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The Strait of Gibraltar [1] is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. [ 2 ]
Strait of Gibraltar The choke points still have significant strategic importance for the Royal Navy. The GIUK gap is particularly important to the Royal Navy, as any attempt by northern European forces to break into the open Atlantic would have to do so through the heavily defended English Channel, which is also the world's busiest shipping ...
Military control of the Strait of Gibraltar has historically been the most important use of Gibraltar, allowing Britain to defend its trade lanes to the East. The British admiral Lord Fisher stated that Gibraltar was one of the five keys that locked the world, together with Dover , Alexandria , Cape of Good Hope and Singapore , all of which ...
Within a land area of only 2.6 square miles (6.7 km 2), Gibraltar has around 34 miles (55 km) of tunnels, nearly twice the length of its entire road network. The first tunnels, excavated in the late 18th century, served as communication passages between artillery positions and housed guns within embrasures cut into the North Face of the Rock.
The German Abwehr and the Italian Servizio Informazioni Militare (Military Intelligence Service [1925–1949]) established a network of ship-watching positions along the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain and Spanish Morocco during the early years of World War II.
An aerial view Gibraltar from the air, looking north-west. Gibraltar (/ dʒ ɪ ˈ b r ɔː l t ər / ⓘ jib-RAWL-tər, Spanish: [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) is a British Overseas Territory [a] and city [6] located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar).
They played an important role in the Great Siege of Gibraltar between 1779 and 1783 when they supported the unsuccessful French and Spanish assault on the British-held fortress. The siege was ended after the lines of contravallation were attacked by British and Dutch forces under the command of the Governor of Gibraltar, General Augustus Eliot.
An aerial view of modern Gibraltar, looking north-west. The nature and position of Gibraltar's defences have been dictated by the territory's topography.It is a long, narrow peninsula measuring 5.1 kilometres (3.2 miles) by 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) wide at maximum, with a land area of about six square kilometres (2.3 square miles).