The Strait of Gibraltar.

Brief introduction of Gibraltar

(transferred from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

It's called Gibraltar. Now it is a British colony.

It covers an area of 6.5 square kilometers.

The population is 27,649 (2001), of which Gibraltarians (descendants of Italy, Malta and Spain) are 2092 1, British are 3,825, and the rest are Moroccans, Indians, Portuguese, Pakistanis and Spaniards. The main language is English, and Spanish is also spoken. 77% of the residents believe in Catholicism, and the rest believe in Protestantism, Judaism and Islam.

Governor David Durry took office in April 2000.

The brief situation is located at the southern tip of Iberian Peninsula. It has a Mediterranean climate, with an average temperature of 12 ~ 18℃ in winter and 13 ~ 29℃ in summer.

150 1 was officially incorporated into the Spanish territory. King Carlos II of Spain had no children and asked the French Bourbon family to inherit the western throne. 1700 After the death of Carlos II, Philip, the grandson of French King Louis XIV, was declared the King of the West. However, the nephew of Carlos II, Archduke Charles of Austria, also claimed the throne according to the blood relationship of the Habsburg royal family. This led to the war of succession to the throne in 170 1. Britain and the Netherlands supported Archduke Charles and captured Gibraltar in 1704. 17 13 The warring parties signed the Treaty of Utrecht, recognizing Philip's status as king of Spain, but in exchange, Gibraltar was ceded to Britain. After the British occupation of Gibraltar, the original Spanish residents were expelled and a large number of immigrants came from other places. From 65438 to 0909, Britain built military bases and airports in the neutral zone between Gibraltar and the West China, and built fences to form the present border.

Spain has never given up its claim to recover Gibraltar. After World War II, Spain stepped up its recovery activities. 1964 The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization believes that "the provisions of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples are fully applicable to Gibraltar" and requests the British and Spanish governments to resolve the dispute over Gibraltar through negotiations. 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution urging "to accelerate the decolonization of Gibraltar". Britain refused to negotiate and accelerated the implementation of Gibraltar's "autonomy". 1967, a referendum was held on the ownership of Gibraltar. As a result, most people agree that Gibraltar should continue to belong to Britain. The General Assembly passed a resolution, pointing out that the referendum violated UN resolutions and urging Britain and Spain to hold talks again. 1969, the parliament of Gibraltar adopted a new constitution, declaring that Gibraltar "is a part of Britain" and "Gibraltar should not be handed over to other countries without a referendum that fully expresses public opinion". Spain expressed strong dissatisfaction with this. 1969 closed the border, evacuated workers working in Chile, cut off communication and transportation links with Chile, and prohibited British aircraft from flying over the western airspace, making Gibraltar an island.

1980 the foreign ministers of Spain and Britain met in Lisbon and agreed to resolve all differences over Gibraltar through dialogue and restore direct links between Gibraltar. 198 1 year, Britain granted Gibraltar residents full British citizenship, which added new difficulties to the settlement of the dispute between Spain and Britain. 1984 1 1 In June, the British side agreed for the first time to negotiate on various issues including Gibraltar's sovereignty. 1In February 1985, the western government announced the opening of the border of Gibraltar and the land and sea passage between the western mainland and Gibraltar, while Britain announced that it would give the Spanish the right to work, live and buy real estate in Gibraltar, and then the foreign ministers of the two countries held talks in Geneva. The British side stressed that according to the Utrecht Peace Treaty, Britain has legal sovereignty over Gibraltar and should respect the wishes of Gibraltarians. The Spanish government pointed out that the peace treaty only stipulated that Gibraltar's castles, ports, fortifications and other ground buildings were ceded to Britain, but it did not cede territorial jurisdiction. In the subsequent negotiations on straightness, the two sides failed to make progress on straightness, but reached agreement on some other issues. 1987 12, the governments of Spain and Britain signed an agreement on the use of the airport in Gibraltar, but the agreement failed to be implemented due to the opposition of the Gibraltar authorities. 1994 12, Spain and Britain decided to set up a working group composed of representatives from Spain, Britain and local authorities to study the anti-smuggling and drug control measures taken by Portugal. 1995 65438+ 10 and April, Spain and Britain held two meetings of direct representatives to discuss the problem of illegal immigration in Gibraltar. 1997 1 and 12 the foreign ministers of Spain and Britain held 10 and10/round meetings on the question of Gibraltar in Madrid and London respectively, and the west put forward a new plan for Spain and Britain to enjoy Gibraltar's sovereignty for a long time (not less than 50 years). In June of the same year, the governing authorities proposed to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization that they would seek more autonomy from Britain and enjoy a special relationship similar to that between the Channel Islands and Britain. 1In July 1998, the Spanish and British governments reached an agreement on the use of direct military facilities for NATO exercises. 1998 10 The local government restricted western fishermen from fishing in the waters near Zhi Zhi, and detained a western fishing boat on 1999 10, which led to the strengthening of the control of the border between Spain and Britain and the tension between Spain and Zhi Zhi. In April 2000, the Spanish government and the British government reached an agreement on the question of Gibraltar, making it clear that the British government is the only government that handles foreign affairs.

