Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi), it has a northern border with Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.
It came under British rule in 1713 when Spain was forced to cede it under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. While Spain has attempted to reclaim Gibraltar in the past, the denizens have frequently shown reluctance to leave British rule. It's 2006 constitution means that Gibraltar largely governs its own affairs but relies on the UK for certain functions e.g. defence.
In the past the country has attracted businesses due to favourable tax conditions which have been phased out towards the end of the decade. Tourism accounts for a significant section of its economy, partly due to all goods and services being VAT free. They use the GBP as their unit of currency.
Gibraltar is small but still holds over 30,000 people, making it one of the most densely populated countries. These residents are from a very diverse background, with census results indicating only 25% are Spanish and the rest being immigrants from the UK, Italy, Portugal and other european countries. This has resulted in a large mix of languages and religions being practised there, although the only official language is English.
- Part of Speech: proper noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary:
- Industry/Domain: Geography
- Category: Countries & Territories
- Company:
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Featured Terms
George Clooney arrest
George Clooney, the Hollywood star, was arrested on March 16, 2012 for protesting outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington DC. Along with his father ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
Sanket0510
0
Terms
22
Blossaries
25
Followers
Simple Body Language Tips for Your Next Job Interview
Browers Terms By Category
- Physical geography(2496)
- Geography(671)
- Cities & towns(554)
- Countries & Territories(515)
- Capitals(283)
- Human geography(103)
Geography(4630) Terms
- Conferences(3667)
- Event planning(177)
- Exhibition(1)
Convention(3845) Terms
- Material physics(1710)
- Metallurgy(891)
- Corrosion engineering(646)
- Magnetics(82)
- Impact testing(1)
Materials science(3330) Terms
- General packaging(1147)
- Bag in box(76)
Packaging(1223) Terms
- ISO standards(4935)
- Six Sigma(581)
- Capability maturity model integration(216)