The Rock of Gibraltar, West Side town area, 2006
Gibraltar is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. This means it shares the British King or Queen and has the protection of the British Armed Forces. It is in southwest Europe on the Mediterranean Sea. About 32,000 people live there. They are called Gibraltarians.
Gibraltar has always been important as a military base because this is where the Mediterranean Sea narrows to only 14 kilometres (9 miles) at the Strait of Gibraltar. This meant that whichever country controlled Gibraltar could see all ships that came into the Mediterranean Sea.