Melilla (Spain) Coat of Arms Postcard

Melilla (Spanish pronunciation: [meˈliʎa]) is a Spanish city and an exclave located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a border with Moroccowith an area of 12.3 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi). Melilla, along with Ceuta, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish cities in mainland Africa. It was part of Málaga province until 14 March 1995, when the city's Statute of Autonomy was passed. Melilla, like Ceuta, was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2011 it had a population of 78,476 made up of Christians, Muslims (chiefly Riffians), and a small number of Jews. Both Spanish and Riffian are widely spoken, with Spanish as the only official language. Melilla is located in the northwest of the African continent, next to the Alboran Sea and across the sea from the Spanish provinces of Granadaand Almería. The city layout is arranged in a wide semicircle around the beach and the Port of Melilla, on the eastern side of the peninsula ofCape Tres Forcas, at the foot of Mount Gurugú and the mouth of the Río de Oro, 1-metre above sea level. The urban nucleus was originally afortress, Melilla la Vieja, built on a peninsular mound about 30 m in height. The Moroccan settlement of Beni Ansar lies immediately south of Melilla. The nearest Moroccan city is Nador, and the ports of Melilla andNador are both within the Bou Areg Lagoon