The 'Straits of Gibraltar,' the narrowest point between Africa and Europe, is one of the most strategically and logistically important waterways in the world.
The Strait of Gibraltar, also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow body of water that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and divides Morocco and Africa from the Iberian Peninsula in Europe.
The ancient Romans and Greeks also referred to the mountains flanking the Strait as the "Pillars of Hercules" or "Fretum Herculeum" in Latin. . Proof of Neanderthal occupancy there as recently as 24,000 years ago suggests that the Rock of Gibraltar may have been one of that species' final outposts on the planet., according to archaeological findings.
More than the minor transit barrier that the Strait presents, religious and cultural intolerance has, over the past 500 years, served as a potent enforcer of the cultural divide between these two communities. Several of these passages still have traces of prior imperial shenanigans on their maps today. For instance, Oman, a once-powerful naval force, still has an exclave on the southern bank of the Strait of Hormuz; and Singapore, at one time, referred to as the "Gibraltar of the East" lies at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca.