History of Gibraltar the narrowest points in the Mediterranean, only from the coast of Morocco in North Africa. Its position on the bay makes it an advantageous natural anchorage for ships. As one writer has put it, "whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean. In terms of military and naval power, few places have a more strategic location than Gibraltar." The territory's area measures only . Most of the land area is occupied by the steeply sloping Rock of Gibraltar which reaches a height of . The town of Gibraltar lies at the base of
Postal orders of the South African Republic Postal orders of the South African Republic The South African Republic's postal orders were introduced on 1 January 1898, which was also the date that the "South African Postal Union Convention" came into effect. The postal orders are inscribed in Afrikaans. Issued postal orders do not have counterfoils attached, as the counterfoils were kept by the post office for recording purposes. Any postal orders with counterfoils still attached are from books souvenired after the post office was captured during the Second Boer War. The South African Republic was the first country, along with the Orange Free State, to declare postal