Author: 60. 180. 198. * 2006-11-2511:19 reply to this statement.

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2 Introduction to Gibraltar

Politics In February 2000, a general election was held directly, and the Social Democratic Party won 54% of the votes and was in power again. The alliance between the Social Workers Party and the Kuomintang led by Bosano won 40% of the votes. The Social Democratic Party led by Caruana is committed to promoting healthy economic development, maintaining the level of autonomy in finance, employment and social welfare, and pursuing the principle of self-determination of Gibraltarians on the issue of direct ownership.

The House of Representatives consists of the Speaker, two former government officials and 65,438+05 deputies elected in the general election. The Speaker is appointed by the Governor after consultation with the Chief Minister. A political party that wins a majority of seats in the general election can only have a maximum of eight seats. Apart from national defense and foreign affairs, Congress has extensive powers. At present, among the 15 seats elected in the general election, the Social Democratic Party has 8 seats, and the Social Workers Party and the Kuomintang Alliance have 7 seats.

As an overseas territory of Britain, the government of Gibraltar is appointed by the royal family as the governor and commander of the garrison, responsible for foreign affairs, defense and public security. The Governor is the head of government and has a Gibraltar Committee. The Governor is the chairman of this committee, and its members are composed of five ministers, including the Chief Minister, and four former government officials. There should also be a meeting of ministers in charge of the interior, composed of the Chief Minister, the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Minister of Education, Disabled Persons, Youth and Consumer Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Ports, the Minister of Social Affairs, the Minister of Employment, Training, Construction and Labor, and the Minister of Environment and Health. The chief minister of the Council of Ministers is Peter Caruana.

The judicial system includes the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Court of First Instance and the local courts.

The main political parties are:

(1) Social Democratic Party of Gibraltar. Established in 1989. Now it is the ruling party. Leader Peter Caruana.

(2) Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party. Established on 1976. 1988 ~ 1996 used to be the ruling party, but now it is the main opposition party. Chief, Joe Bosano.

(3) Gibraltar National Party. Established in 199 1 year. Leader Joseph Garcia.

Economic aid is short of natural resources. The economy mainly depends on trade with EU countries. 1995, with import value of 379 million pounds and re-export value of1700,000 pounds; Mainly import petroleum products, food and manufactured goods, and then export petroleum products, manufactured goods and tobacco and alcohol; The main trading partner is Britain, followed by Spain, Japan and the Netherlands. 1995, there were 2,000 hotel beds, receiving 5.5 million foreign tourists, and the tourism income reached 65,438+36 million pounds. The working population is 6.5438+0.2 million, which is distributed in the service sectors such as manufacturing, construction, commerce and tourism. Fiscal revenue mainly comes from personal income tax, customs duties, real estate tax, postal services and lottery tickets. 1995/96 The fiscal deficit was 2.56 million pounds. 1995 There are 25 banks. 1994 expressway is about 50 kilometers long with 26,000 vehicles of all kinds. There is an airport and a seaport. 196 There were 4,222 ships with a tonnage of 79.23 million tons. 1995, there were nearly170,000 air passengers and 556 tons of freight. Other major economic data are as follows:

Gross domestic product: 328 million pounds (1995).

Per capita GDP:1.1.7000 (1.995).

Inflation rate: 0.9%( 1999).

Unemployment rate: 4.0% (1998).

Trade deficit: 65438+73 million (1997)