Malta

Facts & Figures

Map of Malta

President: George Abela (2009)

Prime Minister: Lawrence Gonzi (2004)

Total area: 124 sq mi (321 sq km)

Population (2010 est.): 406,771 (growth rate: 0.4%); birth rate: 10.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.7/1000; life expectancy: 79.6; density per sq km: 1,277

Capital (2003 est.): Valletta, 194,200 (metro. area) 6,900 (city proper)

Largest city: Birkirkara, 21,600

Monetary unit: Euro

More Facts & Figures

Index

Malta Main Page
Independence and EU Accession

Geography

The five Maltese islands—Malta, Gozo, Comino, Comminotto, and Filflawith—have a combined land area smaller than Philadelphia. Malta is located in the Mediterranean Sea, about 60 mi (97 km) south of the southeast tip of Sicily.

Government

Republic.

History

The strategic importance of Malta was recognized by the Phoenicians, who occupied it, as did, in turn, the Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. The apostle Paul was shipwrecked there in A.D. 60. With the division of the Roman Empire in A.D. 395, Malta was assigned to the eastern portion dominated by Constantinople. Between 870 and 1090, it came under Arab rule. In 1091, the Norman noble Roger I, then ruler of Sicily, came to Malta with a small retinue and defeated the Arabs. The Knights of St. John (Malta), who obtained the three habitable Maltese islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino from Charles V in 1530, reached their highest fame when they withstood an attack by superior Turkish forces in 1565. Napoléon seized Malta in 1798, but the French forces were ousted by British troops the next year, and British rule was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814.