Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 08:01, 7 April 2024

Republic of MaltaRepubblika ta' Malta (Maltese)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Virtute et constantia (Latin) "Strength and persistence"
Anthem: L-Innu Malti (Maltese) "The Maltese Hymn"
Location of Malta (green circle) – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green)  –  [Legend]
Capital	Valletta 35°54′N 14°31′E / 35.900°N 14.517°E / 35.900; 14.517
Largest administrative unit	St. Paul's Bay
Official languages	Maltese English
Other languages	Maltese Sign Language Italian (66% conversational)
Ethnic groups (2021)	89.1% Caucasian 5.2% Asian 1.7% Arab 1.5% African 1.3% Hispanic / Latino 1.2% More than one origin
Religion (2021)	88.5% Christianity 82.6% Catholicism (official) 5.9% other Christian 5.1% no religion 3.9% Islam 1.4% Hinduism 1.1% other
Demonym(s)	Maltese
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	Myriam Spiteri Debono
• Prime Minister	Robert Abela
Legislature	Parliament of Malta
Independence from the United Kingdom
• State of Malta	21 September 1964
• Republic	13 December 1974
• Joined the EU	1 May 2004
Area
• Total	316 km (122 sq mi) (186th)
• Water (%)	0.001
Population
• 2021 census	519,562
• Density	1,649/km (4,270.9/sq mi) (8th)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$33.303 billion (148th)
• Per capita	$63,481 (24th)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$20.311 billion (131st)
• Per capita	$38,715 (31st)
Gini (2019)	28.0 low inequality
HDI (2022)	0.915 very high (25th)
Currency	Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+1 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (Central European Summer Time)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Drives on	Left
Calling code	+356
ISO 3166 code	MT
Internet TLD	.mt
2021 Malta census Chapter 4: Racial Origin according to the most recent national census. Meanwhile 77.8% of the population were Maltese citizens or nationals. Also .eu, shared with other European Union member states

Malta (/ˈmɒltə/ MOL-tə, /ˈmɔːltə/ MAWL-tə, Maltese: [ˈmɐːltɐ]), officially the Republic of Malta (Template:Lang-mt [rɛˈpʊbːlɪkɐ tɐ ˈmɐːltɐ]), is an island country in southern Europe, located in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago between Italy, Tunisia and Libya. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. The two official languages are Maltese, the only Semitic language in Europe and the European Union, and English. The nation's capital is Valletta.

With a population of about 519,000 over an area of 316 km (122 sq mi), Malta is the tenth-smallest country by area and fifth most densely populated sovereign country. Its capital is Valletta, the smallest national capital in the European Union by area and population. According to 2020 data by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480,134. According to the United Nations, ESPON and EU Commission, "the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region". Malta increasingly is referred to as a city-state.

Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British. While Christianity has been present since the time of the early Christians, Malta was predominantly a Muslim country under Arab rule in the Middle Ages. Muslim rule ended with the Norman invasion of Malta by Roger I in 1091. Malta became a British colony in 1813, serving as the headquarters for the British Mediterranean Fleet. It was besieged by the Axis powers during World War II and was an important Allied base for operations in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The British parliament passed the Malta Independence Act in 1964, giving Malta independence, with Elizabeth II as its queen. The country became a republic in 1974. It has been a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations since independence, and joined the European Union in 2004; it became part of the eurozone monetary union in 2008. Malta is also closely tied historically and culturally to Italy and especially Sicily, with between 62 and 66 percent of Maltese people speaking or having significant knowledge of the Italian language, which was one of the official languages of Malta until 1934.

Catholicism is the state religion, but the Constitution of Malta guarantees freedom of conscience and religious worship. The economy of Malta is heavily reliant on tourism, and the country promotes itself as a Mediterranean tourist destination with its warmer climate compared to the rest of Europe, numerous recreational areas, and architectural and historical monuments, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Valletta, and seven megalithic temples which are some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world.

Name

The English name Malta derives from Italian and Maltese Malta, from medieval Arabic Māliṭā (مَالِطَا), from classical Latin Melita, from latinised or Doric forms of the ancient Greek Melítē (Μελίτη) of uncertain origin. The name Melítē—shared by the Croatian island Mljet in antiquity—literally means "place of honey" or "sweetness", derived from the combining form of méli (μέλι, "honey" or any similarly sweet thing) and the suffix -ē (-η). The ancient Greeks may have given the island this name after Malta's an endemic subspecies of bees. Alternatively, other scholars argue for derivation of the Greek name from a transcription of an original Phoenician or Punic Maleth (𐤌𐤋𐤈, mlṭ), meaning "haven" or "port" in reference to the Grand Harbour and its primary settlement at Cospicua following the sea level rise that separated the Maltese islands and flooded its original coastal settlements in the 10th century BC. The name was then applied to all of Malta by the Greeks and to its ancient capital at Mdina by the Romans.

Malta and its demonym Maltese are attested in English from the late 16th century. The Greek name appears in the Book of Acts in the Bible's New Testament. English translations including the 1611 King James Version long used the Vulgate Latin form Melita, although William Tyndale's 1525 translation from Greek sources used the transliteration Melite instead. Malta is widely used in more recent versions. The name is attested earlier in other languages, however, including some medieval manuscripts of the Latin Antonine Itinerary.

History

Prehistory

Malta has been inhabited from circa 5900 BC, since the arrival of settlers originating from European Neolithic agriculturalists. Pottery found by archaeologists at the Skorba Temples resembles that found in Italy, and suggests that the Maltese islands were first settled in 5200 BC by Stone Age hunters or farmers who had arrived from Sicily, possibly the Sicani. The extinction of the dwarf hippos, giant swans and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic include Għar Dalam. The population on Malta grew cereals, raised livestock and, in common with other ancient Mediterranean cultures, worshipped a fertility figure.

A culture of megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period. Around 3500 BC, these people built some of the oldest existing free-standing structures in the world in the form of the megalithic Ġgantija temples on Gozo; other early temples include those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra. The temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BC. Tentative information suggests that animal sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, whose statue is now in the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. Another archaeological feature of the Maltese Islands often attributed to these ancient builders is equidistant uniform grooves dubbed "cart tracks" or "cart ruts" which can be found in several locations throughout the islands, with the most prominent being those found in Misraħ Għar il-Kbir. These may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone. The culture apparently disappeared from the islands around 2500 BC, possibly due to famine or disease.

After 2500 BC, the Maltese Islands were depopulated for several decades until an influx of Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called dolmens. They are claimed to belong to a population certainly different from that which built the previous megalithic temples. It is presumed the population arrived from Sicily because of the similarity of Maltese dolmens to some small constructions found there.

Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans

Phoenician traders colonised the islands under the name Ann (𐤀𐤍𐤍‎, ʾNN) sometime after 1000 BC as a stop on their trade routes from the eastern Mediterranean to Cornwall. Their seat of government was apparently at Mdina, which shared the island's name; the primary port was at Cospicua on the Grand Harbour, which they called Maleth. After the fall of Phoenicia in 332 BC, the area came under the control of Carthage. During this time, the people on Malta mainly cultivated olives and carob and produced textiles.

During the First Punic War, the island was conquered after harsh fighting by Marcus Atilius Regulus. After the failure of his expedition, the island fell back in the hands of Carthage, only to be conquered again during the Second Punic War in 218 BC by the Roman consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus. After that, Malta became a Foederata Civitas, a designation that meant it was exempt from paying tribute or the rule of Roman law, and fell within the jurisdiction of the [[Roman province|province of Sicily. Its capital at Mdina was renamed Melita after the Greek and Roman name for the island. Punic influence, however, remained vibrant on the islands with the famous Cippi of Melqart, pivotal in deciphering the Punic language, dedicated in the second century BC. Local Roman coinage, which ceased in the first century BC, indicates the slow pace of the island's Romanisation: the last locally minted coins still bear inscriptions in Ancient Greek and Punic motifs, showing the resistance of the Greek and Punic cultures.

In the second century, Emperor Hadrian (r. 117–38) upgraded the status of Malta to a municipium or free town: the island's local affairs were administered by four quattuorviri iuri dicundo and a municipal senate, while a Roman procurator living in Mdina represented the proconsul of Sicily. In AD 58, Paul the Apostle and Luke the Evangelist were shipwrecked on the islands. Paul remained for three months, preaching the Christian faith. The island is mentioned at the Acts of the Apostles as Melitene (Template:Lang-grc-gre).

In 395, when the Roman Empire was divided for the last time at the death of Theodosius I, Malta, following Sicily, fell under the control of the Western Roman Empire. During the Migration Period as the Western Roman Empire declined, Malta was conquered or occupied a number of times. From 454 to 464 the islands were subdued by the Vandals, and after 464 by the Ostrogoths. In 533, Belisarius, on his way to conquer the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, reunited the islands under Imperial (Eastern) rule. Little is known about the Byzantine rule in Malta: the island depended on the theme of Sicily and had Greek Governors and a small Greek garrison. While the bulk of population continued to be constituted by the old, Latinized dwellers, during this period its religious allegiance oscillated between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Byzantine rule introduced Greek families to the Maltese collective. Malta remained under the Byzantine Empire until 870, when it was conquered by the Arabs.

Arab period and the Middle Ages

Malta became involved in the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the conquest of Malta is closely linked with that of Sicily that began in 827 after Admiral Euphemius' betrayal of his fellow Byzantines, requesting that the Aghlabids invade the island. The Muslim chronicler and geographer al-Himyari recounts that in 870, following a violent struggle against the defending Byzantines, the Arab invaders, first led by Halaf al-Hadim, and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, pillaged the island, destroying the most important buildings, and leaving it practically uninhabited until it was recolonised by the Arabs from Sicily in 1048–1049. It is uncertain whether this new settlement resulted from demographic expansion in Sicily, a higher standard of living in Sicily (in which case the recolonisation may have taken place a few decades earlier), or a civil war which broke out among the Arab rulers of Sicily in 1038. The Arab Agricultural Revolution introduced new irrigation, some fruits and cotton, and the Siculo-Arabic language was adopted on the island from Sicily; it would eventually evolve into the Maltese language.

Norman conquest

The Normans attacked Malta in 1091, as part of their conquest of Sicily. The Norman leader, Roger I of Sicily, was welcomed by Christian captives. The notion that Count Roger I reportedly tore off a portion of his checkered red-and-white banner and presented it to the Maltese in gratitude for having fought on his behalf, forming the basis of the modern flag of Malta, is founded in myth.

Malta became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Sicily, which also covered the island of Sicily and the southern half of the Italian Peninsula. The Catholic Church was reinstated as the state religion, with Malta under the See of Palermo, and some Norman architecture sprang up around Malta, especially in its ancient capital Mdina. King Tancred made Malta a fief of the kingdom and installed a count of Malta in 1192. As the islands were much desired due to their strategic importance, it was during this time that the men of Malta were militarised to fend off attempted conquest; early Counts were skilled Genoese privateers.

The kingdom passed on to the Hohenstaufen dynasty from 1194 until 1266. As Emperor Frederick II began to reorganise his Sicilian kingdom, Western culture and religion began to exert their influence more intensely. Malta was declared a county and a marquisate, but its trade was totally ruined. For a long time it remained solely a fortified garrison.

A mass expulsion of Arabs occurred in 1224, and the entire Christian male population of Celano in Abruzzo was deported to Malta in the same year. In 1249 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that all remaining Muslims be expelled from Malta or compelled to convert.

For a brief period, the kingdom passed to the Capetian House of Anjou, but high taxes made the dynasty unpopular in Malta, due in part to Charles of Anjou's war against the Republic of Genoa, and the island of Gozo was sacked in 1275.

Crown of Aragon rule and the Knights of Malta

Malta was ruled by the House of Barcelona, the ruling dynasty of the Crown of Aragon, from 1282 to 1409, with the Aragonese aiding the Maltese insurgents in the Sicilian Vespers in the naval battle in Grand Harbour in 1283.

