Where does the name Gibraltar come from?

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Gibraltar comes from the Arabic Jabal Tariq, meaning the Mountain of Tariq. It is named after Tariq ibn Ziyad, the commander who landed at the Rock in 711 at the start of the Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.
In 711 the Berber commander Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa and landed near the Rock, beginning the Moorish conquest of Iberia. The Rock became known as Jabal Tariq, the Mountain of Tariq, and over centuries the name was worn down in Spanish into Gibraltar. Before that, the Rock was known in antiquity as Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules. The Moorish period lasted until 1462, and the Moorish Castle is the most visible reminder of it today. Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704 and ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

Where does the name Gibraltar come from?

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