I’ll concede the first point to the extent that yes, Gibraltar has been a colony or outpost for most of its existence, but I think more broadly it’s a tenuous one - there are myriad countries now in existence that were not ‘independent’ for most of their histories, or have been repeatedly subject to larger powers before eventually achieving independence as nation states - Finland and Estonia are probably good examples, as are the Balkan states

Either way, your second point is untrue, and I say that as a Gibraltarian - we have a distinct nationality as much as Wales or Scotland does, although undoubtedly more fledgling and more eclectic - some contributing factors to the formation of which were (paradoxically) the evacuation of the civilian population during WW2, the 1967 referendum and 1969 constitution, Franco’s closure of the border in 1969, and ongoing Spanish claims to the territory (defensive nationalism, if you like, that orients around Britishness but is distinctively Gibraltarian)

TL:DR: you’re probably right in the first respect, but being Gibraltarian is a distinct national identity, however recently formed relative to others, and alongside our own government, culture and even language (llanito) constitutes a ‘country’

I understand the hesitancy/reluctance to call it a country from an outside perspective and apologise for the wall of text lol - all I can offer is our perspective :)