Gibraltar

(jib-raul'tür,) a seaport, and one of the strongest fortre es in Europe belonging to England, is situate in the S. of Spain at the narrowest part of the Straits of Gibraltar, 61 m. S.E. of Cadiz; N. Lat. 36° 2', W. Lon. 5° 15′. The number and strength of the military works, and the vast galleries opened in the calcar eons rock, excite admiration; and the fortre , though taken by surprise by the British, in 1704, is considered impregnable. Pop. 16,643.- STRAITS OF G. (anc. Straits of Hercules.) The sen-pa age, extending from Cape Spartel, Spain, to Cape Ceuta, Africa, which connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean Sea; length abt. 36 m.; narrowest width bet. Europa Point and Ceuta, 15 m.; broadening westward to 24 m. A strong current sets in from the Atlantic through these Straits, and it is supposed that a counter-current pa es underneath. [s. 407]