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Melilla

 

Contents

Prolog

Flag

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Prolog

The population consists mainly of Spaniards as well as about 8000 Africans and 2000 Jews. Melilla is a free port. There are companies in the food industry, light industry and shipyards. Fishing is important. Imports are mainly from Spain; exports go to non-Spanish areas. Melilla was conquered by Spain in 1496. Melilla was part of the Spanish province of Málaga to 1995, and is today an Autonomous City within Spain.

The area of Melilla is a residual area of the former Spanish colony of Spanish Morocco, which existed from 1912 to 1956 as a Spanish protectorate in northern Morocco, and was given up except the Plazas de Soberanía (Presidios). The Presidios had been from the early modern period Spanish possession, then deportation places for convicts on the north coast of Morocco. The Presidios are still until today the following possessions:

• Ceuta (84.777 inhabitants),
• Melilla (86.487 inhabitants),
• Perejil (uninhabited),
• Peñon de Velez de la Gomera,
• Alhucemas-Inseln,
• Chafarinas-Inseln (the latter three alltogether 300 inhabitants)

Sometimes the Plazas de Soberanía are even called as Spanish North Africa. Morocco claims the Plazas de Soberanía and in this way Melilla too.

Source: Länder der Erde, Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuss

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Flag

Flagge Fahne flag Official flag official flag Melilla
Official flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: commons.wikimedia.org



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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of Melila is single-coloured blue and shows in its middle the coat of arms of the city. To the left and to the right of the shield the "Columns of Hercules", which also stand on both sides of the Spanish coat of arms.

Source: Wikipedia (DE)

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Map

Map of Spanish North Africa:

Source: www.publico.es


Map of Melilla:
Größere Karte anzeigen
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Numbers and Facts

Area: 5 square miles

Inhabitants: 86.487 Ew. (2019)

Density of Population: 16.000 inh./sq.mi.

official Language: Spanish

other Languages: Arabic

Currency: 1 Euro (€) = 100 Cent

Time Zone: GMT + 1 h

Source: Wikipedia (D)

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History

1100–600 B.C. · phoenician city "Rusadir"

to 146 B.C. · to Karthago

42 A.D. · to the Roman Empire

395 · to the West Roman Empire

ca. 470 · moorish conquest

711 · Islamic-Arabian capture, to the Umayyad Caliphate, name: "Mlila"

17th of September in 1497 · conquest by Spain

1847–1912 · the Spanish possessions at the northern coast of Africa become united as a captaincy-general

1912–1956 · Melilla is a part of Spanish Morocco

1956 · Melilla comes to the Spanish Province of Málaga

14th of March 1995 · Autonomous City of Melilla

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, World Statesmen, Wikipedia (D)

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Origin of the Country's Name

The first mention of the settlement is the Phoenician city "Rusadir". The Arabs called it "Mlila".

Source: Wikipedia (D), Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1908

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