Ceuta

Autonomous Spanish city, seaport, and military base in Morocco, 27 km/17 mi south of Gibraltar and overlooking the Mediterranean approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar; area 18 sq km/7 sq mi; population (1996 est) 68,800. It trades in petrol products.

Ceuta is the site of one of the Pillars of Hercules. It consists of an old town on the tongue of the peninsula, and a new town on the slopes of the coastal hills. It is a bishop's see, and has a fine 15th-century cathedral. Ceuta was once a very busy town and did a great trade under both Roman and Arab rule. It was conquered by King John I of Portugal in 1415, but passed into the hands of Spain in 1580. The whole of the northern Spanish zone of Morocco became independent in 1956, with the exception of Ceuta and Melilla.