Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a UK overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a land border with Spain to the north. more...

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Gibraltar has historically been an important base for the British Armed Forces and is the site of a British naval base.

The name of the territory is derived from the original Arabic name Jabal Ţāriq (جبل طارق), meaning "mountain of Tariq". It refers to the Berber Umayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad, who led the Moorish invasion of Iberia in 711. Earlier, it was known as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules. Today, Gibraltar is known colloquially as "Gib" or "the Rock".

The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major issue of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain requests the return of sovereignty, ceded by Spain in perpetuity in 1713. Any transfer has been consistently and totally rejected by almost all Gibraltarians.

History

Human settlement in Gibraltar can be traced back to the Phoenicians around 950 BC, although there is earlier evidence of habitation by the Neanderthals, an extinct species of the Homo genus. Semi-permanent settlements were later established by the Carthaginians and Romans. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals, and would later form part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania until its collapse due to the Muslim conquest in 711 AD. At that time, Gibraltar was named as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the legend of the creation of the Straits of Gibraltar.

On April 30, 711, the Umayyad general Tariq ibn Ziyad led a Berber-dominated army across the Strait from Ceuta. He first attempted to land at Algeciras but failed. Subsequently, he landed undetected at the southern point of the Rock from present-day Morocco in his quest for Spain. Little was built during the first four centuries of Moorish control.

The first permanent settlement was built by the Almohad Sultan Abd al-Mu'min, who ordered the construction of a fortification on the Rock, the remains of which are still present. Gibraltar would later become part of the Taifa Kingdom of Granada until 1309, when it would be briefly occupied by Castilian troops. In 1333 it was conquered by the Marinids who had invaded Muslim Spain. The Marinids ceded Gibraltar to the Kingdom of Granada in 1374. Finally, it was reconquered definitively by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1462, ending 750 years of Moorish control.

In the initial years under Medina Sidonia, Gibraltar was granted sovereignty as a home to a population of exiled Sephardic Jews. Pedro de Herrera, a Jewish converso from Córdoba who had led the conquest of Gibraltar, led a group of 4,350 Jews from Córdoba and Seville to establish themselves in the town. A community was built and a garrison established to defend the peninsula. However, this lasted only 3 years. In 1476, the Duke of Medina Sidonia realigned with the Spanish Crown; the Sefardim were then forced back to Córdoba and the Spanish Inquisition. Gibraltar would not pass under the hands of the Spanish Crown until 1501. One year later, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella granted Gibraltar a coat of arms.

Read more at Wikipedia.org