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Syndicate and Royal Society of Arts examinations. Government recurrent expenditure on education in 1968 amounted to £257,380. The number of children at school was 5,072.

A lending library is maintained by Government in the cultural centre-John Mackintosh Hall-to which the British Council also make a contribution. At the Gibraltar Garrison Library, established in 1739, an extensive reference section and lending library are available to members. The Museum contains exhibits of historical interest connected with Gibraltar.

HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION

Gibraltar was possessed successively by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Visigoths, but remained uninhabited till the Mohammedan invasion of Spain. It was held alternately by Moors and Spaniards until 1704, when during the war of the Spanish succession it was captured by the British forces under Admiral Sir George Rooke and ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The cession was renewed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. Many attempts have been made to take Gibraltar, especially during the great siege in 1779-83, when General Eliott (afterwards Lord Heathfield) defended it against the united forces of Spain and France, but all have been unsuccessful and it has remained in British hands since its capture in 1704.

On 10th September 1967 Her Majesty's Government held a referendum in Gibraltar in which they invited the Gibraltarians to state which of the following courses would better serve their interests:

A. To pass under Spanish sovereignty in accordance with the terms proposed by the Spanish Government to the Government of the United Kingdom on 18th May 1966; or

B. Voluntarily to retain their link with the United Kingdom, with democratic local institutions and with the United Kingdom retaining its present responsibilities.

The result of the referendum was as follows:

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Under the Gibraltar Constitution Order in Council 1964, there was a Gibraltar Council, a Council of Ministers, and a Legislative Council consisting of a speaker appointed by the Governor, 11 elected members and two ex-officio members, the Attorney-General and the Financial Secretary. At Constitutional talks held in Gibraltar in July 1968, agreement was reached with local leaders on the lines of certain constitutional changes. These were incorporated in the new 1969 Constitution which is contained in the Gibraltar Constitution Order 1969, and which came into effect on 11th August, 1969. This replaced the Legislative Council by a House of Assembly consisting of a Speaker, 15 elected members, the Attorney-General and the Financial & Development Secretary and formalised the devolution of responsibility for certain defined domestic matters to Ministers appointed from among the elected members of the Assembly. It also made provision for the abolition of the City Council, which dealt with municipal affairs and public utilities. The Governor retains direct responsibility for matters relating to defence, external affairs and internal security. He has the power to

intervene in the conduct of domestic affairs in support of this responsibility; and has certain powers of intervention in the interests of maintaining financial and economic stability.

Executive authority is exercised by the Governor, who is also Commander in Chief. In the exercise of his functions relating to matters not dealt with by Ministers, the Governor, whilst retaining the usual reserved powers, normally acts in accordance with the advice of the Gibraltar Council (which consists of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Fortress Commander, the Deputy Governor, the Attorney-General, the Financial Secretary and four other Ministers). The elected members of the Gibraltar Council are appointed by the Governor after consultation with the Chief Minister. There is a Council of Ministers composed of all the Ministers and presided over by the Chief Minister.

The preamble to the Order in Council (to which the new Constitution is an annex) contains the following:

"Whereas Gibraltar is part of Her Majesty's dominions and Her Majesty's Government have given assurance to the people of Gibraltar that Gibraltar will remain part of Her Majesty's dominions unless and until an Act of Parliament otherwise provides, and furthermore, that Her Majesty's Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes."

The Constitution also contains a Chapter providing for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms on the lines of similar Chapters in the constitutions of various other territories within the Commonwealth.

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COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Major R. J. Peliza (Chief Minister)

M. Xiberras (Minister for Labour and Social Security)
J. Caruana (Minister for Medical and Health Services)
Major A. Gache (Minister for Information, Port, Trade and Industry)
W. M. Isola (Minister for Tourism and Municipal Services)

L. Devincenzi (Minister for Education and Recreation)
Miss C. Anes (Minister for Public Works and Housing)

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

The Speaker: W. Thomson, OBE, JP

The Attorney-General

The Financial and Development Secretary
15 Elected Members

Clerk of the Council: John T. Summerfield

CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT

GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg, GCB, DSO, DSC
Assistant Military Secretary:

Brigadier (Retd.) S. C. Chambers, CBE

Aide-de-Camp: Captain F. J. B. Taylor, Royal Green Jackets

Deputy Governor: T. Oates, CMG, OBE
Attorney-General: C. B. O'Beirne, CBE, QC
Financial and Development Secretary: E. H.
Davis, CMG, OBE

Administrative Secretary: J. L. Pitaluga,

MBE

Accountant-General: J. H. Romero
Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax:
J. De la Paz

Principal Auditor: J. A. Frost

Chief Education Officer: J. Harrington
Director of Labour and Social Security:
G. J. Gareze

Commissioner of Lands and Works: J. W.
Coelho

Medical Administrator:

Surgeon Captain E. H. Murchison, OBE Commissioner of Police: J. B. O. Bird, MBE Deputy Commissioner of Police: F. Llambias

MBE

Captain of the Port and Shipping Master:
R. L. Rickard

Postmaster: J. A. Giraldi

Superintendent of Prison: F. Massetti
Director of Tourism: R. D. Scrase, DFC
Chief Planning Officer: H. Kendall, OBE

JUDICIARY

Chief Justice: Sir Edgar Unsworth, CMG

Judge of the Court of First Instance, Stipendiary Magistrate,
Coroner and Public Trustee: J. E. Alcantara

Registrar, Supreme Court: F. E. Pizzarello

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READING LIST

ANDREWS, A. Proud Fortress: the fighting story of Gibraltar. Evans, 1958.
CONN, S. Gibraltar in British Diplomacy in the Eighteenth Century.
Oxford University Press, 1942.