Relatives of the kings of Aragon ruled the island until 1409 when it formally passed to the Crown of Aragon. Early on in the Aragonese ascendancy, the sons of the monarchs received the title Count of Malta. During this time much of the local nobility was created. By 1397, however, the bearing of the comital title reverted to a feudal basis, with two families fighting over the distinction. This led King Martin I of Sicily to abolish the title. The dispute over the title returned when the title was reinstated a few years later and the Maltese, led by the local nobility, rose up against Count Gonsalvo Monroy. Although they opposed the Count, the Maltese voiced their loyalty to the Sicilian Crown, which so impressed King Alfonso that he did not punish the people for their rebellion. Instead, he promised never to grant the title to a third party and incorporated it back into the crown. The city of Mdina was given the title of Città Notabile.

On 23 March 1530, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the islands to the Knights Hospitaller under the leadership of Frenchman Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, in perpetual lease for which they had to pay an annual tribute of a single Maltese Falcon. These knights, a military religious order also known as the Order of St John and later as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522.

The Knights Hospitaller ruled Malta and Gozo between 1530 and 1798. During this period, the strategic and military importance of the island grew greatly as the small yet efficient fleet of the Order of Saint John launched their attacks from this new base targeting the shipping lanes of the Ottoman territories around the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1551, the population of the island of Gozo (around 5,000 people) were enslaved by Barbary pirates and taken to the Barbary Coast in North Africa.

The knights, led by Frenchman Jean Parisot de Valette, withstood the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565. The knights, with the help of Spanish and Maltese forces, repelled the attack. After the siege they decided to increase Malta's fortifications, particularly in the inner-harbour area, where the new city of Valletta, named in honour of Valette, was built. They also established watchtowers along the coasts – the Wignacourt, Lascaris and De Redin towers – named after the Grand Masters who ordered the work. The Knights' presence on the island saw the completion of many architectural and cultural projects, including the embellishment of Città Vittoriosa (modern Birgu) and the construction of new cities including Città Rohan (modern Ħaż-Żebbuġ). However, by the late 1700s the power of the Knights had declined and the Order had become unpopular.

French period and British conquest

The Knights' reign ended when Napoleon captured Malta on his way to Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1798. During 12–18 June 1798, Napoleon resided at the Palazzo Parisio in Valletta. He reformed national administration with the creation of a Government Commission, twelve municipalities, a public finance administration, the abolition of all feudal rights and privileges, the abolition of slavery and the granting of freedom to all Turkish and Jewish slaves. On the judicial level, a family code was framed and twelve judges were nominated. Public education was organised along principles laid down by Bonaparte himself, providing for primary and secondary education. He then sailed for Egypt leaving a substantial garrison in Malta.

The French forces left behind became unpopular with the Maltese, due particularly to the French forces' hostility towards Catholicism and pillaging of local churches to fund war efforts. French financial and religious policies so angered the Maltese that they rebelled, forcing the French to depart. Great Britain, along with the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily, sent ammunition and aid to the Maltese, and Britain also sent its navy, which blockaded the islands.

On 28 October 1798, Captain Sir Alexander Ball successfully completed negotiations with the French garrison on Gozo for a surrender and transfer of the island to the British. The British transferred the island to the locals that day, and it was administered by Archpriest Saverio Cassar on behalf of Ferdinand III of Sicily. Gozo remained independent until Cassar was removed by the British in 1801.

General Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois surrendered his French forces in 1800. Maltese leaders presented the main island to Sir Alexander Ball, asking that the island become a British Dominion. The Maltese people created a Declaration of Rights in which they agreed to come "under the protection and sovereignty of the King of the free people, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". The Declaration also stated that "his Majesty has no right to cede these Islands to any power...if he chooses to withdraw his protection, and abandon his sovereignty, the right of electing another sovereign, or of the governing of these Islands, belongs to us, the inhabitants and aborigines alone, and without control."

British Empire and the Second World War

In 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became a part of the British Empire and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Malta's position halfway between the Strait of Gibraltar and Egypt proved to be its main asset, and it was considered an important stop on the way to India, a central trade route for the British.

A Turkish Military Cemetery was commissioned by Sultan Abdul Aziz and built between 1873 and 1874 for the fallen Ottoman soldiers of the Great Siege of Malta.

Between 1915 and 1918, during the First World War, Malta became known as the Nurse of the Mediterranean due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were accommodated there. In 1919, British troops fired into a crowd protesting against new taxes, killing four. The event, known as Sette Giugno ("7 June"), is commemorated every year and is one of five National Days. Until the Second World War, Maltese politics was dominated by the Language Question fought out by Italophone and Anglophone parties.

Before the Second World War, Valletta was the location of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean fleet headquarters; however, despite Winston Churchill's objections, the command was moved to Alexandria, Egypt, in 1937 out of fear that it was too susceptible to air attacks from Europe. During the war Malta played an important role for the Allies; being a British colony, situated close to Sicily and the Axis shipping lanes, Malta was bombarded by the Italian and German air forces. Malta was used by the British to launch attacks on the Italian Navy and had a submarine base. It was also used as a listening post, intercepting German radio messages including Enigma traffic. The bravery of the Maltese people during the second siege of Malta moved King George VI to award the George Cross to Malta on a collective basis on 15 April 1942. Some historians argue that the award caused Britain to incur disproportionate losses in defending Malta, as British credibility would have suffered if Malta had surrendered, as British forces in Singapore had done. A depiction of the George Cross now appears on the Flag of Malta and the country's arms.

Independence and Republic

Malta achieved its independence as the State of Malta on 21 September 1964 (Independence Day). Under its 1964 constitution, Malta initially retained Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta and thus head of state, with a governor-general exercising executive authority on her behalf. In 1971, the Malta Labour Party led by Dom Mintoff won the general elections, resulting in Malta declaring itself a republic on 13 December 1974 (Republic Day) within the Commonwealth. A defence agreement was signed soon after independence, and after being re-negotiated in 1972, expired on 31 March 1979 (Freedom Day). Upon its expiry, the British base closed and lands formerly controlled by the British were given to the Maltese government.

In the aftermath of the departure of the remaining British troops in 1979 the country intensified its participation in the Non-Aligned Movement. Malta adopted a policy of neutrality in 1980. In that same year, three of Malta's sites, including the capital Valletta, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1989, Malta was the venue of a summit between US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, their first face-to-face encounter, which signalled the end of the Cold War. Malta International Airport was inaugurated and became fully operational on 25 March 1992, boosting the local aircraft and tourism industry. A referendum on joining the European Union was held on 8 March 2003, with 53.65% in favour. Malta joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 and the eurozone on 1 January 2008.

Politics

Malta is a republic whose parliamentary system and public administration are closely modelled on the Westminster system.

The unicameral Parliament is made up of the President of Malta and the House of Representatives (Template:Lang-mt). The President of Malta, a largely ceremonial position, is appointed for a five-year term by a resolution of the House of Representatives carried by a simple majority. The House of Representatives has 65 members, elected for a five-year term in 13 five-seat electoral divisions, called distretti elettorali, with constitutional amendments that allow for mechanisms to establish strict proportionality amongst seats and votes of political parliamentary groups. Members of the House of Representatives are elected by direct universal suffrage through single transferable vote every five years, unless the House is dissolved earlier by the president either on the advice of the prime minister or through a motion of no confidence. Malta had the second-highest voter turnout in the world (and the highest for nations without mandatory voting), based on election turnout in national lower house elections from 1960 to 1995. Since Malta is a republic, the head of state in Malta is the President of the Republic. The current President of the Republic is George Vella, who was appointed in 2019 after being nominated both by the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party as opposition. The 80th article of the Constitution of Malta provides that the president appoint as prime minister "the member of the House of Representatives who, in his judgment, is best able to command the support of a majority of the members of that House". Maltese politics is a two-party system dominated by the Labour Party (Template:Lang-mt), a centre-left social democratic party, and the Nationalist Party (Template:Lang-mt), a centre-right Christian democratic party. The Labour Party has been the governing party since 2013 and is currently led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, who has been in office since 13 January 2020. There are a number of small political parties in Malta which have no parliamentary representation.

Administrative divisions

Malta has had a system of local government since 1993, based on the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The country is divided into five regions (one of them being Gozo), with each region having its own Regional Committee, serving as the intermediate level between local government and national government. The regions are divided into local councils, of which there are currently 68 (54 in Malta and 14 in Gozo). The six districts (five on Malta and the sixth being Gozo) serve primarily statistical purposes.

Each council is made up of a number of councillors (from 5 to 13, depending on and relative to the population they represent). A mayor and a deputy mayor are elected by and from the councillors. The executive secretary, who is appointed by the council, is the executive, administrative and financial head of the council. Councillors are elected every four years through the single transferable vote. Due to system reforms, no elections were held before 2012. Since then, elections have been held every two years for an alternating half of the councils.

Local councils are responsible for the general upkeep and embellishment of the locality (including repairs to non-arterial roads), allocation of local wardens, and refuse collection; they also carry out general administrative duties for the central government such as the collection of government rents and funds and answer government-related public inquiries. Additionally, a number of individual towns and villages in the Republic of Malta have sister cities.

Military

The objectives of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) are to maintain a military organisation with the primary aim of defending the islands' integrity according to the defence roles as set by the government in an efficient and cost-effective manner. This is achieved by emphasising the maintenance of Malta's territorial waters and airspace integrity.

The AFM also engages in combating terrorism, fighting against illicit drug trafficking, conducting anti-illegal immigrant operations and patrols, and anti-illegal fishing operations, operating search and rescue (SAR) services, and physical or electronic security and surveillance of sensitive locations. Malta's search-and-rescue area extends from east of Tunisia to west of Crete, an area of around 250,000 km (97,000 sq mi).

As a military organisation, the AFM provides backup support to the Malta Police Force (MPF) and other government departments/agencies in situations as required in an organised, disciplined manner in the event of national emergencies (such as natural disasters) or internal security and bomb disposal.

In 2020, Malta signed and ratified the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Human rights

Malta is regarded as one of the most LGBT-supportive countries in the world, and was the first nation in the European Union to prohibit conversion therapy. Malta also constitutionally bans discrimination based on disability. Maltese legislation recognises both civil and canonical (ecclesiastical) marriages. Annulments by the ecclesiastical and civil courts are unrelated and are not necessarily mutually endorsed. Malta voted in favour of divorce legislation in a referendum held on 28 May 2011.

Abortion in Malta is illegal. It is the only European Union member state with a total ban on the procedure. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. On 21 November 2022, the government led by the Labour Party proposed a bill that "introduces a new clause into the country's criminal code allowing for the termination of a pregnancy if the mother's life is at risk or if her health is in serious jeopardy". As of 2023, an exception was added to allow abortion only if the mother's life is at risk.

Geography

Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean (in its eastern basin), some 80 km (50 mi) from southern Italy across the Malta Channel. Only the three largest islands—Malta (Template:Lang-mt), Gozo (Għawdex), and Comino (Kemmuna)—are inhabited. The islands of the archipelago lie on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last ice age. The archipelago is located on the African tectonic plate. Malta was considered an island of North Africa for centuries.

Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields. The highest point in Malta is Ta' Dmejrek, at 253 m (830 ft), near Dingli. Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Malta. However, some watercourses have fresh water running all year round at Baħrija near Ras ir-Raħeb, at l-Imtaħleb and San Martin, and at Lunzjata Valley in Gozo.

Phytogeographically, Malta belongs to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian province of the Mediterranean region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Malta belongs to the terrestrial ecoregion of Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests.

