Strait of Gibraltar African Monsoon. Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( , ) is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta (Spain) in Africa. The name comes from the Rock of Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic (meaning "Mount Tariq") named after Tariq ibn Ziyad. It is also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, the Gut of Gibraltar (although this is mostly archaic), the STROG (Strait Of Gibraltar) in naval use, and (), "Gate of the West". In the Middle Ages, Muslims
Lines of Contravallation of Gibraltar to the territory by land. The lines covered a distance of 950 toises () and were built 1,000 toises () from the Rock of Gibraltar, where the British defences began. This sparked a diplomatic dispute between Britain and Spain. During the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, under which Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain, the British government sought to compel the Spanish to cede "a convenient quantity of land round Gibraltar, viz., to the distance of two cannon shot ... which is absolutely necessary for preventing all occasions of dispute between the Garrison and the Country