Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain situated on the North-African side of the Strait of Gibraltar about 61 kilometers (38 miles) northwest of Tetouan. Its population of 75,861 includes Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

The name of the town goes back to Roman times, when it was called Septem (Septem Fratres; Lat. the seven neighboring hills [lit. brothers]). It already had been occupied by Carthaginians and then Greeks, and it was Byzantine at the time of the Muslim conquest. The Arabs called the town Sabta. An important port, it w…