The following uninhabited minor islands are part of the archipelago:

• Barbaġanni Rock (Gozo)
• Cominotto (Kemmunett)
• Dellimara Island (Marsaxlokk)
• Filfla (Żurrieq)/(Siġġiewi)
• Fessej Rock
• Fungus Rock (Il-Ġebla tal-Ġeneral), (Gozo)
• Għallis Rock (Naxxar)
• Ħalfa Rock (Gozo)
• Large Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)
• Islands of St. Paul/Selmunett Island (Mellieħa)
• Manoel Island, which connects to the town of Gżira, on the mainland via a bridge
• Mistra Rocks (San Pawl il-Baħar)
• Taċ-Ċawl Rock (Gozo)
• Qawra Point/Ta' Fraben Island (San Pawl il-Baħar)
• Small Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)
• Sala Rock (Żabbar)
• Xrobb l-Għaġin Rock (Marsaxlokk)
• Ta' taħt il-Mazz Rock

Climate

Malta has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with mild winters and hot summers, hotter in the inland areas. Rain occurs mainly in autumn and winter, with summer being generally dry.

The average yearly temperature is around 23 °C (73 °F) during the day and 15.5 °C (59.9 °F) at night. In the coldest month – January – the typical maximum temperature ranges from 12 to 18 °C (54 to 64 °F) during the day and minimum 6 to 12 °C (43 to 54 °F) at night. In the warmest month – August – the typical maximum temperature ranges from 28 to 34 °C (82 to 93 °F) during the day and minimum 20 to 24 °C (68 to 75 °F) at night. Amongst all capitals in the continent of Europe, Valletta – the capital of Malta has the warmest winters, with average temperatures of around 15 to 16 °C (59 to 61 °F) during the day and 9 to 10 °C (48 to 50 °F) at night in the period January–February. In March and December average temperatures are around 17 °C (63 °F) during the day and 11 °C (52 °F) at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. Snow is very rare, although snowfalls have been recorded in the last century, the last one in 2014.

The average annual sea temperature is 20 °C (68 °F), from 15–16 °C (59–61 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. In the 6 months – from June to November – the average sea temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F).

The annual average relative humidity is high, averaging 75%, ranging from 65% in July (morning: 78% evening: 53%) to 80% in December (morning: 83% evening: 73%).

Sunshine duration hours total around 3,000 per year, from an average 5.2 hours of sunshine duration per day in December to an average above 12 hours in July. This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europe, for comparison: London – 1,461; however, in winter it has up to four times more sunshine; for comparison: in December, London has 37 hours of sunshine whereas Malta has above 160.

Urbanisation

According to Eurostat, Malta is composed of two larger urban zones nominally referred to as "Valletta" (the main island of Malta) and "Gozo". The main urban area covers the entire main island, with a population of around 400,000. The core of the urban area, the greater city of Valletta, has a population of 205,768. According to the data from 2020 by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480 134. According to the United Nations, about 95 percent of the area of Malta is urban and the number grows every year. According to ESPON and EU Commission studies, "the whole territory of Malta constitutes a single urban region".

Malta, with area of 316 km (122 sq mi) and population of over 0.5 million, is one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. It is in some sources referred to as a city-state. Sometimes Malta is listed in rankings concerning cities or metropolitan areas.

Flora

The Maltese islands are home to a wide diversity of indigenous, sub-endemic and endemic plants. They feature many traits typical of a Mediterranean climate, such as drought resistance. The most common indigenous trees on the islands are olive (Olea europaea), carob (Ceratonia siliqua), fig (Ficus carica), holm oak (Quericus ilex) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), while the most common non-native trees are eucalyptus, acacia and opuntia. Endemic plants include the national flower widnet il-baħar (Cheirolophus crassifolius), sempreviva ta' Malta (Helichrysum panormitanum subsp. melitense), żigland t' Għawdex (Hyoseris frutescens) and ġiżi ta' Malta (Matthiola incana subsp. melitensis) while sub-endemics include kromb il-baħar (Jacobaea maritima subsp. sicula) and xkattapietra (Micromeria microphylla). The biodiversity of Malta is severely endangered by habitat loss, invasive species and human intervention.

Economy

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2019)

Malta is classified as an advanced economy according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Malta's major resources are limestone, a favourable geographic location and a productive labour force. Malta produces only about 20 percent of its food needs, has limited fresh water supplies because of the drought in the summer, and has no domestic energy sources, aside from the potential for solar energy from its plentiful sunlight. The economy is dependent on foreign trade (serving as a freight trans-shipment point), manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism. Film production has contributed to the Maltese economy.

Access to biocapacity in Malta is below the world average. In 2016, Malta had 0.6 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, contrasted with a global average of 1.6 hectares per person. Additionally, residents of Malta exhibited an ecological footprint of consumption of 5.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person, resulting in a sizable biocapacity deficit.

In preparation for Malta's membership in the European Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004, it privatised some state-controlled firms and liberalised markets. Malta has a financial regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), with a strong business development mindset, and the country has been successful in attracting gaming businesses, aircraft and ship registration, credit-card issuing banking licences and also fund administration. Malta has made strong headway in implementing EU Financial Services Directives including UCITs IV and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs). As a base for alternative asset managers who must comply with new directives, Malta has attracted a number of key players including IDS, Iconic Funds, Apex Fund Services and TMF/Customs House.

As of 2015, Malta did not have a property tax. Its property market, especially around the harbour area, was booming, with the prices of apartments in some towns like St Julian's, Sliema and Gzira skyrocketing.

According to Eurostat data, Maltese GDP per capita stood at 88 per cent of the EU average in 2015 with €21,000.

The National Development and Social Fund from the Individual Investor Programme, a citizenship by investment programme also known as the "citizenship scheme", became a significant income source for the government of Malta, adding 432,000,000 euro to the budget in 2018.

Banking and finance

The two largest commercial banks are Bank of Valletta and HSBC Bank Malta. Digital banks such as Revolut have also increased in popularity. The Central Bank of Malta (Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta) has two key areas of responsibility: the formulation and implementation of monetary policy and the promotion of a sound and efficient financial system. The Maltese government entered ERM II on 4 May 2005, and adopted the euro as the country's currency on 1 January 2008.

Currency

Maltese euro coins feature the Maltese cross on €2 and €1 coins, the coat of arms of Malta on the €0.50, €0.20 and €0.10 coins, and the Mnajdra Temples on the €0.05, €0.02 and €0.01 coins.

Malta has produced collectors' coins with face value ranging from 10 to 50 euros. These coins continue an existing national practice of minting of silver and gold commemorative coins. Unlike normal issues, these coins are not accepted in all the eurozone.

From its introduction in 1972 until the introduction of the Euro in 2008, the currency was the Maltese lira, which had replaced the Maltese pound. The pound replaced the Maltese scudo in 1825.

Tourism

Malta is a popular tourist destination, with 1.6 million tourists per year. Three times more tourists visit than there are residents. Tourism infrastructure has increased dramatically over the years and a number of hotels are present on the island, although overdevelopment and the destruction of traditional housing is of growing concern. In 2019, Malta had a record year in tourism, recording over 2.1 million tourists in one single year.

In recent years, Malta has advertised itself as a medical tourism destination, and a number of health tourism providers are developing the industry. However, no Maltese hospital has undergone independent international healthcare accreditation. Malta is popular with British medical tourists, pointing Maltese hospitals towards seeking UK-sourced accreditation, such as with the Trent Accreditation Scheme.

Tourism in Malta contributes around 11.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Science and technology

Malta signed a co-operation agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) for more-intensive co-operation in ESA projects. The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) is the civil body responsible for the development of science and technology on an educational and social level. Most science students in Malta graduate from the University of Malta and are represented by S-Cubed (Science Student's Society), UESA (University Engineering Students Association) and ICTSA (University of Malta ICT Students' Association). Malta was ranked 25th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.

Demographics

As of the 2021 census, Maltese-born natives make up the majority of the island with 386,280 people out of a total population of 519,562. However, there are minorities, the largest of which by birthplace were: 15,082 from the United Kingdom, Italy (13,361), India (7,946), Philippines (7,784) and Serbia (5,935). Among racial origins for the non-Maltese, 58.1% of all identified as Caucasian, 22.2% Asian, 6.3% Arab, 6.0% African, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino and 2.9% more than one race.

As of 2005, 17 percent were aged 14 and under, 68 percent were within the 15–64 age bracket whilst the remaining 13 percent were 65 years and over. Malta's population density of 1,282 per square km (3,322/sq mi) is by far the highest in the EU and one of the highest in the world.

The Maltese-resident population for 2004 was estimated to make up 97.0 per cent of the total resident population. All censuses since 1842 have shown a slight excess of females over males. Population growth has slowed down, from +9.5 per cent between the 1985 and 1995 censuses, to +6.9 per cent between the 1995 and 2005 censuses (a yearly average of +0.7 per cent). The birth rate stood at 3860 (a decrease of 21.8 per cent from the 1995 census) and the death rate stood at 3025. Thus, there was a natural population increase of 835 (compared to +888 for 2004, of which over a hundred were foreign residents). The population's age composition is similar to the age structure prevalent in the EU. Malta's old-age-dependency-ratio rose from 17.2 percent in 1995 to 19.8 percent in 2005, reasonably lower than the EU's 24.9 percent average; 31.5 percent of the Maltese population is aged under 25 (compared to the EU's 29.1 percent); but the 50–64 age group constitutes 20.3 percent of the population, significantly higher than the EU's 17.9 percent. Malta's old-age-dependency-ratio is expected to continue rising steadily in the coming years.

In 2021, the population of the Maltese Islands stood at 519,562.

The total fertility rate (TFR) as of 2016 was estimated at 1.45 children born/woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1. In 2012, 25.8 per cent of births were to unmarried women. The life expectancy in 2018 was estimated at 83.

Languages

The Maltese language (Template:Lang-mt) is one of the two constitutional languages of Malta and is considered the national language. The second official language is English and hence laws are enacted both in Maltese and English. However, article 74 of the Constitution states that "if there is any conflict between the Maltese and the English texts of any law, the Maltese text shall prevail."

Maltese is a Semitic language descended from the now extinct Sicilian-Arabic (Siculo-Arabic) dialect (from southern Italy) that developed during the Emirate of Sicily. The Maltese alphabet consists of 30 letters based on the Latin alphabet.

In 2022, Malta National Statistics Office states that 90 percent of the Maltese population has at least a basic knowledge of Maltese, 96 percent of English, 62 percent of Italian, and 20 percent of French. This widespread knowledge of second languages makes Malta one of the most multilingual countries in the European Union. A study collecting public opinion on what language was "preferred" discovered that 86 percent of the population preferred Maltese, 12 percent English, and 2 percent Italian. Italian television channels from Italy-based broadcasters, such as Mediaset and RAI, reach Malta and remain popular.

Maltese Sign Language is used by signers in Malta.

Religion

Religion in Malta (2021 census)

The predominant religion in Malta is Catholicism. The second article of the Constitution of Malta establishes Catholicism as the state religion and it is also reflected in various elements of Maltese culture, although there are entrenched provisions for the freedom of religion. There are more than 360 churches in Malta, Gozo, and Comino, or one church for every 1,000 residents. The parish church (Maltese: "il-parroċċa", or "il-knisja parrokkjali") is the architectural and geographic focal point of every Maltese town and village.

Malta is an Apostolic See; the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 28) tells of how St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island of "Melite", which many Bible scholars identify with Malta, an episode dated around AD 60. The Maltese saint, Saint Publius is said to have been made Malta's first bishop. Further evidence of Christian practices and beliefs during the period of Roman persecution appears in catacombs that lie beneath various sites around Malta, including St. Paul's Catacombs. There are also a number of cave churches, including the grotto at Mellieħa, which is a Shrine of the Nativity of Our Lady where, according to legend, St. Luke painted a picture of the Madonna. It has been a place of pilgrimage since the medieval period.

For centuries, the Church in Malta was subordinate to the Diocese of Palermo, except when it was under Charles of Anjou, who appointed bishops for Malta, as did – on rare occasions – the Spanish and later, the Knights. Since 1808 all bishops of Malta have been Maltese. The patron saints of Malta are Saint Paul, Saint Publius, and Saint Agatha. Although not a patron saint, St George Preca (San Ġorġ Preca) is greatly revered as the second canonised Maltese saint after St. Publius. Various Catholic religious orders are present in Malta, including the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and Little Sisters of the Poor.

