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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 • Article History

Malta
Table of Contents
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Top Questions

How many islands make up Malta?

expand_less
Malta comprises five islands—Malta (the largest), Gozo, Comino, and the
uninhabited islets of Kemmunett (Comminotto) and Filfla.

What kind of climate does Malta have?

expand_less
Malta typically has a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers, warm and
sporadically wet autumns, and short cool winters with adequate rainfall. The
annual mean temperature is in the mid-60s Fahrenheit (about 19 degrees
Celsius), and monthly averages range from the mid-50s to the mid-80s
Fahrenheit (about 12 to 29 degrees Celsius).

What languages are spoken in Malta?

expand_less
Maltese and English are the official languages of Malta. Maltese resulted from
the fusion of North African Arabic and a Sicilian dialect of Italian and is the only
Semitic language officially written in Latin script. English is a medium of
instruction in schools. Italian is understood by a sizable portion of the
population.

Does Malta have an official religion?

expand_less
The official religion of Malta is Roman Catholicism, but there is full freedom of
religious belief. More than nine-tenths of Maltese are Roman Catholic;
however, only about three-fifths of these practice their faith. Small numbers of
Maltese are adherents of other Christian denominations or of Islam.

expand_lessShow less

News • Malta gets Sicily's green light for second interconnector project • Nov. 14, 2024,
7:45 AM ET (The Star) ...(Show more)

Malta, island country located in

the central Mediterranean Sea. 1 of 2
zoom_in
A small but strategically
important group of islands, the
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archipelago has through its long keyboard_arrow_right

and turbulent history played a
vital role in the struggles of a
succession of powers for
domination of the
Mediterranean and in the
interplay between emerging Malta: coast The coast of Malta features
Europe and the older cultures of many bays and ports.

Africa and the Middle East. As a

result, Maltese society has been
molded by centuries of foreign rule by various powers, including the
Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Swabians,
Aragonese, Hospitallers, French, and British.

The island of Malta specifically

played a vital strategic role in
zoom_in
World War II as a base for the
Allied Powers. It was heavily
bombarded by German and Italian
aircraft, and by the end of the war
Malta was devastated. In 1942 the
island of Malta was presented with
the George Cross, a British award
for great gallantry, in recognition
Malta
of the wartime bravery of the
Maltese people. After the war, the
movement for self-governance became stronger. The country of Malta
became independent from Britain and joined the Commonwealth in 1964
and was declared a republic on December 13, 1974. It was admitted to the
European Union (EU) in 2004. A European atmosphere predominates in
Malta as a result of close association with the Continent, particularly with
southern Europe. The Maltese are renowned for their warmth, hospitality,
and generosity to strangers, a trait that was noted in the Acts of the

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Apostles, with respect to the experience of St. Paul, the Apostle, who was
said to have been shipwrecked off Malta in 60 CE.

Roman Catholicism is a major

Quick Facts
influence on Maltese culture.
Various traditions have evolved zoom_in
around religious celebrations,
notably those honouring the
patron saints of towns and villages.
The eight-pointed, or Maltese,
See article: flag of Malta
cross, adopted by the Hospitallers
of St. John of Jerusalem in 1126, is 0:00 / 0:48
commonly linked with Malta’s
Audio File: National anthem of Malta
identity and is printed on the
Also Known As: Repubblikka ta’ Malta
country’s euro coin. Valletta is the
• Republic of Malta
capital city.
Head Of Government: Prime
Minister: Robert Abela

Land Capital: Valletta

Population: (2024 est.) 550,100

The country comprises five islands
Currency Exchange Rate: 1 USD
—Malta (the largest), Gozo, equals 0.937 euro
Comino, and the uninhabited islets
of Kemmunett (Comminotto) and expand_more Show More
Filfla—lying some 58 miles (93
km) south of Sicily, 180 miles (290
zoom_in
km) north of Libya, and about 180
miles (290 km) east of Tunisia, at
the eastern end of the constricted
portion of the Mediterranean Sea
separating Italy from the African
coast.

Physical features of Malta

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Relief
The islands of Malta are dominated by limestone formations, and much of
their coastlines consist of steep or vertical limestone cliffs indented by
bays, inlets, and coves. They lie on the submerged Malta-Hyblean
Platform, a wide undersea shelf bridge that connects the Ragusa Platform
of southern Sicily with the Tripolitana Platform of southern Libya.

