The Strait of Gibraltar is the narrow waterway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, restricted by the peninsula of Spain on the European mainland on the northern side and Morocco on the African continent on the south. It is named for the monolithic Rock of Gibraltar that rises on the European shore, once named in Arabic Jebel al Tariq, or “Tariq’s Mountain.” The strait has been a strategic passage since ancient times, when Greek mythology named it the Pillars of Hercules. At its narrowest point, the continents are separated by just under nine miles of sea.