"Keeweechic's Gibraltar" a Gibraltar Travel Page by keeweechic

Gibraltar is an overseas territory of Britain and is self-governing. While on the southern coast of Spain the residents of Gibraltar are British and proud of it - they call themselves Gibraltarians (some use the term Llanito) and most can speak Spanish. This tiny territory covers less than 7 sq kms which makes it easy to explore on foot although some of it is almost vertical. The focal point of course is this huge limestone rock which stands some 426 metres high which is largely covered by a lush reserve as well as having quite a network of caves and tunnels running for some 35 miles through it. The formation is said to have come about some 55 million years ago as a result of a collision between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates.

The territory was originally founded in 711 by the troops of Tarik Ben Zayed who named the rock Gibel Tarik meaning Mountain of Tarik and built up quite a fortress of protection. It was not until 1160 that a town was established by the Sultan of Morocco. He later built a citadel and castle. The moors mostly occupied the territory until 1462 when the Spanish took Gibraltar. In 1713 Spain gave up Gibraltar to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht although they have never been happy about it and still try to claim the territory back.