Britannica Quiz

The Country Quiz

The main physical characteristic of the island of Malta is a well-defined

escarpment that bisects it along the Victoria Lines Fault running along the
whole breadth of the island from Point ir-Raħeb near Fomm ir-Riħ Bay to
the coast northeast of Għargħur at Madliena Fort. The highest areas are
coralline limestone uplands that constitute a triangular plateau; Ta’ Żuta,
which rises to 830 feet (253 metres) in the southwest, is the highest point.
The uplands are separated from the surrounding areas by blue clay slopes,
while an undercliff area is found where the coralline plateau has fallen and
forms a subordinate surface between the sea and the original shore. The
total shoreline of Malta is about 136 miles (219 km).

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In northern Malta the escarpment is occasionally abrupt and broken by

deep embayments. To the south, however, the plateau gradually descends
from about 600 to 830 feet (180 to 250 metres) into undulating areas of
globigerina (derived from marine protozoa) limestone less than 300 feet
(90 metres) in elevation. The western area is characterized by deeply
incised valleys and undercliff areas, while to the east there are several
valley systems that descend to the central plains.

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The west coast of Malta presents a

high, bold, and generally zoom_in
harbourless face. On the east,
however, a tongue of high ground
known as Mount Sceberras, on
which the capital city, Valletta, is
built, separates Marsamxett
Malta: harbour Boats at harbour, Malta.
Harbour and Grand Harbour.
Because of tectonic activity, Malta
has been tilted in a northerly direction, producing cliffs of up to about 800
feet (250 metres) high on the south and southwestern coasts, while slopes
descend to low cliffs and rocky shores on the northern and eastern coasts.

The landscape of the island of Gozo

is characterized by broken upper
zoom_in
coralline mesas, with the highest
point being Ta’ Dbiegi Hill (636
feet [194 metres]). Gozo has a
gentle easterly dip, so the lower
coralline limestone, which forms

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high cliffs on the west coast, Gozo island, Malta: Azure Window The
declines to below sea level but Azure Window arc along the coastline, which
collapsed in 2017, on Gozo island, Malta.
reappears on the east coast at Qala
Point. Semicircular bays have
formed on coastal cliffs where sinkholes have been invaded by the sea. The
rounded bays at Xlendi and Dwejra on the west coast of Gozo originated
as underground caverns with roofs that have collapsed.

Drainage
The island of Malta possesses favourable conditions for the percolation
and underground storage of water. The impermeable blue clays provide
two distinct water tables between the limestone formations—the perched
and the mean sea-level aquifer. The principal source for the public supply
of water has for several centuries been the main sea-level water table. The
absence of permanent streams or lakes and a considerable runoff into the
sea, however, have made water supply a problem, which has been
addressed with an intensive reverse-osmosis desalination program. About
half of Malta’s daily water needs are supplied by desalination plants
throughout the islands.

Soils
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Mainly young or immature and thin, Maltese soils generally lack humus,
and a high carbonate content gives them alkaline properties. Human
settlement and construction developments have altered the distribution
and composition of soils. The Fertile Soil (Preservation) Act of 1973
requires that, when soils are removed from construction sites, they be
taken to agricultural areas, and level stretches in quarries are often
covered with carted soil.

Climate of Malta
The climate of Malta is typically Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers,
warm and sporadically wet autumns, and short, cool winters with
adequate rainfall. More than three-fourths of the total annual rainfall of
about 22 inches (550 mm) falls between October and March; June, July,
and August are normally quite dry.

The temperature is very stable, with the annual mean in the mid-60s F
(about 19 °C) and monthly averages ranging from the mid-50s F (about 12
°C) to the mid-80s F (about 29 °C). Winds can be strong and frequent; the
most prevalent are the cool northwesterly (the majjistral), the dry
northeasterly (the grigal), and the hot and humid southeasterly (the
xlokk, or sirocco). The relative humidity rarely falls below 40 percent.

