Algeciras (/ˌældʒᵻˈsɪrəs/; Spanish pronunciation: [alxeˈθiɾas]; Arabic: Al Jazeera Al-Khudra الجزيرة الخضراء‎) is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar (in Spanish, the Bahía de Algeciras). The Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container, cargo and transhipment. It is situated 20 km north-east of Tarifa on the Río de la Miel, which is the southernmost river of the Iberian peninsula and continental Europe. In 2012, it had a population of 116,917 people.[citation needed]

It is the biggest city among its metropolitan area, that also includes the municipalities of Los Barrios, La Línea de la Concepción, Castellar de la Frontera, Jimena de la Frontera, San Roque and Tarifa, with a population of 263,739.