Gibraltar
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
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. It has a population of about 28,000 people, who are called Gibraltarians.
Gibraltar has always been important as a military base 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 see all ships that came into the Mediterranean Sea.
Gibraltar is most famous for the The Rock of Gibraltar, a 426 m high limestone rock rising out of the sea. The rock can be seen for many miles. It is home to the Barbary Apes, a type of tail-less monkey which are the only wild monkey in Europe.
[change] History
Gibraltar belonged to Spain between the years 1501 and 1704, and was captured by a group of Dutch and British marines during the War of the Spanish Succession (1704). In 1713, Spain signed papers called the Treaty of Utrecht. These papers said Gibraltar would be British permanently. However, according to this treaty, if the Crown of Great Britain ever wants to leave the territory, the Crown of Spain will have a prior position in order to claim the sovereignty.
Gibraltar was very important in World War II. Since it was in such a good position, it was the perfect place for the British. In World War II the people were taken to different parts of the world like Jamaica so they could be protected from the war and also leave the Rock for the soldiers. The Rock of Gibraltar was used by these soldiers, and long tunnels were made inside it. These tunnels even had a hospital and living areas for the soldiers.
Since 1704 when Spain lost Gibraltar, Spain began trying to get it back. They besieged the Rock several times in the 18th century. However, recently Spain has tried get Gibraltar by diplomacy (international relations) by putting different kinds of pressure on the people of Gibraltar.
In 1969 Britain gave Gibraltar a new constitution. This meant that it gave the people of Gibraltar a large amount of self-government. This Constitution is not recognised by Spain, nor is the Government of Gibraltar (the territory's elected representatives and the people's wishes).
In 2002 the people of Gibraltar were asked to vote whether they wanted Spain to share Gibraltar with the United Kingdom; almost everyone voted and 98.97% said they did not.
[change] Other websites
- Government of Gibraltar
- The Unofficial Homepage
- Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (with radio streaming)
- Satellite view of Gibraltar
- Virtual Tour of Gibraltar
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