DRINKWATER, Col. J. A History of the Siege of Gibraltar 1779-1783. New
Edition. London, 1905.

GARRATT, G. T. Gibraltar and the Mediterranean. Cape, London, 1939.
Howes, Dr H. W. The Story of Gibraltar. Philip & Tacey, 1946.
Howes, Dr H. W. The Gibraltarian. City Press, Colombo, 1951.

KENYON, E. R. Gibraltar Under Moor, Spaniard and Briton. Methuen, 1938.
MCGUFFIE, T. H. The Siege of Gibraltar. Batsford, 1965.

RUSSELL, J. Gibraltar Besieged 1779-1783. Heinemann, 1965.

HMSO London, (Miscellaneous No. 12) (1965)-Gibraltar, Recent
Differences with Spain (Cmnd 2632), April 1965.

HMSO London (Miscellaneous No. 13) (1966)-Gibraltar, Talks with
Spain (Cmnd 3131), May, October, 1966.

HMSO London (Miscellaneous No. 6) (1967) Further Documents
on Gibraltar (Cmnd 3325), October 1966-June 1967.

HONG KONG

ONG KONG was founded as a British trading depot in 1841, the cession of

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the Island to Great Britain being confirmed by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. The area on which the main urban part of Kowloon now stands, together with Stonecutters Island in the harbour, Ap Lei Chau and Green Island, was ceded by the Convention of Peking in 1860; and in 1898 the New Territories, whch consist of the rural area north of Kowloon and the islands around Hong Kong, were leased to Great Britain for 99 years. Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese from 1941 to 1945, and in the following four years made a remarkably rapid recovery.

The territory consists of the island of Hong Kong and a portion of the mainland to the North, together with 235 adjacent islands ranging from Lantao with an area of about 58 square miles, to uninhabited rocky islets. A peninsula, on which Kowloon stands, juts southward from the mainland towards Victoria on Hong Kong island. Between these two lies the harbour, one of the finest natural ports in the world. Much of the built-up area surrounding the harbour has been reclaimed or levelled.

Hong Kong lies on the south-east coast of China, adjoining the province of Kwangtung. It is just inside the tropics, less then 100 miles south of the tropic of Cancer, and lies between latitudes 22° 9′ and 22° 37′ N. and longitudes 113° 52' and 114° 30' E.

The area of land is approximately 398 square miles (Hong Kong Island 29 square miles, Kowloon 34 square miles, Stonecutters Islandsquare mile, New Territories (leased) 365 square miles). It includes all islands within a rectangular area of some 738 square miles, containing the leased and ceded territory. British waters are bounded on the north by the shores of Deep Bay and Mirs Bay, between which lies the land frontier with China.

The overwhelming majority of the population lives on Hong Kong Island or in Kowloon. The capital is Victoria, on Hong Kong Island. The principal centres of population in the New Territories are Tsuen Wan, which has recently grown into an important industrial centre with large textile, enamel and rubber factories, iron works, etc.; Cheung Chau, a small but densely populated island, important as a market and fishing centre; Yuen Long, a mainland market town; Tai O, a fishing and market centre on Lantao Island; Tai Po and Shek Wu Hui, both mainland market towns; and Peng Chau, an island fishing port, with some industries.

The greater part of the territory consists of steep, unproductive hillside, in some parts covered with dense scrub, in others seriously eroded as a result of indiscriminate felling of trees during the Japanese war-time occupation. Cultivation is confined mainly to the narrow valleys. The coastline is sharply indented. A steep range of hills divides Kowloon from the New Territories to the North, in the centre of which is the highest mountain-Tai Mo Shan, 3,140 feet; Lantao Peak is 3,061 feet and Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island 1,805 feet high.

The climate is sub-tropical and governed by monsoons, the winter being cool and dry, the summer hot and humid. The mean monthly temperature varies from 15°C (59°F) in February to 28°C (82°F) in July. The actual temperature rarely rises above 35°C (95°F) or falls below 4°C (40°F). The average annual rainfall is 2,168.8 mm. (85·39 in.), three-quarters of which falls between May and September. The mean relative humidity exceeds 80 per cent during the summer but in early winter sometimes falls as low as 20 per cent. The Temperature Range is 0°-36°C (32°F-97°F) and the Annual Rainfall range is 901.13,040.7 mm. (35-48-119-71 in.). The Royal Observatory provides all meteorological information in Hong Kong and also forms part of a worldwide network of meteorological services.

Censuses are normally taken every ten years but there was a long gap between the census of 1931 and that of 1961 when the population was 3,133,131. A by-census was taken in August 1966 and the total population was 3,716,400. The end-year 1968 population estimate was 3,971,500 and the adjusted numbers of live births and deaths for the year were 85,418 and 19,444 respectively. No division by 'race' or 'tribe' is possible, but at the 1966 by-census over 98 per cent were found to speak a Chinese language or have traditional connections with China, though 54 per cent were British subjects by virtue of birth in Hong Kong. 81 per cent of the population then spoke Cantonese as their usual language, but there were substantial minorities speaking Hakka, Hoklo and Sze Yap and smaller groups who spoke English (the official language of the territory), Shanghai, Kuo Yu, Portuguese and Malay. Most of the younger members of these minority groups also speak Cantonese.

A brief account of religious practices in Hong Kong must embrace such diverse subjects as traditional Chinese beliefs, Taoism, the religious aspects of Confucian teaching, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and a kaleidoscope of Christian sects. In seeking one idiom to express all this it is easy to be misled by the entirely different appearances of religious observance, particularly between the traditional Chinese practices and those of the Christian churches, and even to assume a relative lack of religion in Chinese life. It is true that Hong Kong's business centre may not have as many temples as there are Wren churches in the City of London, but there are likely to be at least as many signs of religion in the

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