Most congregants of the local Protestant churches are not Maltese; their congregations draw on vacationers and British retirees living in the country. There are also a Seventh-day Adventist church in Birkirkara, and a New Apostolic Church congregation founded in 1983 in Gwardamangia. There are approximately 600 Jehovah's Witnesses. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is also represented.

The Jewish population of Malta reached its peak in the Middle Ages under Norman rule. In 1479, Malta and Sicily came under Aragonese rule and the Alhambra Decree of 1492 forced all Jews to leave the country. Today, there are two Jewish congregations. In 2019 the Jewish community in Malta gathered around 150 persons, slightly more than the 120 (of which 80 were active) estimated in 2003, and mostly elderly. Many among the newer generations decided to settle abroad, including in England and Israel. Most contemporary Maltese Jews are Sephardi, however, an Ashkenazi prayer book is used. In 2013 the Chabad Jewish Center in Malta was founded.

There is one Muslim mosque, the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque. Of the estimated 3,000 Muslims in Malta, approximately 2,250 are foreigners, approximately 600 are naturalised citizens, and approximately 150 are native-born Maltese. Zen Buddhism and the Baháʼí Faith claim some 40 members.

In a survey held by Malta Today, the overwhelming majority of the Maltese population adheres to Christianity (95.2%) with Catholicism as the main denomination (93.9%); 4.5% of the population declared themselves either atheist or agnostic, one of the lowest figures in Europe. According to a 2019 Eurobarometer survey, 83% of the population identified as Catholic. The number of atheists has doubled from 2014 to 2018. Non-religious people have a higher risk of suffering from discrimination. In the 2015 edition of the annual Freedom of Thought Report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Malta was in the category of "severe discrimination". In 2016, following the abolishment of blasphemy law, Malta was shifted to the category of "systematic discrimination" (same as most EU countries).

Migration

Historically a land of emigration, since the early 21st century Malta has seen a significant increase in net migration; the foreign-born population has grown nearly eightfold between 2005 and 2020. Most of the foreign community in Malta consists of active or retired British nationals and their dependents, centred on Sliema and surrounding suburbs. Other smaller foreign groups include Italians, Libyans, and Serbians, many of whom have assimilated into the Maltese nation over the decades.

Malta is also home to a large number of foreign workers who migrated to the island for economic opportunity. This migration was driven predominantly in the early 21st century, when the Maltese economy was steadily booming yet the cost and quality of living on the island remained relatively stable. In recent years however the local Maltese housing index has doubled pushing property and rental prices to very high and almost unaffordable levels. Consequently, some expats in Malta have seen their relative financial fortunes decline, with others relocating to other European countries altogether.

Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe. As a member of the European Union and the Schengen Agreement, Malta is bound by the Dublin Regulation to process all claims for asylum by those asylum seekers that enter EU territory for the first time in Malta. However, irregular migrants who land in Malta are subject to a compulsory detention policy, being held in several camps organised by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM), including those near Ħal Far and Ħal Safi. The compulsory detention policy has been denounced by several NGOs, and in July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found that Malta's detention of migrants was arbitrary, lacking in adequate procedures to challenge detention, and in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. On 8 September 2020, Amnesty International criticized Malta for "illegal tactics" in the Mediterranean, against immigrants who were attempting to cross from North Africa. The reports claimed that the government's approach might have led to avoidable deaths.

In January 2014, Malta started granting citizenship for a €650,000 contribution plus investments, contingent on residence and criminal background checks. This "golden passport" citizenship scheme has been criticized as a fraudulent act by the Maltese Government. Concerns as to whether the Maltese citizenship scheme is allowing an influx of such individuals into the greater European Union have been raised by both the public as well as the European Council on multiple occasions.

In the 19th century, most emigration from Malta was to North Africa and the Middle East, although rates of return migration to Malta were high. In the 20th century, most emigrants went to destinations in the New World, particularly to Australia, Canada, and the United States. Post Second World War, Malta's Emigration Department would assist emigrants with the cost of their travel. Between 1948 and 1967, 30 percent of the population emigrated. Between 1946 and the late-1970s, over 140,000 people left Malta on the assisted passage scheme, with 57.6% migrating to Australia, 22% to the UK, 13% to Canada and 7% to the United States. Emigration dropped dramatically after the mid-1970s and has since ceased to be a social phenomenon of significance. However, since Malta joined the EU in 2004 expatriate communities emerged in a number of European countries, particularly in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Education

Primary schooling has been compulsory since 1946; secondary education up to the age of sixteen was made compulsory in 1971. The state and the Church provide education free of charge, both running a number of schools in Malta and Gozo. As of 2006, state schools are organised into networks known as Colleges and incorporate kindergarten schools, primary and secondary schools. A number of private schools are run in Malta. St. Catherine's High School, Pembroke offers an International Foundation Course for students wishing to learn English before entering mainstream education. As of 2008, there are two international schools, Verdala International School and QSI Malta. The state pays a portion of the teachers' salary in Church schools.

Education in Malta is based on the British model. Primary school lasts six years. Pupils sit for SEC O-level examinations at the age of 16, with passes obligatory in mathematics, a minimum of one science subject, English and Maltese. Pupils may opt to continue studying at a sixth form college for two years, at the end of which students sit for the matriculation examination. Subject to their performance, students may then apply for an undergraduate degree or diploma.

The adult literacy rate is 99.5 per cent.

Maltese and English are both used to teach pupils at the primary and secondary school level, and both languages are also compulsory subjects. Public schools tend to use both Maltese and English in a balanced manner. Private schools prefer to use English for teaching, as is also the case with most departments of the University of Malta; this has a limiting effect on the capacity and development of the Maltese language. Most university courses are in English. The College of Remote and Offshore Medicine based in Malta teaches exclusively in English.

Of the total number of pupils studying a first foreign language at secondary level, 51 per cent take Italian whilst 38 per cent take French. Other choices include German, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Chinese and Arabic.

Malta is also a popular destination to study the English language, attracting over 83,000 students in 2019.

Infrastructure

Transport

Traffic in Malta drives on the left. Car ownership in Malta is exceedingly high, considering the very small size of the islands; it is the fourth-highest in the European Union. There were 182,254 registered cars in 1990, giving an automobile density of 577/km (1,494/sq mi). Malta has 2,254 kilometres (1,401 miles) of road, 1,972 km (1,225 mi) (87.5 per cent) of which are paved (as of December 2003).

Buses (xarabank or karozza tal-linja) are the primary method of public transport, established in 1905. Malta's vintage buses operated in the Maltese islands up to 2011 and became popular tourist attractions. To this day they are depicted on many Maltese advertisements and merchandise for tourists.

The bus service underwent extensive reform in July 2011. The management structure changed from having self-employed drivers driving their own vehicles to a service being offered by a single company through a public tender. The public tender was won by Arriva Malta, which introduced a fleet of brand new buses, built by King Long especially for service by Arriva Malta and including a smaller fleet of articulated buses brought in from Arriva London. It also operated two smaller buses for an intra-Valletta route only and 61 nine-metre buses, which were used to ease congestion on high-density routes. Overall Arriva Malta operated 264 buses. On 1 January 2014 Arriva ceased operations in Malta due to financial difficulties, having been nationalised as Malta Public Transport. The government chose Autobuses Urbanos de León (Alsa subsidiary) as its preferred bus operator for the country in October 2014. From October 2022, the bus system is free of charge for residents of Malta.

As of 2021, an underground Malta Metro is being planned, with a projected total cost of €6.2 billion.

Malta has three large natural harbours on its main island:

• The Grand Harbour (or Port il-Kbir), located at the eastern side of the capital city of Valletta, has been a harbour since Roman times. It has several extensive docks and wharves, as well as a cruise liner terminal. A terminal at the Grand Harbour serves ferries that connect Malta to Pozzallo & Catania in Sicily.
• Marsamxett Harbour, located on the western side of Valletta, accommodates a number of yacht marinas.
• Marsaxlokk Harbour (Malta Freeport), at Birżebbuġa on the south-eastern side of Malta, is the islands' main cargo terminal. Malta Freeport is the 11th busiest container ports in continent of Europe and 46th in the World with a trade volume of 2.3 million TEU's in 2008.

There are also two human-made harbours that serve a passenger and car ferry service that connects Ċirkewwa Harbour on Malta and Mġarr Harbour on Gozo.

Malta International Airport (Ajruport Internazzjonali ta' Malta) is the only airport serving the Maltese islands. It is built on the land formerly occupied by the RAF Luqa air base. A heliport is also located there. The heliport in Gozo is at Xewkija. A former airfield at Ta' Qali houses a national park, stadium, the Crafts Village visitor attraction and the Malta Aviation Museum.

From 1 April 1974 to 30 March 2024, the national airline was Air Malta, which was based at Malta International Airport and operated services to 22 destinations in Europe and North Africa. The owners of Air Malta were the Government of Malta (98 percent) and private investors (2 percent).

On 31 March 2024, KM Malta Airlines took over as the national airline of Malta. All former Air Malta Airplanes and other assets were transferred to the new airline, together with the staff. KM Malta Airlines is based at Malta International Airport and operates services to 18 destinations in Europe.

In June 2019, Ryanair has invested into a fully-fledged airline subsidiary, called Malta Air, operating a low-cost model. The Government of Malta holds one share in the airline.

Communications

The mobile penetration rate in Malta exceeded 100% by the end of 2009. Malta uses the GSM900, UMTS(3G) and LTE(4G) mobile phone systems, which are compatible with the rest of the European countries, Australia and New Zealand.

In early 2012, the government called for a national Fibre to the Home (FttH) network to be built, with a minimum broadband service being upgraded from 4Mbit/s to 100Mbit/s.

Healthcare

Malta has a long history of providing publicly funded health care. The first hospital recorded in the country was already functioning by 1372. Today, Malta has both a public healthcare system, where healthcare is free at the point of delivery, and a private healthcare system. Malta has a strong general practitioner-delivered primary care base and the public hospitals provide secondary and tertiary care. The Maltese Ministry of Health advises foreign residents to take out private medical insurance.

Malta also boasts voluntary organisations such as Alpha Medical (Advanced Care), the Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit (E.F.R.U.), St John Ambulance and Red Cross Malta who provide first aid/nursing services during events involving crowds, Malta's primary hospital, opened in 2007. It has one of the largest medical buildings in Europe.

The University of Malta has a medical school and a Faculty of Health Sciences. The Medical Association of Malta represents practitioners of the medical profession. The Foundation Program followed in the UK has been introduced in Malta to stem the 'brain drain' of newly graduated physicians to the British Isles.

Culture

The culture of Malta reflects the various cultures, from the Phoenicians to the British, that have come into contact with the Maltese Islands throughout the centuries.

Music

While Maltese music today is largely Western, traditional Maltese music includes what is known as għana. This consists of background folk guitar music, while a few people, generally men, take it in turns to argue a point in a sing-song voice. Music plays an important part in Maltese culture as each locality parades its own band club, on various occasions these being multiple per locality, and function to establish the thematic musical background to the various village feasts. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as Malta's foremost musical institution and is notable for being called to participate in important state events.

Contemporary music in Malta spans a variety of styles and sports international classical talents such as Miriam Gauci and Joseph Calleja, as well as non-classical music bands such as Winter Moods, and Red Electric, and singers like Ira Losco, Fabrizio Faniello, Glen Vella, Kevin Borg, Kurt Calleja, Chiara Siracusa, and Thea Garrett.

Literature

Documented Maltese literature is over 200 years old. However, a recently unearthed love ballad testifies to literary activity in the local tongue from the Medieval period. Malta followed a Romantic literary tradition, culminating in the works of Dun Karm Psaila, Malta's national poet. Subsequent writers like Ruzar Briffa and Karmenu Vassallo tried to estrange themselves from the rigidity of formal themes and versification.

