Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi) and shares a land border with Spain to the north. The sovereignty of Gibraltar has been a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Gibraltar was ceded by Spain to the Crown of Great Britain in perpetuity, under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, though Spain asserts a claim to the territory and seeks its return. The name Gibraltar is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Tāriq, meaning "mountain of Tariq". It refers to the geological formation, the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn was named after the Berber Umayyad general Tariq ibn-Ziyad who led the initial incursion into Iberia in advance of the main Moorish force in 711 under the command of Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. Today, Gibraltar is known colloquially as Gib or The Rock. There is evidence of human habitation in Gibraltar in Gorham's Cave between 128,000 and 24,000 BCE, by Neanderthal man. Gibraltar was the last known holdout of Neanderthal man.