Gibraltar - Geography

Geography

See also: Rock of Gibraltar, Bay of Gibraltar, and Strait of Gibraltar

The territory covers 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi) and shares a 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) land border with Spain. On the Spanish side lies the town of La Línea de la Concepción, a municipality of the province of Cádiz. The Spanish hinterland forms the comarca of Campo de Gibraltar (literally Gibraltar Countryside). The shoreline measures 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) in length. There are two coasts (sides) of Gibraltar – the East Side, which contains the settlements of Sandy Bay and Catalan Bay, and the Westside, where the vast majority of the population lives. Gibraltar has no administrative divisions but is divided into seven Major Residential Areas.

Having negligible natural resources and few natural freshwater resources, limited to natural wells in the north, until recently Gibraltar used large concrete and/or natural rock water catchments to collect rainwater. Fresh water from the boreholes is supplemented by two desalination plants: a reverse osmosis plant, constructed in a tunnel within the rock, and a multi-stage flash distillation plant at North Mole.

Gibraltar's terrain consists of the 426-metre (1,398 ft) high Rock of Gibraltar made of Jurassic limestone, and the narrow coastal lowland surrounding it. It contains many tunnelled roads, most of which are still operated by the military and closed to the general public.