Rock of Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq جبل طارق, meaning "Mountain of Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain 426 m (1,398 ft) high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a narrow 9 kilometres (5.6 mi)-long promontory stretching due south into the Mediterranean Sea and is located within the British territory of Gibraltar. The rock is 27 km northeast of Tarifa, Spain, the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The rock serves as a fortress and contains a labyrinthine network of man-made tunnels known as the Tunnels of Gibraltar. Most of the Rock's upper area comprises a nature reserve which is home to about 300 Barbary macaques. It is a major tourist attraction.

The Rock of Gibraltar, the northern of the two historic Pillars of Hercules, was known to the Romans as Mons Calpe ("Mount Calpe"); the southern Pillar of Hercules on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar was known as Mons Abila, identified today as either Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa. According to an ancient legend fostered by the Greeks and the Phoenicians and later adopted by the Romans, the two pillars marked the western limit of the known world.