Gibraltar

The ancient Greeks and Romans knew the Rock as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules, and Neanderthals lived in its sea caves long before. In 711 an army under Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa and landed in the vicinity of Gibraltar, beginning the Muslim conquest of Iberia, and the Rock took his name, Jabal Tariq, "the Mount of Tariq", later corrupted into Gibraltar. The Moors fortified it; the Tower of Homage of the Moorish Castle still looks down over the town, and Main Street follows a route set out in the 14th century. Spanish rule followed until 1704, when Anglo-Dutch forces captured the town during the War of the Spanish Succession, and the Treaty of Utrecht ceded it to Britain in perpetuity in 1713.

Gibraltar became a fortress and naval base. During the Great Siege of the late 18th century the British dug tunnels through the solid limestone of the Rock's northern end, and in 1830 Gibraltar was formally declared a colony. In the first half of the 19th century settlers from Britain and around the Mediterranean — Italians, Portuguese, Maltese, Jews and French — raised the population to more than 17,000 by 1860. In the Second World War most civilians were evacuated, chiefly to London but also to Morocco, Madeira and Jamaica.

In the 1967 referendum Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain British, and Franco closed the land frontier in 1969. In the Brexit referendum of 2016, 96 per cent of voters chose to remain in the EU, but Gibraltar left with the United Kingdom in 2020. Its city status came into force in August 2022, and on 14 July 2026 the UK, Spain, Gibraltar and the EU signed a treaty in Brussels removing border controls at the frontier with Spain.

Gibraltarians, who often call themselves Llanitos, descend from a mix of British, Spanish, Genoese, Maltese, Portuguese, Catalan, Sephardic Jewish, Sicilian, Moroccan and Indian settlers. Many speak Llanito, a vernacular unique to Gibraltar that switches between English and Andalusian Spanish, although English is increasingly dominant and many young people speak little Llanito.

Religious life is varied for so small a place. About 72 per cent of people are Roman Catholic, and there is a long-established Jewish community of some 760 people, as well as Muslim and Hindu communities and members of the Baháʼí Faith. Gibraltar has a Catholic and an Anglican cathedral, the Great Synagogue and a mosque at Europa Point.

Gibraltar National Day on 10 September commemorates the 1967 referendum. First held in 1992 in John Mackintosh Square to build support for self-determination, it soon moved to larger venues; since 2008 its main event has been a civic rally outside the City Hall, where the Mayor reads a National Day declaration. The macaques of the Upper Rock are part of local lore: in 1944 Winston Churchill, worried by their dwindling numbers, asked the Colonial Secretary to ensure that something was done about them.

Gibraltar had 32,194 usual residents at the 2012 census, the vast majority of them on the Westside, between the Rock's western slopes and the bay; it is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. Land reclamation makes up about a tenth of its area but houses more than 40 per cent of its people.

The economy rests on four sectors: financial services, online gambling, maritime services such as ship repair and fuel supply, and tourism, including duty-free shopping. Many bookmakers and online gaming companies moved here in the early 2000s for its regulated, low-tax regime. The British military, which once provided most of the work, now accounts for only about seven per cent of the economy.

Around 45 per cent of all jobs are held by frontier workers who live in Spain, most of them Spanish, so a smooth frontier matters to daily life on both sides. During the Brexit talks the Chief Minister warned that a frontier without free-flowing crossings would put nearly half of the territory's jobs at risk.

Gibraltar's cooking reflects its long ties with Andalusia and Britain and the Mediterranean settlers who made it home. Calentita, a local dish, is a baked, pancake-like slice of chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt and pepper, similar to the farinata of Genoa; its name, a Spanish diminutive meaning "nice and warm", is said to come from the cry of street vendors. Panissa uses similar ingredients, but they are simmered and stirred for over an hour into a paste that is left to set.

Rosto, a pasta dish of Italian origin, is penne in a tomato sauce with beef or sometimes pork, mushrooms and carrots, topped with grated cheese. Fideos al horno is baked macaroni with a meat sauce, egg and bacon, close to Maltese imqarrun, and rolitos, of Maltese origin, are known in English as beef olives. Bollo de hornazo, a sweet, dry bread, is eaten at Easter and, in Gibraltar, at Christmas too.

For eating out, Grand Casemates Square is lined with pubs and restaurants, Irish Town has more pubs, and the marinas at Ocean Village and Marina Bay offer waterside dining. There are also kosher restaurants, bakeries and shops serving the Jewish community.