Algeciras, city and seaport, southern Spain, in Cádiz Province, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near Gibraltar. It serves as a port city for the surrounding agricultural region, in which cereals, tobacco, and livestock are produced. The major industries of the city are fishing and the processing of cork. The present city was founded on the ruins of a Moorish city in 1704 by Spanish refugees from Gibraltar, when the promontory was captured by a combined British and Dutch force. The ruins of a Moorish aqueduct are nearby. Algeciras was the site of a famous naval battle in 1805, in which the British fleet defeated the combined French and Spanish forces, and of the Algeciras Conference held (1906) to settle the dispute of the European powers over Morocco. Population (1998 estimate) 101,972.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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