The next generation of writers, including Karl Schembri and Immanuel Mifsud, widened the tracks further, especially in prose and poetry.

Architecture

Maltese architecture has been influenced by many different Mediterranean cultures and British architecture over its history. The first settlers on the island constructed Ġgantija, one of the oldest manmade freestanding structures in the world. The Neolithic temple builders (3800–2500 BC) endowed the numerous temples of Malta and Gozo with intricate bas-relief designs.

The Roman period introduced highly decorative mosaic floors, marble colonnades, and classical statuary, remnants of which are beautifully preserved and presented in the Roman Domus, a country villa just outside the walls of Mdina. The early Christian frescoes that decorate the catacombs beneath Malta reveal a propensity for eastern, Byzantine tastes. These tastes continued to inform the endeavours of medieval Maltese artists, but they were increasingly influenced by the Romanesque and Southern Gothic movements. Malta is currently undergoing several large-scale building projects, while areas such as the Valletta Waterfront and Tigné Point have been or are being renovated.

Art

Towards the end of the 15th century, Maltese artists, like their counterparts in Sicily, came under the influence of the School of Antonello da Messina, which introduced Renaissance ideals and concepts to the decorative arts in Malta.

The artistic heritage of Malta blossomed under the Knights of St. John, who brought Italian and Flemish Mannerist painters to decorate their palaces and the churches of these islands, most notably, Matteo Perez d'Aleccio, whose works appear in the Magisterial Palace and in the Conventual Church of St. John in Valletta, and Filippo Paladini, who was active in Malta from 1590 to 1595. For many years, Mannerism continued to inform the tastes and ideals of local Maltese artists.

The arrival in Malta of Caravaggio, who painted at least seven works during his 15-month stay on these islands, further revolutionised local art. Two of Caravaggio's most notable works, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Jerome Writing, are on display in the Conventual Church of St. John. His legacy is evident in the works of local artists Giulio Cassarino and Stefano Erardi. However, the Baroque movement that followed was destined to have the most enduring impact on Maltese art and architecture. The vault paintings of the Calabrese artist Mattia Preti transformed the Conventual Church St. John into a Baroque masterpiece. Melchior Gafà emerged as one of the top Baroque sculptors of the Roman School.

During the 17th and 18th century, Neapolitan and Rococo influences emerged in the works of the Italian painters Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena, and these developments can be seen in the work of their Maltese contemporaries such as Gio Nicola Buhagiar and Francesco Zahra. The Rococo movement was greatly enhanced by the relocation to Malta of Antoine de Favray, who assumed the position of court painter to Grand Master Pinto in 1744.

Neo-classicism made some inroads among local Maltese artists in the late-18th century, but this trend was reversed in the early 19th century, as the local Church authorities – perhaps in an effort to strengthen Catholic resolve against the perceived threat of Protestantism during the early days of British rule in Malta – favoured and avidly promoted the religious themes embraced by the Nazarene movement. Romanticism, tempered by the naturalism introduced to Malta by Giuseppe Calì, informed the "salon" artists of the early 20th century, including Edward and Robert Caruana Dingli.

Parliament established the National School of Art in the 1920s. During the reconstruction period that followed the Second World War, the emergence of the "Modern Art Group", whose members included Josef Kalleya, George Preca, Anton Inglott, Emvin Cremona, Frank Portelli, Antoine Camilleri, Gabriel Caruana and Esprit Barthet greatly enhanced the local art scene. This group came together forming an influential pressure group known as the Modern Art Group, which played a leading role in the renewal of Maltese art. Most of Malta's modern artists have in fact studied in Art institutions in England, or on the continent, leading to a diversity of artistic expression that has remained characteristic of contemporary Maltese art. In Valletta, the National Museum of Fine Arts featured work from artists such as H. Craig Hanna. In 2018 the national collection of fine arts was put on display in the new National Museum of Art, MUŻA, at Auberge d'Italie in Valletta.

Cuisine

Maltese cuisine shows strong Sicilian and Italian influences as well as influences of English, Spanish, Maghrebin and Provençal cuisines. A number of regional variations can be noted as well as seasonal variations associated with the seasonal availability of produce and Christian feasts (such as Lent, Easter and Christmas). Food has been important historically in the development of a national identity in particular the traditional fenkata (i.e., the eating of stewed or fried rabbit). Potatoes are a staple of the Maltese diet as well.

A number of grapes are endemic to Malta, including Girgentina and Ġellewża. There is a strong wine industry, with significant production of wines using these native grapes, as well as locally grown grapes of other more common varietals. A number of wines have achieved Protected Designation of Origin, with wines produced from grapes cultivated in Malta and Gozo designated as "DOK" wines, that is Denominazzjoni ta' l-Oriġini Kontrollata.

Customs

A 2010 Charities Aid Foundation study found that the Maltese were the most generous people in the world, with 83% contributing to charity.

Maltese folktales include various stories about mysterious creatures and supernatural events. These were most comprehensively compiled by the scholar (and pioneer in Maltese archaeology) Manwel Magri in his core criticism "Ħrejjef Missirijietna" ("Fables from our Forefathers"). This collection of material inspired subsequent researchers and academics to gather traditional tales, fables and legends from all over the Archipelago. While giants, witches, and dragons feature in many of the stories, some contain entirely Maltese creatures like the Kaw kaw, Il-Belliegħa and L-Imħalla among others.

Traditions

Traditional Maltese proverbs reveal cultural importance of childbearing and fertility: "iż-żwieġ mingħajr tarbija ma fihx tgawdija" (a childless marriage cannot be a happy one). This is a belief that Malta shares with many other Mediterranean cultures. In Maltese folktales the local variant of the classic closing formula, "and they all lived happily ever after" is "u għammru u tgħammru, u spiċċat" (and they lived together, and they had children together, and the tale is finished).

Rural Malta shares in common with the Mediterranean society a number of superstitions regarding fertility, menstruation, and pregnancy, including the avoidance of cemeteries leading up to childbirth, and avoiding the preparation of certain foods during menses. Pregnant women are encouraged to satisfy their food cravings, out of fear that their unborn child will bear a representational birth mark (Maltese: xewqa, literally "desire" or "craving"). Maltese and Sicilian women also share certain traditions that are believed to predict the sex of an unborn child.

Traditionally, Maltese newborns were baptised as promptly as possible. Traditional Maltese delicacies served at a baptismal feast include biskuttini tal-magħmudija (almond macaroons), it-torta tal-marmorata (a spicy, heart-shaped tart of chocolate-flavoured almond paste), and a liqueur known as rożolin, made with rose petals, violets, and almonds.

On a child's first birthday, in a tradition that still survives today, Maltese parents would organise a game known as il-quċċija, where a variety of symbolic objects would be randomly placed around the seated child. These may include a hard-boiled egg, a Bible, crucifix or rosary beads, a book, and so on. Whichever object the child shows the most interest in is said to reveal the child's path and fortunes in adulthood.

Traditional Maltese weddings featured the bridal party walking in procession beneath an ornate canopy, from the home of the bride's family to the parish church, with singers trailing behind (il-ġilwa). New wives would wear the għonnella, a traditional item of Maltese clothing. Today's couples are married in churches or chapels in the village or town of their choice, usually followed by a lavish wedding reception. Occasionally, couples will try to incorporate elements of the traditional Maltese wedding in their celebration. A resurgent interest in the traditional wedding was evident in May 2007, when thousands of Maltese and tourists attended a traditional Maltese wedding in the style of the 16th century, in Żurrieq.

Festivals and events

Local festivals, similar to those in Southern Italy, are commonplace in Malta and Gozo, celebrating weddings, christenings and, most prominently, saints' days. On saints' days, in the morning, the festa reaches its apex with a High Mass featuring a sermon on the life and achievements of the patron saint. In the evening, a statue of the religious patron is taken around the local streets in solemn procession, with the faithful following in prayer. The atmosphere of religious devotion is preceded by several days of celebration and revelry: band marches, fireworks, and late-night parties.

Carnival (Maltese: il-karnival ta' Malta) has had an important place on the cultural calendar after Grand Master It is held during the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, and typically includes masked balls, fancy dress and grotesque mask competitions, lavish late-night parties, a colourful, ticker-tape parade of allegorical floats presided over by King Carnival (Maltese: ir-Re tal-Karnival), marching bands and costumed revellers.

Holy Week (Maltese: il-Ġimgħa Mqaddsa) starts on Palm Sunday (Ħadd il-Palm) and ends on Easter Sunday (Ħadd il-Għid).

Mnarja, or l-Imnarja (pronounced lim-nar-ya) is one of the most important dates on the Maltese cultural calendar. Officially, it is a national festival dedicated to the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Its roots can be traced back to the pagan Roman feast of Luminaria (literally, "the illumination"), when torches and bonfires lit up the early summer night of 29 June. The festivities still commence today with the reading of the "bandu", an official governmental announcement, which has been read on this day in Malta since the 16th century. It is said that under the Knights, this was the one day in the year when the Maltese were allowed to hunt and eat wild rabbit, which was otherwise reserved for the hunting pleasures of the Knights. The close connection between Mnarja and rabbit stew (Maltese: "fenkata") remains strong today.

Isle of MTV is a one-day music festival produced and broadcast on an annual basis by MTV. The festival has been arranged annually in Malta since 2007, with major pop artists performing each year. 2012 saw the performances of worldwide acclaimed artists Flo Rida, Nelly Furtado and Will.i.am. Over 50,000 people attended, which marked the biggest attendance so far.

The Malta International Fireworks Festival has been arranged annually in the Grand Harbour of Valletta since 2003.

Media

The most widely read and financially the strongest newspapers are published by Allied Newspapers Ltd., mainly The Times of Malta (27 percent) and its Sunday edition The Sunday Times of Malta (51.6 percent). Due to bilingualism half of the newspapers are published in English and the other half in Maltese. The Sunday newspaper It-Torċa ("The Torch") published by a subsidiary of the General Workers' Union, is the widest Maltese language paper. Its sister paper, L-Orizzont ("The Horizon"), is the Maltese daily with the biggest circulation. There is a high number of daily or weekly newspapers—one for every 28,000 people. Advertising, sales, and subsidies are the three main methods of financing.

There are nine terrestrial television channels in Malta: TVM, TVMNews+, Parliament TV, One, NET Television, Smash Television, F Living, TVMSport+ and Xejk. The state and political parties subsidise most of the funding of these channels. TVM, TVMNews+, and Parliament TV are operated by Public Broadcasting Services, the national broadcaster, and members of the EBU. Media.link Communications Ltd., the owner of NET Television, and One Productions Ltd., the owner of One, are affiliated with the Nationalist and Labour parties, respectively. The rest are privately owned. The Malta Broadcasting Authority supervises all local broadcasting stations and ensures their compliance with legal and licence obligations as well as the preservation of due impartiality.

The Malta Communications Authority reported that there were 147,896 pay TV subscriptions active at the end of 2012. For reference the latest census counts 139,583 households in Malta. Satellite reception is available to receive other European television networks.

Sport

Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports in Malta. Other popular sports include boċċi, horse racing, gostra, regatta, water polo, clay pigeon shooting, and motorsports.

In 2018 Malta hosted its first Esports tournament, 'Supernova CS:GO Malta', a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. Also since 2018, Malta has become the primary location for hosting ESL Pro League.

See also

• Outline of Malta
• Index of Malta-related articles

Notes

1. 2021 census. Chapter 4: Racial origin
2. See Date and time notation in Europe.