Plant and animal life

Malta’s flora and fauna are typical of the low-lying coastal regions of the
Mediterranean. Excessive exploitation of the forests for timber and the
clearance of land for construction and agriculture have destroyed much of
Malta’s woodlands, though a few stands of holm oak remain. Aleppo pine
has been successfully reintroduced. Maquis, a scrubby underbrush, is
found along valleys and below escarpments and consists of lentisk, carob,
olive, bay laurel, and in some places the sandarac gum tree (Malta’s
national tree). Garigue, a low-growing Mediterranean scrub, is the most
common vegetation in Malta and covers much of the country’s limestone
plateau. The steppe in Malta is dominated by various grasses, thistles, and
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leguminous and bulbous plants. Reed beds occur wherever there is

abundant freshwater, and club mosses, sedges and grasses are found in
wetlands. Glassworts, rushes, and seablites are native to the salt
marshlands. Sand couch, sea kale, and sea daffodils are found on Malta’s
few remaining coastal dunes, while golden samphire, rock samphire, and
sea lavenders (several of which are endemic) are characteristic of low-
lying rocky coasts. Cliffs and coastal screes support many of Malta’s native
species, which include monotypic genera such as the Maltese cliff-orache
(Cremnophyton lanfrancoi) and the Maltese rock-centaury
(Palaeocyanus crassifolius), the latter of which is the national plant.

The native mammals in Malta include a subspecies of the Sicilian shrew

and several types of bats. Most of the country’s other mammals, including
the Algerian hedgehog, Mediterranean chameleon, Etruscan shrew,
rabbit, and weasel, have been introduced. Native reptiles include the
Maltese wall lizard, the ocellated skink, the Moorish and the Turkish
gecko, the western whip snake, and the leopard snake. The only
amphibian in Malta is the painted frog, a species endemic to Sicily and
Malta. Invertebrates, including insects, arachnids, and snails, are
abundant.

Although there are relatively few breeding birds, migrating species are
plentiful. Sea birds include the storm petrel and the Mediterranean and
Cory’s shearwaters. Among the most notable birds are the Spanish
sparrow, which is the most common bird in Malta, and the blue rock
thrush, Malta’s national bird.

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People
Ethnic groups

Malta’s population is composed almost entirely of ethnic Maltese, the

descendants of ancient Carthaginians and Phoenicians as well as of
Italians and other Mediterranean peoples. Attempts to form a unifying
and homogenizing Maltese ethnicity can be traced back to the late 13th
century; these efforts were consolidated in the nationalistic discourses of
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Aside from the Maltese population,
there are small communities of British nationals, Sindhis, Palestinians,
and Greeks on the islands. Since the 1990s, influxes of more transient but
no less significant groups have arrived from North Africa and the Balkans
and, in the early 2000s, from countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Language
Maltese and English are the official languages of Malta as well as official
languages of the EU. Maltese resulted from the fusion of North African
Arabic and a Sicilian dialect of Italian. It is the only Semitic language
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officially written in Latin script. English is a medium of instruction in

schools. Italian was the language of church and government until 1934
and is still understood by a sizable portion of the population.

Religion

Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Malta, but there is full

freedom of religious belief. More than nine-tenths of Maltese are Roman
Catholic; however, only about three-fifths of these practice their faith. The
islands are an independent province of the church, with an archdiocese in
Malta and a diocese in Gozo. Very small numbers of Maltese are adherents
of other Christian denominations or of Islam.

There are Roman Catholic

cathedrals at Mdina and Valletta,
zoom_in
an Anglican cathedral at Valletta,
and a mosque at Corradino
Heights.

Settlement patterns
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Valletta, Malta: St. John's Co-Cathedral St.
John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta.
under the rule of the Knights of

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Malta (Hospitallers), the country evolved as a maritime power, and, by the

late 17th century, Valletta and other towns were thriving maritime centres.
By the mid-19th century the Maltese lived mainly in the relative seclusion
of clustered villages and hamlets; the fragmentation of farm holdings
accentuated the individuality of the farming community. The zuntier, a
parvis forming part of the church square, was the traditional focus of
village life.

During the British occupation of Malta (1800–1964), the growth of the

dockyard complex resulted in the ongoing development of new
settlements around Grand Harbour. In the 20th century the Sliema
region, just north of Marsamextt Harbour, became the most fashionable
part of Malta and by the early 21st century had become a commercial and
tourist centre. Following the country’s independence in 1964, the advent
of industrial estates located near major villages somewhat increased
urbanization, but higher living standards have given rise to residential
developments all over Malta island; its central areas are now densely
populated. Overbuilding has been a cause for serious concern, spawning
legislation meant to protect the environment. About 95 percent of Malta’s
population is concentrated in urban areas.

