Local name: Gibraltar Capital: Gibralter Government: overseas territory of the UK Currency: Gibraltar pound (GIP) Official language: English Other languages spoken: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Brief History. Gibraltar was once a Spanish colony, until it was ceded to Great Britain 1713. 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.
