ABSTRACT
Supplementing the influences considered so far are those associated with religion and language. Both are likely to have a central place in the history of a nation and in the formation of a national identity. While in no sense being essentially linked, religion and language are alike in Gibraltar's story in that they both incorporate non-British as well as British elements. Moreover, the British element in both cases, particularly in earlier centuries played a lesser part. Roman Catholicism, not the religion of the empire, has been dominant throughout and the Spanish language had precedence for long periods, not English. 1
