and Taxi. Albert Hammond had top 10 hits in the UK and US and has written many songs for international artists such as Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and Julio Iglesias. Visit Gibraltar
The cuisine of Gibraltar is the result of the rich diversity of civilisations who held the Rock during its history; from the Berbersof North Africa to the Andalusians and British. The culinary influences include those from Malta, Genoa, Portugal andAndalusia. This marriage of tastes has given Gibraltar an eclectic mix of Arabic, Mediterranean and British cuisines.Calentita, a baked bread-like dish made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt and pepper, is considered Gibraltar'snational dish. Visit Gibraltar
Gibraltar has a digital telephone exchangesupported by a fibre optic and copper infrastructure; the telephone operator Gibtelecom also operates aGSM network. Internet connectivity is available across the fixed network. Gibraltar's top-level domain code is .gi. Visit Gibraltar
International Direct Dialling (IDD) is provided, and Gibraltar was allocated the access code +350 by theInternational Telecommunication Union. This has been universally valid since 10 February 2007, when the telecom dispute was resolved.  Visit Gibraltar

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