]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Southwestern Europe, bordering the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southern coast of Spain ^# 36 8 N, 5 21 W ^$ Europe ^% `! 6.5 sq km `" 6.5 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& about 11 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC ^' `! 1.2 km `U Spain 1.2 km ^( 12 km ^) `$ 3 nm ^* Mediterranean with mild winters and warm summers ^+ a narrow coastal lowland borders the Rock of Gibraltar ^, `% Mediterranean Sea 0 m `& Rock of Gibraltar 426 m ^- none ^. `' 0% `( 0% `) 100% (2001) ^/ NA sq km ^0 NA ^1 limited natural freshwater resources: large concrete or natural rock water catchments collect rainwater (no longer used for drinking water) and adequate desalination plant ^2 strategic location on Strait of Gibraltar that links the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea 
]# ^3 27,884 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 17.8% (male 2,529/female 2,426) `+ 66% (male 9,442/female 8,970) `, 16.2% (male 2,008/female 2,509) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 39.4 years `- 39.12 years `. 39.63 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.17% (2005 est.) ^7 10.87 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 9.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.04 male(s)/female `+ 1.05 male(s)/female `, 0.8 male(s)/female `1 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 5.13 deaths/1,000 live births `- 5.71 deaths/1,000 live births `. 4.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 79.67 years `- 76.8 years `. 82.7 years (2005 est.) ^= 1.65 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> NA% ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `2 Gibraltarian(s) `3 Gibraltar ^B Spanish, Italian, English, Maltese, Portuguese, German, North Africans ^C 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) ^D English (used in schools and for official purposes), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese ^E `M NA `1 above 80% `- NA% `. NA% 
]$ ^F `4 none `5 Gibraltar ^G overseas territory of the UK ^H NA ^I Gibraltar ^J none (overseas territory of the UK) ^K none (overseas territory of the UK) ^L National Day, 10 September (1967); note - day of the national referendum to decide whether to remain with the UK or go with Spain ^M 30 May 1969 ^N English law ^O 18 years of age; universal, plus other UK subjects who have been residents six months or more ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor and Commander-in-Chief Sir Francis RICHARDS (since 27 May 2003) `7 Chief Minister Peter CARUANA (since 17 May 1996) `8 Council of Ministers appointed from among the 15 elected members of the House of Assembly by the governor in consultation with the chief minister `9 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 ^Q 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) `9 last held 27 November 2003 (next to be held not later than February 2008) `: percent of vote by party - GSD 58%, GSLP 41%; seats by party - GSD 8, GSLP 7 ^R Supreme Court; Court of Appeal ^S Gibraltar Liberal Party [Joseph GARCIA]; Gibraltar Social Democrats or GSD [Peter CARUANA]; Gibraltar Socialist Labor Party or GSLP [Joseph John BOSSANO] ^T Chamber of Commerce; Gibraltar Representatives Organization; Women's Association ^U Interpol (subbureau), UPU ^V none (overseas territory of the UK) ^W none (overseas territory of the UK) ^X two horizontal bands of white (top, double width) and red with a three-towered red castle in the center of the white band; hanging from the castle gate is a gold key centered in the red band 
]% ^Y 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. ^Z $769 million (2000 est.) ^[ NA% ^\ purchasing power parity - $27,900 (2000 est.) ^] `; NA% `< NA% `= NA% (2002 est.) ^^ 14,800 (including non-Gibraltar laborers) (1999) ^_ agriculture negligible, industry 40%, services 60% ^` 2% (2001 est.) ^a NA% _! `> NA% `? NA% _" 1.5% (1998) _# `@ $307 million `A $284 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY00/01 est.) _$ none _% tourism, banking and finance, ship repairing, tobacco _& NA% _' 104 million kWh (2002) _( 96.76 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 42,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _/ $136 million f.o.b. (2002) _0 (principally reexports) petroleum 51%, manufactured goods 41%, other 8% _1 France 19.4%, Spain 14.1%, Turkmenistan 12.1%, Switzerland 11.7%, Germany 10.1%, UK 9.1%, Greece 6.8% (2004) _2 $1.743 billion c.i.f. (2002) _3 fuels, manufactured goods, and foodstuffs _4 Spain 19.9%, Russia 18.4%, UK 10.8%, Italy 8.8%, Germany 7.5%, US 5.1%, Sweden 4.7%, France 4.2% (2004) _5 $NA (2000 est.) _6 $NA _7 Gibraltar pound (GIP) _8 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 _9 1 July - 30 June 
]& _: 24,512 (2002) _; 9,797 (2002) _< `B adequate, automatic domestic system and adequate international facilities `C automatic exchange facilities `D country code - 350; radiotelephone; microwave radio relay; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _= AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998) _> 1 (plus three low-power repeaters) (1997) _? .gi _A 6,200 (2002) 
]' _B `! 29 km `E 29 km `F 0 km (2002) _C Gibraltar _K `! 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 `S 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) _D 1 (2004 est.) _E `! 1 `^ 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Royal Gibraltar Regiment _G defense is the responsibility of the UK; the last British regular infantry forces left Gibraltar in 1992, replaced by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment 
]) _H 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 