Geography and Climate
Gibraltar is a narrow rocky peninsula jutting out steeply and suddenly from the adjoining low-lying coast of south- western Spain at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean; it is 5·8 square kilometres (2.25 square miles) in area. The Rock of Gibraltar itself is 4.8 kilometres (nearly 3 miles) in length and runs from north to south; for most of its length it is 1.2 kilometres (about three-quarters of a mile) wide but narrows towards its southern extremity, Europa Point. The top of the Rock is a sharp ridge, the northern escarpment being completely inaccessible, as is the whole upper length of the eastern face. The southern half of the Rock slopes down from a height of 426 metres (1,396 feet) to cliffs 30 metres (100 feet) high at Europa Point. The Rock is connected to the Spanish mainland by a low-lying, sandy plain about 16 kilometres (1 mile) long and half as wide. The Spanish port of Algeciras lies 8 kilometres (5 miles) across the bay to the west. The coast of Morocco is 32 kilometres (20 miles) across the Strait to the south.
The climate is mild and temperate. The mean minimum and maximum temperatures are: 12°C (54°F) and 18°C (65°F) in winter, 13°C (55°F) and 29°C (85°F) in summer. The
annual rainfall is 890 millimetres (35 inches). average The amount in any one year is generally between 500 and 1,270 millimetres (20 and 50 inches).
Population
The civilian population in 1978 was 29,415 of whom 19,459 were Gibraltarians, 6,442 other British subjects and 3,514 aliens. The Gibraltarians are of British, Genoese, Portuguese and Maltese extraction.
Gibraltarians and British subjects in the service of the Crown (and their families) have a right of residence; all others require a residence permit.
English is the official language but Spanish is also widely spoken. About four-fifths of the population is Roman Catholic and the rest largely Church of England or Jewish. There are also some Moslems.
History
Until the eighth century there was apparently no permanent settlement at Gibraltar, though an important Carthaginian and Roman port lay nearby. In AD 711 the Moorish leader Tariq ibn Zeyad built a castle on the Rock. From him Gibraltar takes its name, which is derived from Jebel Tariq, the Mountain of Tariq. Gibraltar was held alternately by Moors and Spaniards until 1462 when the Moors were finally driven out by the Spaniards. In 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke and ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Spain and Great Britain signed at Utrecht in 1713. According to Article X of this Treaty, the Spanish king 'Does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications and forts thereto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely,
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with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.' This article also provides that Britain may not 'grant, sell or by any means nate' sovereignty over Gibraltar without first giving Span the option to acquire the territory. The terms of the Treaty of Utrecht were confirmed by the Treaty of Seville (1729), the Treaty of Vienna (1731), the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1756) and the Treaty of Paris (1763).
After besieging Gibraltar unsuccessfully for nearly four years, Spain agreed to withdraw its demand for Gibraltar in return for Minorca and Florida and, in the Treaty of Versailles (1783), reaffirmed the position established by the previous treaties.
Gibraltar became a Crown Colony in 1830. With the extension of British interests in the East and the opening of the Suez Canal, Gibraltar's importance as a port of call and a strategic position controlling entry to the Mediter- ranean and the fast route to the East continued to increase. It developed a considerable entrepôt trade and in 1893 work was begun to convert it into a first-class modern naval base. Gibraltar played a key role in allied naval and military operations in the Mediterranean during the two world wars, and, in the second, a subterranean fortress was developed inside the Rock. ́
In support of a campaign to secure the return of Gibraltar to Spain, the Spanish authorities began in 1964 to impose restrictions on movement across the land border of Gibraltar. Permission for Spanish women to work in Gibraltar was withdrawn by the Spanish authorities in August 1966 and that for men in June 1969, when the border was closed completely. Three weeks later the ferry service between Algeciras and Gibraltar was discontinued and in October 1969 the Spanish Government closed all public telephone links between Spain and Gibraltar. Telephone traffic between Gibraltar and other countries, routed through Spain, was unaffected. Although telephone links between Gibraltar and Spain were restored at Christmas 1977, the other Spanish restrictions remain in force. However, it is possible to travel to Spain by ferry via Tangier.
In response to a resolution passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1965, Britain and Spain held talks in 1966 on the future of Gibraltar. These made little progress, the only positive results of the debates at the United Nations being a referendum in 1967 and subsequent constitutional changes (see p 3). In the referendum 12,138 Gibraltarians voted to retain the link with Britain and only 44 supported a change to Spanish sovereignty; nearly 96 per cent of the electorate voted.
Exploratory talks between Britain and Spain were resumed in 1972 but proved inconclusive. In December 1973 a consensus of the General Assembly, in the first discussions since 1968, urged Britain and Spain to negotiate towards a final solution of the question of Gibraltar's future; on 5 December 1974 a resolution urging the two Govern- ments to begin negotiations without delay was unanimously adopted in the Fourth Committee (the British representative explained in a note that in the view of the British Govern- ment the stage had not been reached where a common basis had emerged on which substantive negotiations could begin).
Following meetings between the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (accompanied by representatives of the Gibraltar Government) and the Spanish Foreign Minister in Strasbourg (November 1977) and in Paris (March 1978), working groups of officials were set up to examine practical matters of mutual interest con- cerning Gibraltar. The groups met in London in July 1978 and in Madrid in December 1978. Social security payments for former Spanish workers in Gibraltar, telecommunica- tions and maritime communications were discussed.
The British Government has consistently maintained that Britain will retain sovereignty over Gibraltar unless and until an Act of Parliament provides otherwise. It has also undertaken never to enter into arrangements whereby the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.
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