There will be 14 sports contested during the week-long competition and all but squash and 10-pin bowling are also on the Olympic programme.

Tomorrow's Opening Ceremony will be held in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar at Europa Point Sports Complex. 

It will be screened live on national television and will feature the Royal Marines and the Royal Regiment of Gibraltar.

The ceremonial flag of the International Island Games Association will be raised and the show will also feature a routine choreographed by local dancer Nathan Conroy.

More than 2,000 competitors from 22 teams will take part in the athletes' parade and the event will feature a traditional "water ceremony", an idea first used at the Mediterranean Games in 1955.

Athletics will begin at a new, purpose-built centre with heats for the women's 100 metres.

Back in 1999, Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands won 100m gold at the Gotland Island Games.

Only two years later she claimed bronze over 200m at the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, the first Cayman medallist at that level. 

A four-times Olympian, her 100m victory at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi confirmed her status as the greatest Cayman Islands athlete.

Kelly Sotherton from the Isle of Wight set the Island Games long jump record on Jersey in 1997 as one of six gold medals she won at the Games that year.

Two more golds in 1999 hinted at a stellar career in the heptathlon and she went on to Olympic bronze for Britain at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Pál Joensen was the first Faroese swimmer to win a World Championship medal.

He took 1,500m freestyle bronze at the FINA Championships in 2012 and his Island Games performances have been breathtaking. 

Five gold medals in 2007 and eight on the Isle of Wight in 2009, while in 2015 he was still plundering Island Games gold.

So inspirational has he been that when the first 50m swimming pool opened on the islands in 2015, it was named Pál’s Hall.

The Island Games of 2003 saw cyclist Mark Cavendish make his bow. 

A proud Manxman, his victory when still a teenager in the criterium race still lives in the memory of many who saw it.

The Games have been held every two years since 1985 and the inaugural event was on the Isle of Man.

Better known for Tynwald, the oldest Parliament in the world, and the Tourist Trophy motorcycle races, officials on the island had launched a "Year of Sport".

The Island Games were part of this initiative and 15 teams took part.

Unusually, they paraded along the promenade before arriving at Villa Marina Gardens.

"God Save the Queen" rang out as lieutenant governor Sir Nigel Cecil arrived. 

He said: "The concept of holding these Island Games within our Year of Sport, and bringing us all together, is a splendid one. 

"I am sure they will be a great success and be conducted in a very real spirit of enjoyment, friendship and good sportsmanship. 

"At the same time, we will learn much about the history, traditions and customs of each other’s island homes."

The Manx anthem was also sung at a ceremony, which was on a much smaller scale than most Games but also featured a choir from the Christine Wild Theatre School, dressed in costumes from around the world, performing The New Seekers' hit "I’d like to teach the world to sing (in perfect harmony)".

Among the competitors were a small group from St Helena. 

At the time they did not have an airstrip and, in fact, air travel to the island has only been possible since 2016.

The sports programme included a five-a-side football competition for under-16s and ended with a half marathon.

The race began on the promenade in the capital, Douglas, but had an unusual finish line in the ballroom of the Palace Hotel.

Mikael Nordblom from the Åland Islands was the first home in a close finish.

It set the seal on an event considered a great success to the extent that Isle of Man official Geoffrey Corlett proposed "that this meeting agrees to the setting up of an Island Games Association".

Since 1985, they have been held every two years and in 2013, they ventured outside Europe for the first time when Bermuda was the venue.

The most recent Games in 2017 were held on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic.

Now the action switches to the Mediterranean and with a mascot called Hope, a smiling dolphin.

Organisers have adopted the motto "Clean seas, our future".

It is all part of a drive to promote the environment and prevent pollution and contamination of the oceans.

The Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau have produced a commemorative series of stamps to mark the Games. 

All bear the familiar silhouette portrait of the Queen and the illustrations of local artist Leslie Gaduzo representing each sport.

The five pound stamp features triathlon.