City (pop., 2001: city, 133,363; metro. area, 400,157), southwestern Spain.
Located on a peninsula in the Bay of Cádiz northwest of Gibraltar , it is the main seaport of Cádiz province in Andalusia . Founded as Gadir by Phoenician s from Tyre 0441; 1100 BC, it was later ruled by Carthage , Rome (as Gades), and the Visigoths . It was held by the Moors beginning in AD 711. In 1262 Cádiz was captured by Alfonso X of Castile-León . The city enjoyed great prosperity as a centre for Spanish trade with the American colonies in the 16th18th centuries (see Sevilla ). It now has naval and mercantile shipbuilding yards.