References

Notes

1. "Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta' Malta" (PDF) (in Maltese). 3 September 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
2. "Language - VisitMalta". VisitMalta. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
3. "Maltese sign language to be recognised as an official language of Malta". The Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
4. "Census of Population and Housing 2021: Final Report: Population, migration and other social characteristics (Volume 1)". nso.gov.mt. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
5. ^ "Census of Population and Housing 2021 Final report: Religious Affiliation, pages 159-168" (PDF). nso.gov.mt. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
6. ^ "90% Caucasian, 83% Roman Catholic: Malta census statistics released". Times of Malta. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
7. ^ Zammit, Andre (1986). "Valletta and the system of human settlements in the Maltese Islands". Ekistics. 53 (316/317): 89–95. JSTOR 43620704.
8. ^ "Census of Population and Housing 2021" (PDF). nso.gov.mt. July 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
9. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Malta)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
10. "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
11. "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
12. "Census of Population and Housing 2021 - Volume 1 - Final Report" (PDF). nso.gov.mt. 2023. p. 116. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
13. Lesley, Anne Rose (15 April 2009). Frommer's Malta and Gozo Day by Day. John Wiley & Sons. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-470-74610-3. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
14. Chapman, David; Cassar, Godwin (October 2004). "Valletta". Cities. 21 (5): 451–463. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2004.07.001.
15. ^ Ashby, Thomas (1915). "Roman Malta". Journal of Roman Studies. 5: 23–80. doi:10.2307/296290. JSTOR 296290. S2CID 250349579.
16. Bonanno, Anthony, ed. (2008). Malta and Sicily: Miscellaneous research projects (PDF). Officina di Studi Medievali. ISBN 978-88-88615-83-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
17. Sultana, Ronald G. (1998). "Career guidance in Malta: A Mediterranean microstate in transition" (PDF). International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling. 20: 3. doi:10.1023/A:1005386004103. S2CID 49470186. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
18. "The Microstate Environmental World Cup: Malta vs. San Marino". Environmentalgraffiti.com. 15 December 2007. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
19. ^ "Population on 1 January by age groups and sex – functional urban areas". Eurostat. 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
20. ^ "Population on 1 January by broad age group, sex and metropolitan regions 2020". Eurostat. 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
21. ^ "World Urbanization Prospects" Archived 25 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division, United Nations (Table A.2; page 79)
22. ^ "Interim Territorial Cohesion Report" Archived 23 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Preliminary results of ESPON and EU Commission studies
23. ^ Terterov, Marat; Reuvid, Jonathan (2005). Doing Business with Malta. GMB Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-905050-63-5.
24. ^ Creativemalta.gov.mt, Draft National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries – Creative Malta, archived from the original on 28 July 2013, retrieved 17 August 2013
25. ^ Flags, Symbols and their uses, Department of Information of Malta, archived from the original on 29 June 2015, retrieved 25 February 2019
26. "First inhabitants arrived 700 years earlier than thought". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
27. Boissevain, Jeremy (1984). "Ritual Escalation in Malta". In Eric R. Wolf (ed.). Religion, Power and Protest in Local Communities: The Northern Shore of the Mediterranean. Walter de Gruyter. p. 165. ISBN 978-3-11-009777-1. ISSN 1437-5370.
28. Rudolf, Uwe Jens; Berg, Warren G. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Malta. Scarecrow Press. pp. 1–11. ISBN 978-0-8108-7390-2.
29. "George Cross Award Commemoration". VisitMalta.com. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
30. "Should the George Cross still be on Malta's flag?". Times of Malta. 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
31. "Christmas Broadcast 1967". Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
32. European Commission (June 2012). Special Eurobarometer 386: Europeans and Their Languages (PDF) (Report). Eurobarometer Special Surveys. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
33. ^ "Malta Skills Survey 2022 - Preliminary Report" (PDF). nso.gov.mt. Malta National Statistics Office. 15 June 2023. p. 40. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
34. ^ "Constitution of Malta". Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018. – Article 40: "all persons in Malta shall have full freedom of conscience and enjoy the free exercise of their respective mode of religious worship."
35. ^ "Malta". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
36. "Hal Saflieni Hypogeum". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
37. "City of Valletta". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
38. "Megalithic Temples of Malta". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
39. "Malta Temples and The OTS Foundation". OTSF. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
40. ^ Cilia, Daniel (2004). Malta Before History. Miranda Publishers. ISBN 99909-85-08-1.
41. Vassallo, DJ (1992). "The Corps Disease: Brucellosis and Its Historical Association with the Royal Army Medical Corps" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. 138 (3): 140–150. doi:10.1136/jramc-138-03-09. PMID 1453384. S2CID 41069698. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
42. Melita. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
43. μέλι. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
44. ^ Castillo, Dennis Angelo (2006). The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32329-4. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
45. Pickles, Tim (1998). Malta 1565: Last Battle of the Crusades. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-603-3. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015.
46. "Renaming Malta the Republic of Phoenicia". The Times of Malta. October 2011. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
47. ^ Vella, John (January 2023), "Greek Words in Maltese Harbour Toponymy" (PDF), Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies, vol. 9, pp. 25–52.
48. Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "Malta, n.", and "Maltese, n. & adj."
49. Acts 28:1.
50. Smith, William (1872). John Murray (ed.). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. II. John Murray. p. 320.
51. "700 years added to Malta's history". Times of Malta. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
52. Ariano, Bruno; Mattiangeli, Valeria; Breslin, Emily M.; Parkinson, Eóin W.; McLaughlin, T. Rowan; Thompson, Jess E.; Power, Ronika K.; Stock, Jay T.; Mercieca-Spiteri, Bernardette; Stoddart, Simon; Malone, Caroline (20 June 2022). "Ancient Maltese genomes and the genetic geography of Neolithic Europe". Current Biology. 32 (12): 2668–2680.e6. Bibcode:2022CBio...32E2668A. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.069. PMC 9245899. PMID 35588742.
53. A. Mifsud; C. Savona-Ventura; S. Mifsud. "Palaeolithic Man in the Maltese Islands". Archived from the original on 17 January 1999. Retrieved 8 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
54. Skeates, Robin (2010). An Archaeology of the Senses: Prehistoric Malta. Oxford University Press. pp. 124–132. ISBN 978-0-19-921660-4. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015.
55. "History". Maltese Italian Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
56. "Old Temples Study Foundation". OTSF. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
57. Sheehan, Sean (2000). Malta. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-0-7614-0993-9. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
58. "Archaeology and prehistory". Aberystwyth, The University of Wales. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
59. "National Museum of Archaeology". Visitmalta.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010.
60. "Ancient mystery solved by geographers". Port.ac.uk. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
61. Mottershead, Derek; Pearson, Alastair; Schaefer, Martin (2008). "The cart ruts of Malta: an applied geomorphology approach". Antiquity. 82 (318): 1065–1079. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00097787. S2CID 162827926.
62. Cilia, Daniel. "Malta Before Common Era". The Megalithic Temples of Malta. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
63. Piccolo, Salvatore; Darvill, Timothy (2013). Ancient Stones, The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily. Brazen Head Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9565106-2-4.
64. "Notable dates in Malta's history". Department of Information – Maltese Government. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
65. ^ Cullican (1992). sfnp error: no target: CITEREFCullican1992 (help)
66. ^ Filigheddu (2006). sfnp error: no target: CITEREFFiligheddu2006 (help)
67. Owen, Charles (1969). The Maltese Islands. Praeger. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
68. ^ Terterov, Marat (2005). Doing Business with Malta. GMB Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905050-63-5. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
69. ^ "Malta". Enciclopedia Italiana (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
70. The Art Journal: The Illustrated Catalogue of the Industry of All Nations. Vol. 2. Virtue. 1853. p. vii. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
71. "Volume 16, Issue 1". Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
72. ^ Cassar 2000, pp. 56–57
73. "218 BC – 395 AD Roman Coinage". Bank of Malta. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
74. "Acts, chapter 28, verse 1". Perseus.tufts.edu.
75. Brown, Thomas S. (1991). "Malta". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. p. 1277. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
76. Edwards, I. E. S.; Gadd, C. J.; Hammond, N. G. L. (1975). The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08691-2. Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
77. Troll, Christian W.; Hewer, C.T.R. (12 September 2012). "Journeying toward God". Christian Lives Given to the Study of Islam. Fordham University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-8232-4319-8.
78. "Brief history of Sicily" (PDF). Archaeology.Stanford.edu. 7 October 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
79. ^ Travel Malta. MobileReference. The Arab period and the Middle Ages. ISBN 978-1-61198-279-4.
80. Brincat, Joseph M. (1995). Malta 870-1054: Al-Himyari's account and its linguistic implications (PDF). Said International. p. 21.
81. Wilson, Andrew (2006). Corpus Linguistics Around the World. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-1836-5. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
82. Previté-Orton (1971), pg. 507–11
83. Blouet, B. (1987) The Story of Malta. Third Edition. Malta: Progress Press, p.37.
84. Blouet, B. (1987) The Story of Malta. Third Edition. Malta: Progress Press, p.37-38.
85. Martin, Robert Montgomery (1843). History of the colonies of the British Empire. W. H. Allen. p. 569. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Malta remained for 72 years subject of the emperors of Germany. The island was after the period of Count Roger of the Normans afterward given up to the Germans, on account of the marriage between Constance, heiress of Sicily, and Henry VI, son of the Emperor Friedrick Barbarossa. Malta was elevated to a county and a marquisate, but its trade was now totally ruined, and for a considerable period of it remained solely a fortified garrison.
86. "Time-Line". AboutMalta.com. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
87. Goodwin, Stefan (2002). Malta, Mediterranean bridge. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 31. ISBN 0-89789-820-6. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015..
88. Peregin, Christian (4 August 2008). "Maltese makeover". The Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
89. Malta under the Angevins Archived 17 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. melitensiawth.com
90. "Superintendance of Cultural Heritage". Government of Malta. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
91. Luttrell, Anthony (1970). "The House of Aragon and Malta: 1282–1412" (PDF). Journal of the Faculty of Arts. 4 (2): 156–168. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
92. Denaro, Victor F. (1963). Yet More Houses in Valletta Archived 2 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Melita Historica. p. 22.
93. de Vertot, Abbe (1728) The History of the Knights of Malta vol. II (facsimile reprint Midsea Books, Malta, 1989).
94. ^ "Malta History". Jimdiamondmd.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
95. "Malta History 1000 AD–present". Carnaval.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
96. "La cesión de Malta a los Caballeros de San Juan a través de la cédula del 4 de marzo de 1530" (PDF). orderofmalta.int. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
97. "LA SOBERANA ORDEN DE MALTA A TRAVÉS DE DIEZ SIGLOS DE HISTORIA Y SU RELACIÓN CON LA ACCIÓN HUMANITARIA" (PDF). uma.es. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
98. El halcón maltés regresará a España dos siglos después Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. El Pais (14 August 2005). Retrieved 1 May 2017.
99. "La verdadera historia del halcón maltés". Archived from the original on 30 May 2016.
100. "El halcón y el mar". trofeocaza.com. 22 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016.
101. "El Rey volverá a tener otro halcón maltés en primavera". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
102. "Hospitallers – religious order". Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
103. ^ Devrim., Atauz, Ayse (2008). Eight thousand years of Maltese maritime history: trade, piracy, and naval warfare in the central Mediterranean. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3179-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
104. McManamon, John (June 2003). "Maltese seafaring in mediaeval and post-mediaeval times". Mediterranean Historical Review. 18 (1): 32–58. doi:10.1080/09518960412331302203. ISSN 0951-8967. S2CID 153559318.
105. Niaz, Ilhan (2014). Old World Empires: Cultures of Power and Governance in Eurasia. Routledge. p. 399. ISBN 978-1-317-91379-5.
106. Angelo Castillo, Dennis (2006). The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-313-32329-4. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
107. Braudel, Fernand (1995) The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, vol. II. University of California Press: Berkeley.Malta
108. "Palazzo Parisio". gov.mt. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
109. "Napoleon's bedroom at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta!". maltaweathersite.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
110. Stagno-Navarra, Karl (24 January 2010). "Leaving it in neutral". MaltaToday. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
111. "This day, May 15, in Jewish history". Cleveland Jewish News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014.
112. ^ Sciberras, Sandro. "Maltese History – F. The French Occupation" (PDF). St Benedict College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
113. Weider, Ben. "Chapter 12 – The Egyptian Campaign of 1798". International Napoleonic Society. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.
114. Shosenberg, J.W. (April 2017). "NAPOLÉON'S EGYPTIAN RIDDLE". Military History. 34 (1): 25 – via Ebsco.
115. Schiavone, Michael J. (2009). Dictionary of Maltese Biographies A-F. Publikazzjonijiet Indipendenza. pp. 533–534. ISBN 978-99932-91-32-9.
116. Holland, James (2003). Fortress Malta An Island Under Siege 1940–43. Miramax. ISBN 978-1-4013-5186-1.
117. Rudolf & Berg 2010, p. 11
118. Galea, Michael (16 November 2014). "Malta earns the title 'nurse of the Mediterranean'". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.
119. "Malta definition of Malta in the Free Online Encyclopedia.". Free Online Encyclopedia – List of Legal Holidays. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
120. "SETTE GIUGNO". Visitmalta – The official tourism website for Malta, Gozo and Comino. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
121. "Independence". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
122. ^ Bierman, John; Smith, Colin (2002). The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II. Viking. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-670-03040-8.
123. Titterton, G. A. (2002). The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean, Volume 2. Psychology Press. p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-7146-5179-8.
124. Elliott, Peter (1980). The Cross and the Ensign: A Naval History of Malta, 1798–1979. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-926-9.
125. Calvocoressi, Peter (1981). Top Secret Ultra – Volume 10 of Ballantine Espionage Intelligence Library (reprint ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 42, 44. ISBN 978-0-345-30069-0.
126. "The Siege of Malta in World War Two". Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
127. Wolf, Eric R. (1984). Religion, Power and Protest in Local Communities: The Northern Shore of the Mediterranean. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 206. ISBN 978-3-11-086116-7.
128. Fenech, Dominic (February 1997). "Malta's external security". GeoJournal. 41 (2): 153–163. doi:10.1023/A:1006888926016. S2CID 151123282.
129. Breacher, Michael (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. p. 611. ISBN 978-0-472-10806-0.
130. "1989: Malta summit ends Cold War". BBC: On This Day. 3 December 1989. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
131. "Malta votes 'yes' to EU membership". CNN. 9 March 2003. Archived from the original on 13 March 2003. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
132. "The History of the European Union – 2000–today". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
133. "Cyprus and Malta set to join eurozone in 2008". Euractiv. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
134. Mark N. Franklin. "Electoral Participation." in Controversies in Voting Behavior
135. "UPDATED: PN Parliamentary Group to vote in favor of nomination of George Vella for President; PL reaction - TVM News". TVM English. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
136. "Local Council Act of Malta" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
137. Protokol Lokali u Reġjonali (PDF) (in Maltese). Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
138. "Malta" (PDF). Assembly of European Regions. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
139. "Defence Roles". Afm.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
140. AFM Operations Centre – SAR Region Archived 8 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Afm.gov.mt. Retrieved 28 December 2019
