THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Status: UK Overseas Territory
Area: 6.5 sq km
Population: 28,231 (2001 census)
Capital City: Gibraltar
Languages: English
Religion(s): Catholic, Protestant, Islam,
Hindu
Currency: Gibraltar Pound
Political parties represented in the
House of Assembly: Gibraltar Social
Democrats, Gibraltar Socialist Labour
Party and Gibraltar Liberal Party
GEOGRAPHY
The peninsula that is Gibraltar is in
southwest Europe, bordering the Strait
of Gibraltar on the southern coast of
Spain. The Strait of Gibraltar links the
Mediterranean Sea and the North
Atlantic Ocean.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
On 4 August 1704 Admiral Sir George
Rooke, in command of an Anglo-Dutch
fleet landed at Gibraltar, overcame its
Spanish garrison and established a
British military base. Gibraltar was
ceded to Britain in 1713 under the
Treaty of Utrecht, which continues to
be the legal basis on which British
sovereignty over Gibraltar rests. A
series of further treaties between
1729 and 1763 confirmed this. The
Spanish made a number of attempts to
recover the Rock by force up until
1783. In 1830 Gibraltar became a Crown
Colony and increasingly important to
British defence and commercial
interests. Due to its strategic position
it played an important role during the
Second World War (when the civilian
population was evacuated), particularly
in the Allied landings in North Africa, in
1942.
Since 1783 Spain has continued to lay
claim to the sovereignty of Gibraltar by
non-military means, culminating in the
closure of the border in 1969. The
border closure was triggered by
adoption of the current Gibraltar
Constitution and followed a majority
vote to remain under British
sovereignty in a referendum held in
1967. An Order in Council in 1969
established the current Constitution
with responsibility for certain matters
(termed Defined Domestic Matters)
being devolved to an elected
Government of Gibraltar while the
Governor retained other
responsibilities (and principally those
for external affairs, defence and
internal security). The Preamble to the
Constitution Order states that HMG will
never allow the people of Gibraltar to
pass under the sovereignty of another
state against their freely and
democratically expressed wishes.
In 1980 full restoration of
communications was agreed at a
meeting of British and Spanish Foreign
Ministers in Lisbon, although the
border was not fully reopened until
1985. The 1984 Brussels Communiqué,
issued jointly by the UK and Spain,
established a process of negotiations
known as the 'Brussels Process'. This
enables both sides to discuss a range
of Gibraltar-related issues, including
sovereignty. At a Brussels Process
meeting, in December 1997, the then
Spanish Foreign Minister, Abel Matutes,
proposed temporary joint British and
Spanish sovereignty over Gibraltar
before sovereignty would revert to
Spain. There was considerable public
and political opposition to these
proposals in Gibraltar. At the next
Brussels Process meeting on 26 July
2001, Ministers agreed that the
Matutes proposals were not an
acceptable basis for discussion and
agreed to set them aside and look to
the future. Further meetings took in
Barcelona on 20 November 2001 and in
London on 4 February 2002.
On 12 July 2002, UK Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw reported to
Parliament on the progress of the
talks. He explained that no final
agreement had yet been reached, but
that the Government was in broad
agreement with Spain on many of the
principles that should underpin a lasting
settlement. The Foreign Secretary also
made clear that the Government would
only reach a final agreement it could
commend to the people of Gibraltar,
that any agreement must be permanent
and that existing military arrangements
would have to continue. He reiterated
that the people of Gibraltar would have
the ultimate say in a UK-organised
referendum. As a reaction to the 12
July statement, the Government of
Gibraltar organised a referendum on
the principle of joint sovereignty with
Spain. Neither the UK or Spanish
governments took part in the
referendum, which took place on 7
November 2003. There was an 88%
turn-out, with 98.5% voting against any
sharing of sovereignty with Spain.
