Gibraltar
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gibraltar is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. This means it shares the British King or Queen and has the protection of the British military. It lies in southwest Europe on the Mediterranean Sea. The location of Gibraltar is important because this is where the Mediterranean Sea narrows to only 14 kilometres (9 miles) at the Strait of Gibraltar. This meant that whichever country controlled Gibraltar could control access to the Mediterranean Sea.
[edit] History
Gibraltar belonged to Spain between the years 1501 and 1704. In 1704, during the Spanish War of Succession, a group of Dutch and British marines made Gibraltar surrender. In 1713, Spain signed papers called the Treaty of Utrecht. These papers said Gibraltar would be part of U.K permanently. However, according to this treaty, if United Kingdom wants to leave this territory, Spain will have a prior position in order to claim the sovereignty. Spain has many times asked for Gibraltar to be returned. In 2002 the people of Gibraltar were asked to vote whether they wanted Spain to have a say in their Government; Almost everyone voted and 98.97% said they did not.
[edit] Other facts
The population of Gibraltar is about 28,000 and the people are called Gibraltarians.
It is famous for The Rock of Gibraltar, a 426 m high rock rising out of the sea. The Rock is home to the Barbary Apes, a type of tail-less monkey which are the only wild monkey in Europe.
[edit] External links
- Government of Gibraltar
- The Unofficial Homepage
- Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (with radio streaming)
- Satellite view of Gibraltar
- Virtual Tour of Gibraltar
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