Gibraltar Geography

By | November 20, 2021

According to abbreviationfinder, Gibraltar is the last colony in Europe, under British administration, which extends over the geological formation of the Rock of Gibraltar and partially on the homonymous isthmus.

Gibraltar has a lighthouse that marks the position of the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow neck that separates Europe from Africa and provides the only link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is known as the meeting point of the continents.

The Rock of Gibraltar, can be seen either from the air, from the sea or from the Costa del Sol. Its impressive stature, which rises above the surroundings, causes the greatest impact, an effect that lasts on people for thousands of years..

55 million years ago the African plate collided heavily with Europe. The Mediterranean became a lake that, over time, dried up until 5 million years ago when the Atlantic broke through the Strait of Gibraltar and flooded again, resulting in the isolation of the limestone rock. from the Jurassic.

Geography

Gibraltar is situated at 36o07’N latitude and longitude 05o21 and suddenly stands out from the low altitude of the Spanish territory to which it is connected by a sandy isthmus about 1 mile long and 1/2 mile. Eight kilometers from the Bay of Gibraltar to the east is the Spanish port of Algeciras and 20 miles across the Strait in southern Africa. The Mediterranean is to the East. The distance to Great Britain is approximately 1,400 miles by sea. See Gibraltar facts.

The Rock stretches from north to south for a length of almost 3 kilometers. It is 3/4 miles wide and has a total area of 21/4 square miles. Its highest point is 1,396 feet. The top of the Rock is a strong, knife ridge that extends for about a mile and a half from the northern escarpment, which is virtually inaccessible, and then gradually slopes south for a mile, ending at the southern end of Europe, on perpendicular cliffs about a hundred meters high. The upper full length of the eastern face is inaccessible and the upper half of the steep western slopes is uninhabited and a nature reserve has been designated.

Geologically, Gibraltar can be divided into two main parts. The first is the plain to the north which is made up of sand at a depth of about 30 feet, followed by about 4 feet of mud, a 21/4 foot thick bed of coarse sand, and limestone. The second is a mass of the rock itself heading south from the north cliff to Punta de Europa consisting of a compact gray limestone probably of Jurassic age, covered in part with shale, limestone or gap sand.

There are no natural permanent water sources in Gibraltar, the main sources used for catchment areas on the rock surface, which collect rainwater and supply deposits dug into the rock, and wells for the sandy plain to the north. The main source currently lies in an efficient number of distillers, distilling seawater located in the North Mole.

Flora and fauna

Gibraltar is the key to a world rich, diverse and fascinating of nature.

The most famous residents of Gibraltar’s living rock are the Barbary monkeys, the only wild primates in all of Europe. The monkeys that have lived on the rock for centuries are personable, charming, and curious. His current residence is known as La Guarida del Mono. [1] Legend has it that when the monkeys leave, Gibraltar will no longer be British.

Gibraltar is home to a wealth of plant life – palm trees and jacarandas, lavender and jasmine, clematis, honeysuckle, geraniums and bougainvillea that coexist with many rarer species including two Candytuft, Gibraltar and Gibraltar Lavender, named after the Rock itself..

In the seas around Gibraltar the diversity of species is just as great. When you cruise the bay on the boat you will be followed by flying fish and jumping dolphins.

Every spring and fall, the Rock becomes a stopping point for the hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that fly between their breeding grounds in northern Europe and their greenhouse areas in tropical Africa. Among the resident species are the peregrine falcon, the solitary rocker and the Barbary partridge, these are joined by owls and eagles, harriers and hoopoe, hawks and black kytes.

Great efforts are made to ensure that the natural environment of the rock remains intact and beautiful as it is now. A large area of the upper rock has been designated as a nature reserve and work is underway to transform Gibraltar’s famous public park, the Alameda Gardens, into a new botanical garden to compete with the best in the world.

Gibraltar Geography