]! ^! Strategically important, Gibraltar was reluctantly ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the British garrison was formally declared a colony in 1830. In a referendum held in 1967, Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency. Although the current 1969 Constitution for Gibraltar states that the British Government will never allow the people of Gibraltar to pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes, a series of talks were held by the UK and Spain between 1997 and 2002 on establishing temporary joint sovereignty over Gibraltar. In response to these talks, the Gibraltarian Government set up a referendum in late 2002 in which a majority of the citizens voted overwhelmingly against any sharing of sovereignty with Spain. Since the referendum, tripartite talks have been held with Spain, the UK, and Gibraltar, and in September 2006 a three-way agreement was signed. Spain agreed to allow airlines other than British to serve Gibraltar, to speed up customs procedures, and to add more telephone lines into Gibraltar. Britain agreed to pay pensions to Spaniards who had been employed in Gibraltar before the border closed in 1969. Spain will be allowed to open a cultural institute from which the Spanish flag will fly. 
]" ^" 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 ^& a little less than one half the size of Rhode Island ^' `! 1.2 km `Y 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% (2005) ^/ NA ^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 27,967 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 17.2% (male 2,460/female 2,343) `, 66.3% (male 9,470/female 9,070) `- 16.5% (male 2,090/female 2,534) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 40.1 years `. 39.6 years `/ 40.4 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.129% (2007 est.) ^7 10.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 9.4 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.06 male(s)/female `1 1.05 male(s)/female `, 1.044 male(s)/female `- 0.825 male(s)/female `2 1.005 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 4.98 deaths/1,000 live births `. 5.54 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 4.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 79.93 years `. 77.05 years `/ 82.96 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.65 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Gibraltarian(s) `4 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 `5 NA `2 above 80% `. NA `/ NA 
]$ ^F `6 none `7 Gibraltar ^G overseas territory of the UK ^H NA ^I `8 Gibraltar `9 39 11 N, 5 22 W `: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) `p +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October ^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; and British citizens who have been residents six months or more ^P `; Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor Sir Robert FULTON (since 27 October 2006) `< Chief Minister Peter CARUANA (since 17 May 1996) `= Council of Ministers appointed from among the 15 elected members of the House of Assembly by the governor in consultation with the chief minister `> 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, 1 appointed for the Speaker, and 2 ex officio members; members serve four-year terms) `> 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 ^\ NA% ^] $27,900 (2000 est.) ^^ `@ NA% `A NA% `B NA% ^_ 12,690 (including non-Gibraltar laborers) (2001) ^` `@ negligible `A 40% `B 60% ^a 2% (2001 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 1.5% (1998) _$ `E $307 million `F $284 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est.) _& none _' tourism, banking and finance, ship repairing, tobacco _( NA% _) 131.2 million kWh (2004) _* 122 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 24,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $271 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _4 (principally reexports) petroleum 51%, manufactured goods 41%, other 8% _5 UK 30.8%, Spain 22.7%, Germany 13.7%, Turkmenistan 10.4%, Switzerland 8.3%, Italy 6.7% (2005) _6 $2.967 billion c.i.f. (2004 est.) _7 fuels, manufactured goods, and foodstuffs _8 Spain 23.4%, Russia 12.3%, Italy 12%, UK 9%, France 8.9%, Netherlands 6.8%, US 4.7% (2005) _9 $NA _: $NA _; Gibraltar pound (GIP) _< Gibraltar pounds per US dollar - 0.5434 (2006), 0.5504 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), note, the Gibraltar pound is at par with the British pound _= 1 July - 30 June 
]& _> 24,512 (2002) _? 9,797 (2002) _@ `G adequate, automatic domestic system and adequate international facilities `H automatic exchange facilities `I country code - 350; radiotelephone; microwave radio relay; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _A AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998) _B 1 (plus 3 repeaters) (1997) _C .gi _D 641 (2006) _E 6,200 (2002) 
]' _F 1 (2006) _G `! 1 `b 1 (2006) _H `! 29 km `K 29 km (2002) _S `! 180 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,129,379 GRT/1,437,754 DWT by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 1, cargo 105, chemical tanker 26, container 26, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 11, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 1 `X 165 (Belgium 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 1, Finland 3, France 1, Germany 108, Greece 7, Iceland 1, Ireland 1, Italy 6, Latvia 2, Netherlands 5, Norway 18, Sweden 5, UK 4) (2006) _I Gibraltar 
]( _J Royal Gibraltar Regiment _K males age 18-49: 5,959 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 4,893 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 187 (2005 est.) _M defense is the responsibility of the UK; the Royal Gibraltar Regiment replaced the last British regular infantry forces in 1992 
]) _N in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement; the government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar even greater autonomy 