141. "Armed Forces of Malta". Afm.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016.
142. "Chapter XXVI: Disarmament – No. 9 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons". United Nations Treaty Collection.
143. "Nuclear arms prohibition treaty ratified by foreign minister". Malta Today. 21 September 2020.
144. "Malta ranks first in European 'rainbow map' of LGBTIQ rights". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
145. "UN equality head praises Malta as 'beacon of human rights for LGBTIQ issues'". The Malta Independent. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
146. Benjamin, Butterworth (6 December 2016). "Malta just became the first country in Europe to ban 'gay cure' therapy". Pink News. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016.
147. "Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act (Cap. 413)". Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
148. "Malta votes 'Yes' in divorce referendum". BBC News Online. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
149. Parker, Jessica; Thierij, Sira (12 August 2022). "Malta: The only EU country where abortion is illegal leaves women scared". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
150. Kevin Schembri Orland (21 November 2022). "Malta proposes bill to ease EU's strictest anti-abortion law". AP NEWS. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
151. "Malta to allow abortion but only when woman's life is at risk". The Guardian. 28 June 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
152. Mannion, A.M.; Vogiatzakis, I.N. (August 2007). "Island Landscape Dynamics: Examples from the Mediterranean" (PDF). University of Reading. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
153. Commission for the Geological Map of the World. "Geodynamic Map of the Mediterranean". Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
154. "Geothermal Engineering Research Office Malta". Archived from the original on 4 April 2016.
155. Falconer, William; Falconer, Thomas (1872). Dissertation on St. Paul's Voyage. BiblioLife. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-113-68809-5. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
156. Dinerstein, Eric; et al. (2017). "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm". BioScience. 67 (6): 534–545. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix014. ISSN 0006-3568. PMC 5451287. PMID 28608869.
157. "The Maltese Islands". Department of Information – Malta. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007.
158. Weather of Malta Archived 25 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine – MET Office in Malta International Airport
159. Ltd, Allied Newspapers (31 December 2014). "Updated – 'Snowflakes' reported in several parts of Malta – Met Office 'monitoring' situation". Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
160. "Valletta Climate Guide". Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
161. ^ "Malta's Climate". maltaweather.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
162. "Birżebbuġa, Malta average sea temperature". seatemperature.org. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015.
163. "Valletta, Malta Travel Weather Averages". Weatherbase.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
164. "Climate Data for Luqa". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
165. ^ "Met Office: Climate averages 1971–2000". Met Office. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
166. "Luqa Weather Averages 1991–2020". Meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
167. "Malta's Climate". Maltaweather.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
168. "Population on 1 January by age groups and sex – functional urban areas" Archived 3 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Eurostat, 2015.
169. "Population on 1 January by broad age group, sex and metropolitan regions". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
170. "Population on 1 January by age groups and sex – cities and greater cities" Archived 27 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Eurostat, 2015.
171. "Creativity Works – A report on Malta's Creative Economy strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries – Part 3" (PDF). Malta Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Tourism. 2012. p. 121. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
172. Malta Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine – European Central Bank.
173. "The Global Financial Centres" (PDF). Qatar Financial Centre. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2017.
174. Metropolitan areas in Europe Archived 20 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, 2011.
175. "State of the Environment Report 2005 - Sub-report 9: Biodiversity" (PDF). Environment and Resources Authority. January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
176. Mifsud, Stephen. "Wild Plants of Malta and Gozo – Main Page". Maltawildplants.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
177. "Maltese Biodiversity under threat". The Malta Independent. 13 February 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
178. "IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) – Recovery, Risk, and Rebalancing, October 2010 – Table of Contents". IMF. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
179. "Economy of Malta | Development and Entry to the European Union". Malta.com. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
180. "Unprecedented growth for Malta's film industry". The Times of Malta. 21 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
181. ^ "Country Trends". Global Footprint Network. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
182. Lin, David; Hanscom, Laurel; Murthy, Adeline; Galli, Alessandro; Evans, Mikel; Neill, Evan; Mancini, MariaSerena; Martindill, Jon; Medouar, FatimeZahra; Huang, Shiyu; Wackernagel, Mathis (2018). "Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012–2018". Resources. 7 (3): 58. doi:10.3390/resources7030058.
183. "Malta Post". privatisation.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
184. "Maltacom". privatisation.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
185. "Malta Freeport". privatisation.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
186. "Malta International Airport". Privatisation.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
187. "Malta funds". Financemalta.org. 5 May 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
188. "Apartments.com.mt". Apartments.com.mt. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
189. Eurostat (1 December 2016). "GDP per capita in PPS". Europa web portal. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
190. "Passport sale fund rakes in more than €400m". Times Malta. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
191. Pace, Yannick (1 August 2019). "Revolut rampage: 100,000 Maltese are now using the digital bank". Malta Today. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
192. "Cyprus and Malta to adopt euros". BBC News Business. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
193. "Maltese Cross on the Euro coins". Malta Media. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
194. "UNWTO Tourism Highlights, 2015 Edition". unwto.org. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
195. "Malta braced for record number of tourists in 2019". 89.7 Bay. 7 November 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
196. "M for Malta and medical tourism". Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
197. "Malta popular with UK medical tourists". Treatmentabroad.net. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
198. "Malta Contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (% of GDP), 1995-2019 - knoema.com". Knoema. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
199. "Malta signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA". Esa.int. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
200. "SCubed – Science Student Society". Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
201. "ICTSA". ictsamalta.org. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
202. WIPO. "Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition". www.wipo.int. doi:10.34667/tind.46596. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
203. "Census of Population and Housing 2021: Final Report: Population, migration and other social characteristics (Volume 1)". nso.gov.mt. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
204. "Census of Population and Housing 2021: Final Report: Population, migration and other social characteristics (Volume 1)". nso.gov.mt. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
205. "Census of Population and Housing 2021: Final Report: Population, migration and other social characteristics (Volume 1)". nso.gov.mt. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
206. National Statistics Office (2005). Demographic Review 2004. National Statistics Office. p. 59. ISBN 978-99909-73-32-7. Archived from the original on 7 September 2006.
207. "World Population Day – 2006: Special Observances" (Press release). National Statistics Office. 10 July 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
208. "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". The World Factbook. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
209. "Eurostat – Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". Europa (web portal). Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
210. "Key Figures For Malta 2019 – Visuals & Word" (PDF). National Statistics Office – Malta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
211. ^ Joseph M. Brincat Maltese – an unusual formula Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, MED Magazine (February 2005)
212. ^ Ignasi Badia i Capdevila (2004) A view of the linguistic situation in Malta. NovesSl. Retrieved 24 February 2008
213. Country profile: Malta Archived 7 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News
214. "Europeans and languages" (PDF). European Commission. September 2005. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
215. Paggio P, Gatt A (2018). Paggio P, Gatt A (eds.). The languages of Malta (pdf). Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1181783. ISBN 978-3-96110-070-5. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
216. "Census 2021: Maltese citizens overwhelmingly identify as Roman Catholics". maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
217. "Department of Information". Doi.gov.mt. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
218. ^ Vassallo, Harry (8 April 2009) A map of faith in Malta Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. MaltaToday (8 April 2009). Retrieved 1 May 2017.
219. Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses. Watch Tower Society. 2015. p. 182.
220. "International Religious Freedom Report 2003 – Malta". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
221. "MaltaToday Survey | Maltese identity still very much rooted in Catholicism". MaltaToday.com.mt. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
222. "Special Eurobarometer 493, European Union: European Commission, September 2019, pages 229–230". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
223. Ganado, Philip Leone (9 December 2016). "Malta still discriminating against the non-religious – report". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016.
224. Ltd, Allied Newspapers (5 August 2007). "Genetic origin of contemporary Maltese".
225. "Real Economy Indicators". Malta Central Bank.
226. "Malta guards Europe's gates against African immigrants". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
227. "Maltese Anger Mounts Over Rising Illegal Immigration". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
228. "Malta: Migrant Detention Violates Rights". 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
229. "Malta faces problems with children of illegal immigrants". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
230. "Amnesty slams Malta over 'illegal' refugee tactics". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
231. Clenfield, Jason (11 March 2015). "Passport King Christian Kalin Helps Nations Sell Citizenship – Bloomberg Business". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
232. "EU to warn about crime risks from passport selling schemes in Malta". Malta Independent. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
233. "EU urges crackdown on 'golden passports' for big investors". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
234. ^ Jones, Huw R. (1973). "Modern emigration from Malta". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 60 (60): 101–119. doi:10.2307/621508. JSTOR 621508.
235. King, Russell (1979). "The Maltese migration cycle: An archival survey". Area. 11 (3): 245–249. JSTOR 20001477.
236. "Education in Malta". aboutmalta.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
237. "Malta – Literacy rate". Indexmundi.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
238. Malta, L.-Università ta'. "Study". L-Università ta' Malta. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
239. "Foreign Language Learning; National Statistics Office". gov.mt. 1 September 2004. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
240. "Malta on the rebound, language student arrivals up 18.2 per cent over last year". ICEF Monitor. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
241. Sammut, Michael; Savona-Ventura, Charles (1996). "Petrol Lead in a Small Island Environment". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine. 9 (1): 33–40. doi:10.3233/JRS-1996-9104. PMID 23512022.
242. "NationMaster – Transportation statistics". Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
243. Simons, Jake Wallis (1 July 2011). "End of the road: no more fares for Malta's vintage buses". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
244. "Ministeru għall-Infrastruttura Transport u Komunikazzjoni – Transport Pubbliku". Mitc.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
245. "Arriva Future Decided". di-ve.com news. 22 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
246. Sansone, Kurt (23 December 2013). "New Year in, Arriva out". The Times. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
247. Dalli, Kim (1 October 2014). "New bus operator to start in January". The Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
248. "Budget 2022: Free bus service for all by October 1 next year". Times of Malta. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
249. "Government unveils 25-station, €6.2 billion underground Metro proposal". Times of Malta. October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
250. "AAPA World Port Rankings 2008" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
251. "Updated | Ryanair setting up fully-fledged Malta subsidiary". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
252. Post and Telecommunications: Q4/2009, nso.gov.mt
253. "Investment in fibre networks stimulates national FttH ambitions in Malta – BuddeBlog". Buddeblog.com.au. 6 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
254. "Civil Hospitals in Malta in the Last Two Hundred Years". Geocities.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
255. "The Health Care System in Malta_1". Sahha.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
256. "Government of Malta – Health Services". Gov.mt. Archived from the original on 5 March 2005. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
257. "Healthcare in Malta – Allo' Expat Malta". Alloexpat.com. 17 October 2006. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
258. "The struggle for independence". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
259. Malta Country: Strategic Information and Developments. Int'l Business Publications. 3 March 2012. ISBN 978-1-4387-7497-8.
260. Malta Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. Int'l Business Publications, Inc. 2013. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-4330-6350-3.
261. Diab, Khaled (26 July 2010). "Malta's mash of civilisations | Khaled Diab". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
262. ^ Malta Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments. Lulu.com. May 2007. ISBN 978-1-4330-6350-3.
263. ^ Cutajar, D. "An Overview of the Art of Malta". The Hope and Optimism Portfolio. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
264. "Antoine Favray And his works". The Malta Independent. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
265. Petroni, Nikki (12 February 2017). "Intimacy and Introspection". The Malta Independent. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
266. "Right Outside my Window" Archived 16 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Malta Independent, 23 April 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2014
267. Magri, Giulia (10 November 2018). "Updated: New museum for contemporary artists opened in Valletta". The Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
268. Cassar, Carmel (1994). Fenkata: an emblem of Maltese peasant resistance? (PDF). Ministry for Youth and the Arts. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
269. "Quality Wines". agriculture.gov.mt.
270. Crary, David (9 September 2010). "Study finds Americans in generous mood". The Huffington Post via Burlington Free Press. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
271. "Patri Manwel Magri u l-Ipoġew", Lil Ħbiebna, November 2003, pp. 195–197.
272. Cassar Pullicino, J. (1992) "A New Look at Old Customs", in Studies in Maltese Folklore Archived 7 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Malta University Press (1992).
273. "Maltese Traditions: Il-Quċċija". Airmalta.com. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
274. "The Malta Independent on Sunday". 12 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019 – via PressReader.
275. Malta Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments ISBN 978-1-433-06350-3 p. 41
276. Cassar, Carmel (1994). Fenkata: An emblem of Maltese peasant resistance? (PDF). Ministry for Youth and the Arts. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
277. "Isle of MTV 2012". gozoandmalta. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
278. "Top 25 Annual Events in Malta Not to Miss". MaltaUncovered.com. 25 February 2016. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
279. Borg, Joseph. "Malta – Media Landscape". European Journalism Centre. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
280. Debattista, Martin (20 October 2011). "Analogue TV is dead: Long live digital TV!". The Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
281. "MCA Communications Market Review, July to December 2012" (PDF). Malta Communications Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
282. "Census of Population and Housing 2011 (Preliminary Report)". National Statistics Office, Malta. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
283. "Top sports in Malta". Welcome Center Malta. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
284. "Supernova CS:GO Malta | Malta's first ever pro esports tournament". Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
285. "SUPERNOVA CS:GO MALTA". Visitmalta.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
286. "ESL Pro League remains in Malta until 2024". esportsinsider.com. Retrieved 22 March 2023.

