Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain located on the northwest coast of Africa, sharing a border with Morocco. It has an area of 12.3 km². One of two Spanish autonomous cities in mainland Africa together with Ceuta, it was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.
Melilla is one of the special territories of the European Union. Movements to and from the rest of the EU and Melilla are subject to specific rules, provided for inter alia in the Accession Agreement of Spain to the Schengen Convention.
As of 2019, Melilla had a population of 86,487. The population is chiefly divided between people of Iberian and Riffian extraction. There is also a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus. Regarding sociolinguistics, Melilla features a diglossia between the official Spanish and Tamazight.
Melilla, like Ceuta and Spain's other territories in Africa, is subject to an irredentist claim by Morocco.