POLITICS
Constitutional Status
Gibraltar has a considerable measure
of devolved government. The 1969
Gibraltar Constitution Order formalised
the devolution to local Ministers of
responsibility for a wide range of
'defined domestic matters'. The
Governor, the personal representative
of HM The Queen, retains direct
responsibility for all matters not
specifically allocated to local Ministers,
and in particular for defence, external
affairs, internal security (including the
Royal Gibraltar Police) and financial
stability. The current Governor is Sir
Francis Richards KCMG CVO. He took
up his appointment on 27 May 2003.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
In the past the economy of Gibraltar
was highly dependent on Ministry of
Defence (MOD) expenditure. However,
in recent years, the economy has
undergone a major structural change,
with a swing from the public sector in
favour of a private sector dominated
economy. The economy of Gibraltar in
2003 is driven by 3 major but distinct
activities; Financial Services, Tourism
and Shipping/manufacturing. Financial
services are a major activity and a vital
sector of the national economy. A wide
range of business and professional
service activities have also been
developed to support this sector.
Gibraltar's financial sector is regulated
by a Financial Services Commission
(FSC), appointed by the Governor and
made up of UK and Gibraltar senior
financial experts. The Commission is
headed by a full time Financial Services
Commissioner. In July 1999, the British
Government gave the FSC permission
to authorise ('passport')
Gibraltar-based banks to operate
elsewhere in the EEA and in the UK.
Insurance firms have been able to
request similar authorisation since
1997. The UK has secured a generous
share of EU Structural Funds for
Gibraltar: some 8 million euros over
the period 2000-2006. These funds
will be used to encourage sustainable
economic diversification, particularly in
the areas of tourism, financial
services, telecommunications, port and
light manufacturing activities.
The Tourism industry has changed
significantly during the last ten years
and Gibraltar now receives in excess
of 7 million visitors per annum who
spend between them over £145 million.
Cross-border day visitors now
outnumber the traditional overnight
visitors in both volume and value. They
come for a variety of reasons, but
primarily to shop. This has resulted in a
far more robust economy, with the
tourist pound reaching a wider range
of recipients than was the case when
overnight visitors dominated.
Basic Economic facts
GDP: £411 million (1999/2000)
GDP per head: £15,120 (1999-2000)
Inflation: 1.7% (12 months to Jan. 2002)
Major Industries: Financial Services,
Tourism, Shipping/Manufacturing
Major trading partners: International
Exchange rate: Equivalent to sterling
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Gibraltar's neighbour is Spain. Relations
are difficult. Spain creates a number
of practical difficulties for Gibraltar.
The most obvious of these are the
delays at the Spain-Gibraltar frontier.
Since a second lane was opened in
March 2002 the queues for vehicles
exiting Gibraltar have reduced. There
are still delays at peak times of day,
typically of 20-30 minutes, though
sometimes up to an hour or more.
Similar delays occur in entering
Gibraltar from Spain.
Other difficulties created by Spain
include the non-recognition of
Gibraltar's territorial waters, airspace
and international telephone-dialling
code. The UK has made strenuous
efforts to overcome these difficulties,
raising them regularly both bilaterally
and within the EU.
Gibraltar is within the European
Community by virtue of Article 299(4)
of the Treaty establishing the European
Community. However, under the UK's
Act of Accession to the EC Gibraltar is
excluded from four areas of
Community policy: the Community
Customs Territory and Common
Commercial Policy (and thus
Community rules on the free
movement of goods, do not apply); the
Common Agricultural Policy; the
Common Fisheries Policy; and the
requirement to levy VAT. Gibraltarians
have rights of free movement within
the EU. While the United Kingdom
Government is ultimately responsible
under the Treaty for the
Implementation of Community Law in
Gibraltar, EC measures are usually
implemented within the territory by
means of local legislation enacted by
the Gibraltar legislature. Gibraltar does
not currently have representation in
the European Parliament. In order to
comply with a ruling by the European
Court of Human Rights in February
1999, the UK has extended the
European Parliament franchise enabling
the Gibraltar electorate to vote in the
next European Parliament elections in
2004. This was done by means of the
European Parliament Representation
Act 2003, which received Royal Assent
on 7 May. Under this Act, Gibraltar will
be included as part of either one of the
English regions or the Welsh one. The
Electoral Commission is required to
make a recommendation as to the
electoral region with which to combine
Gibraltar by 1 September 2003. The
constitutional nature and relationship of
the United Kingdom and Gibraltar
remain unchanged.
Flags Of The World: United Kingdom Dependent Territory,
formerly Crown Colony of Gibraltar
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