Sources

• Cramer, John Anthony (1828). Geographical and Historical Description of Ancient Greece. Clarendon Press. pp. 45–46.
• "Map of Malta and Gozo". Street Map of Malta and Gozo. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
• "Photos of Gozo sister island of Malta". Photos of Gozo. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
• "Photos of Malta". Retrieved 26 May 2008.
• "Malta". The World Factbook. 22 September 2021.
• "Gov.mt". Government of Malta. Archived from the original on 16 May 2001. Retrieved 1 November 2005.
• Omertaa, Journal for Applied Anthropology – Volume 2007/1, Thematic Issue on Malta
• Antonio Lafreri map of Malta, 1565.. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The National Library of Israel

Attribution

• "Malta". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2005.

Bibliography

• "1942: Malta gets George Cross for bravery". BBC "On this day". 15 April 1942. Retrieved 22 June 2006.
• Bowen-Jones, Howard; et al. (1962). Malta Background for Development. University of Durham. OCLC 204863.
• Cassar, Carmel (2000). A Concise History of Malta. Mireva Publications. ISBN 978-1-870579-52-0.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Malta" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 507–514.
• Francesco Balbi di Correggio 1568 translated Ernle Bradford (2003) . "chapter II". The Siege of Malta 1565. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-101202-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Carolyn Bain (2004). Malta. Lonely Planet Publication. ISBN 978-1-74059-178-2.
• Charles Mifsud, The Climatological History of The Maltese Islands, Minerva 1984
• Paul Williams (2009). Malta – Island Under Siege. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84884-012-6.
• Rudolf, Uwe Jens; Berg, W. G. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Malta. Scarecrow Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8108-5317-1.
• United Nations Development Programme (2006). Human Development Report 2005 – International cooperation at a crossroads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-522146-6.
• Atauz, Ayse Devrim (2008). Eight Thousand Years of Maltese Maritime History: Trade, Piracy, and Naval Warfare in the Central Mediterranean. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-3179-8.
• Hardman, William (1909). "Chapter VII – Attack and Capture of Malta by the French". A history of Malta during the period of the French and British occupations, 1798–1815. Longmans, Green & Co.

Further reading

• Hastings, Max (2021). Operation Pedestal: The Fleet that Battled to Malta, 1942. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008364960

External links

• Gov.mt – Maltese Government official site
• Malta Environment and Planning Authority's Archived 29 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine GIS
• Visit Malta – Maltese tourism official site
• Malta. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• Malta Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Template:Curlie
• Wikimedia Atlas of Malta
• Geographic data related to Malta at OpenStreetMap

v t e Malta articles
History	Timeline Megalithic Temples Phoenicians Carthaginian Empire Roman Republic Invasion Roman Empire Byzantine rule Arab Period Aghlabid invasion Byzantine invasion Kingdom of Sicily Norman invasion Battle of Malta Hafsid invasion Hospitaller rule Invasion of Gozo Great Siege Rising of the Priests French occupation Invasion Blockade Independent Gozo British Protectorate British Colony Language Question Exiles World War II Award of the George Cross State of Malta
Geography	Caves Climate Fortifications Geology Islands Localities Maps
Politics	Armed Forces Commander Constitution Elections Foreign relations Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs Minister for Foreign Affairs Heads of state LGBT rights Local councils Parliament Political parties President Prime Minister List Chief of Staff
Economy	Central Bank Currency Energy Stock exchange Taxation Telecommunications Trade unions Transport
Society	Demographics Education Emigration Healthcare Immigration Languages People Religion Culture Architecture Carnival Cinema Coat of arms Maltese cross Cuisine Wine Flag Folklore Literature Music National symbols Philosophy Public holidays Sport World Heritage Sites
Outline Index Category Portal

Links to related articles

v t e Countries and dependencies of Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City States with limited recognition Abkhazia Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependent territories Denmark Faroe Islands autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Sovereign Base Areas) Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory) Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey Alderney Guernsey Sark Bailiwick of Jersey Isle of Man Special areas of internal sovereignty Finland Åland (autonomous region subject to the Åland convention of 1921) Norway Svalbard (unincorporated area subject to the Svalbard Treaty) United Kingdom England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland (country of the United Kingdom subject to the British-Irish Agreement) Spans the conventional boundary between Europe and another continent. Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia. Oceanic islands within the vicinity of Europe are usually grouped with the continent even though they are not situated on its continental shelf. Governed by the Holy See which has sovereignty over Vatican City. Category Europe portal v t e Countries and territories of the Mediterranean Sea Sovereign states Albania Algeria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Cyprus Egypt France Greece Israel Italy Lebanon Libya Malta Monaco Montenegro Morocco Slovenia Spain Syria Tunisia Turkey States with limited recognition Northern Cyprus Palestine Dependencies and other territories Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK) Gibraltar (UK) Ceuta and Melilla (Spain) Marginal seas Adriatic Sea Aegean Sea Alboran Sea Balearic Sea Ionian Sea Levantine Sea Libyan Sea Ligurian Sea Sea of Crete Sea of Marmara Sea of Sardinia Thracian Sea Tyrrhenian Sea v t e Member states of the European Union Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden See also: Potential enlargement and Former members v t e Members of the European Economic Area (EEA) EFTA member states Iceland (EU relations) Liechtenstein (EU relations) Norway (EU relations) EU member states Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia (provisional member) Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden See also: UK membership, CH–EU relations, and UK–EU relations v t e Council of Europe Institutions Secretary General Committee of Ministers Parliamentary Assembly Congress Court of Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Commission against Racism and Intolerance Venice Commission Pompidou Group Members Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Observers Canada Holy See Israel Japan Mexico United States EU relations Former members Czechoslovakia (1991–1992) Russia (1996–2022) Saar (assoc. 1950–1956) Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006) v t e Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Members Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canada Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Holy See Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan Partners for Cooperation Afghanistan Algeria Australia Egypt Israel Japan Jordan Morocco South Korea Thailand Tunisia Bodies and posts Parliamentary Assembly Court of Conciliation and Arbitration Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Commissioner on National Minorities Representative on Freedom of the Media Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues OSCE Minsk Group Relations Armenia–OSCE relations Azerbaijan–OSCE relations List of ambassadors of Italy to OSCE List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the OSCE United States Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Active field missions Presence in Albania Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Mission in Kosovo Mission to Montenegro Mission to Moldova Mission to Serbia Mission to Skopje Centre in Ashgabat Programme Office in Astana Programme Office in Bishkek Programme Office in Dushanbe Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on the Conflict Dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference Former field missions Needs Assessment Team in Armenia Mission to Croatia Kosovo Verification Mission Community Security Initiative in Kyrgyzstan Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine v t e Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Sovereign states (members) Antigua and Barbuda Australia Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Belize Botswana Brunei Cameroon Canada Cyprus Dominica Eswatini (Swaziland) Fiji Gabon Gambia Ghana Grenada Guyana India Jamaica Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Malawi Malaysia Maldives Malta Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Nauru New Zealand Nigeria Pakistan Papua New Guinea Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka Tanzania Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom Vanuatu Zambia Associated states Cook Islands Niue Dependent territories Australia Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australian Antarctic Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Norfolk Island New Zealand Ross Dependency Tokelau United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia Anguilla Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Source: Commonwealth Secretariat – Member Countries

• Malta
• Collective recipients of the George Cross
• Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
• Countries and territories where English is an official language
• Island countries
• Mediterranean islands
• Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
• Member states of the European Union
• Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean
• Member states of the United Nations
• NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union
• Pauline churches
• Phoenician colonies in Malta
• States and territories established in 1964
• 1964 establishments in Malta
• Countries in Europe
• Christian states