The British East India Company

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I suppose the majority of us have heard of the British East India Company before, but did you know that it was originally called 'Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies'? That's quite a name, isn't it? Apparently the term British East India Company wouldn't have been formal enough for the Royal Charter in 1600. So now that we have learnt about this significant name we can ask ourselves what precisely the British East India Company was for. What exactly did they trade into the East Indies? As we can already guess due to its name, the company was owned by some London businessmen who specialised in importing goods from South Asia. One of the most interesting facts about the company is that it was supposed to pursue trade with the East Indies but somehow ended up mainly trading with the Indian subcontinent and Qing China. The British East India Company mainly traded with cotton, silk, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. However, the first thing they imported were spices.

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Nowadays it is said that the company kind of formed the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I which made it to one of the most important European East India Companies. Of course those other European companies turned out as competitors, which is why the British East India Company eventually had to assemble its own military and administrative departments. The company was successful for quite a long time, it was very popular and one of the main importers of goods from different countries. However, there were some incidents, like for example the Indian Mutinity in 1857, which led to the fact that the company went out of existence in 1873.



http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/india/eic.html

Gibraltar - "Gate to Spain"

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As we all know Gibraltar is still one of Britain's most popular colonies. Apparently, Gibraltar was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Since then, Spain has constantly been trying to regain their power over the British Overseas Territory which is part of the Iberian Peninsula. During WW2 especially the Royal Navy settled in the territory as it is kind of seen as "a gate" to the Mediterranean Sea.

Nowadays, almost more than 30,000 people live in Gibraltar, not only Gibraltarians but also other nationalities. Tourism plays a significant role in Gibraltar's economy. Duty-free shopping and several sights attract many tourists throughout the whole year. The most famous sight of the country is definitely the fortification of Gibraltar. As Field Marshal Sir John Chapple pointed out, it is "probably the most fought over and most densely fortified place in Europe, and probably, therefore, in the world".

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However, there are also other attractions which make tourists enjoy their visit, for example the local monkeys, also called Barbary macaques, are very popular all over the world as well as the flowstone caves of Gibraltar. The so-called Trafalgar Cemetery is a great tourist attraction too, whereupon its name is a bit misleading. Contrary to its denomination only two people who are buried there actually fought in the battle of Trafalgar. The majority of the people whose graves can be seen at this cemetery were victims of other sea battles.

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Nowadays Gibraltar airport is a very important economic factor as it offers people from the United Kingdom a favourable possibility to get to one of Britain's main colonie, which is also considered as "the gate to Spain".




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications_of_Gibraltar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gibraltar