Background: Strategically important, Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the British garrison was formally declared a colony in 1830. In referendums held in 1967 and 2002, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish pressure and voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency.
Geography
Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southern coast of Spain
Geographic coordinates: 36 8 N, 5 21 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 6.5 sq km; land: 6.5 sq km; water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: about 11 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: total: 1.2 km; border countries: Spain 1.2 km
Coastline: 12 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: Mediterranean with mild winters and warm summers
Terrain: a narrow coastal lowland borders the Rock of Gibraltar
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m; highest point: Rock of Gibraltar 426 m
Natural resources: none
Land use: arable land: 0%; permanent crops: 0%; other: 100% (2001)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: limited natural freshwater resources: large concrete or natural rock water catchments collect rainwater (no longer used for drinking water) and adequate desalination plant
Geography - note: strategic location on Strait of Gibraltar that links the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
People
Population: 27,884 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 17.8% (male 2,529/female 2,426); 15-64 years: 66% (male 9,442/female 8,970); 65 years and over: 16.2% (male 2,008/female 2,509) (2005 est.)
Median age: total: 39.4 years; male: 39.12 years; female: 39.63 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.17% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.87 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 9.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female; total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 5.13 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 5.71 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 4.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.67 years; male: 76.8 years; female: 82.7 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.65 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Gibraltarian(s); adjective: Gibraltar
Ethnic groups: Spanish, Italian, English, Maltese, Portuguese, German, North Africans
Religions: Roman Catholic 78.1%, Church of England 7%, other Christian 3.2%, Muslim 4%, Jewish 2.1%, Hindu 1.8%, other or unspecified 0.9%, none 2.9% (2001 census)
Languages: English (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Literacy: definition: NA; total population: above 80%; male: NA%; female: NA%
Government
Country name: conventional long form: none; conventional short form: Gibraltar
Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK
Government type: NA
Capital: Gibraltar
Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of the UK)
Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)
National holiday: National Day, 10 September (1967); note - day of the national referendum to decide whether to remain with the UK or go with Spain
Constitution: 30 May 1969
Legal system: English law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal, plus other UK subjects who have been residents six months or more
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor and Commander-in-Chief Sir Francis RICHARDS (since 27 May 2003); head of government: Chief Minister Peter CARUANA (since 17 May 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed from among the 15 elected members of the House of Assembly by the governor in consultation with the chief minister; elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Assembly (18 seats - 15 elected by popular vote, one appointed for the Speaker, and two ex officio members; members serve four-year terms); elections: last held 27 November 2003 (next to be held not later than February 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - GSD 58%, GSLP 41%; seats by party - GSD 8, GSLP 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal
Economy
Economy - overview: Self-sufficient Gibraltar benefits from an extensive shipping trade, offshore banking, and its position as an international conference center. The British military presence has been sharply reduced and now contributes about 7% to the local economy, compared with 60% in 1984. The financial sector, tourism (almost 5 million visitors in 1998), shipping services fees, and duties on consumer goods also generate revenue. The financial sector, the shipping sector, and tourism each contribute 25%-30% of GDP. Telecommunications accounts for another 10%. In recent years, Gibraltar has seen major structural change from a public to a private sector economy, but changes in government spending still have a major impact on the level of employment.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $769 million (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $27,900 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA%; industry: NA%; services: NA% (2002 est.)
Labor force: 14,800 (including non-Gibraltar laborers) (1999)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture negligible, industry 40%, services 60%
Unemployment rate: 2% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%; highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1998)
Budget: revenues: $307 million; expenditures: $284 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY00/01 est.)
Agriculture - products: none
Industries: tourism, banking and finance, ship repairing, tobacco
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 104 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption: 96.76 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 42,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Exports: $136 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities: (principally reexports) petroleum 51%, manufactured goods 41%, other 8%
Exports - partners: France 21%, Spain 15.3%, Turkmenistan 12.5%, Germany 12.4%, UK 10%, Switzerland 8.9%, Greece 7.4% (2004)
Imports: $1.743 billion c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - commodities: fuels, manufactured goods, and foodstuffs
Imports - partners: Spain 22.6%, UK 12.8%, Russia 11.8%, Italy 9.8%, Germany 7.6%, France 4.7%, US 4.6%, Netherlands 4.4%, Turkey 4.3% (2004)
Debt - external: $NA (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency (code): Gibraltar pound (GIP)
Exchange rates: Gibraltar pounds per US dollar - 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), 0.6947 (2001), 0.6609 (2000); note: the Gibraltar pound is at par with the British pound
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 24,512 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,797 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment: adequate, automatic domestic system and adequate international facilities; domestic: automatic exchange facilities; international: country code - 350; radiotelephone; microwave radio relay; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus three low-power repeaters) (1997)
Internet country code: .gi
Internet users: 6,200 (2002)
Transportation
Highways: total: 29 km; paved: 29 km; unpaved: 0 km (2002)
Ports and harbors: Gibraltar
Merchant marine: total: 161 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 980,636 GRT/1,254,661 DWT; by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 2, cargo 96, chemical tanker 21, container 22, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 11, roll on/roll off 2; foreign-owned: 142 (Belgium 1, Cyprus 1, Finland 1, France 1, Germany 105, Greece 12, Iceland 1, Ireland 1, Italy 1, Latvia 1, Norway 8, Sweden 2, Switzerland 1, Taiwan 1, United Kingdom 3, United States 2) (2005)
Airports: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: in 2003, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to remain a British colony and against a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar even greater autonomy.