The essentially rural character of

Gozo’s many hilltop settlements
zoom_in
has been largely preserved in the
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new housing that has rapidly

increased there since the 1990s.
Victoria, in the south-central part
of the island, is the administrative
and commercial centre of Gozo.
More rural still is Comino, which is
Sliema Sliema, Malta.
mostly inhabited by tourists.

Demographic trends

Malta has one of the highest population densities in the world, though the
increase in the country’s population has somewhat leveled off since the
mid-20th century, with a considerable decline in the birth rate. At the
same time, the death rate has remained fairly stable, having fallen only
slightly, while the infant mortality rate has dropped significantly. About
one-third of the population is under 30.

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Following World War II, mass emigration was encouraged and even
financed by the government because of high unemployment on the
islands. From 1945 until the mid-1970s about 150,000 people left Malta
and Gozo and settled in other English-speaking countries (the United
States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia). By the 1990s,
however, emigration had tapered off, and many Maltese expatriates began
returning to their homeland.

Economy of Malta
Until the mid-1960s the Maltese economy depended heavily on the British
military presence in Malta. In the 1950s Britain began to withdraw its
armed forces, which necessitated a drastic diversification of the economy.
A series of development plans after 1959 were supported by government
grants, loans, and other fiscal incentives to encourage private investment.
Import and capital controls, which were extensive until the second half of
the 1980s, were progressively dismantled during the 1990s, moving Malta
toward a more market-driven economy as the Maltese government
pursued a policy of gradual privatization beginning in 1999. Capital
controls were fully lifted only when Malta was acceded to the European
Union (EU) in 2004. The Maltese economy faces major constraints
because of its small domestic market, and it depends on other countries
for many imported goods.

Agriculture and fishing

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Agricultural development is hampered by land fragmentation (that is,

plots of land resulting from decollectivization that are too small or too
irregularly configured to be farmed efficiently), shallow soils, and lack of
adequate water supplies. Most farming is carried out on small terraced
strips of land that preclude the introduction of large-scale mechanization.
As a result of the growth of urbanization, the agricultural labour force has
become increasingly older, and more farming is done on a part-time basis;
nevertheless, production has risen gradually because of improved
techniques in the cultivation of some crops, especially horticultural ones.
The major crops are potatoes, tomatoes, and fruit (especially citrus and
drupes). Since the late 1990s there has been a substantial increase in
grapevine and olive production. Malta is generally self-sufficient in food
production, but beef is mostly imported. Upon the country’s accession
into the EU, Malta’s agricultural sector became competitive.

Fishing is seasonal and, to a large extent, undertaken on an artisanal

basis. The common dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippuras) and the bluefin
tuna (Thunnus), however, are caught for export. Aquaculture, introduced
in Malta in the late 1980s, has surpassed fishing as a source of income.
The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and the gilthead sea bream
(Sparus aurata) are grown in floating sea cages, and the bluefin tuna from
the sea are fattened on farms for four to six months before export. After
Malta joined the EU, Maltese fishermen benefited from funding programs,
particularly to promote the export of tuna.

Resources and power

Malta is poorly endowed with natural resources, and its only exploited
mineral resource is limestone, which is quarried and used for
construction. Offshore oil exploration has been under way since the mid-
1990s, but no significant oil reserves have been discovered. Fossils fuels
are imported and supply all of Malta’s energy. There are thermal power
stations on both Malta and Gozo.

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Manufacturing
Industrial development began in earnest in the second half of the 1960s,
and by the early 21st century the manufacturing sector was contributing
about one-fifth of gross domestic product (GDP). Since the 1980s the
manufacture of computer parts, instruments, and electronics, as well as of
a large variety of consumer products (toys, cosmetics, detergents, and
foodstuffs), has been important. In the early 2000s, light manufacturing
(pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and automotive and airplane parts,
along with software) replaced much of the low-cost labour-intensive
production that had earlier played a more important role in Maltese
manufacturing. Pharmaceutical production in particular has grown
rapidly as a result of the patent law advantages that Malta gained upon EU
membership.

Britannica Quiz

Which Country Is Larger? Quiz

Shipbuilding and repair have been

the foundation of Malta’s economy zoom_in
since the Knights of Malta
(Hospitallers) transferred Malta’s
administrative centre from the
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medieval inland location of Mdina

to present-day Valletta in the
Grand Harbour area in 1570. Since
the mid-20th century, however,
the shipbuilding industry has
consistently operated at a loss and
had been dependent upon
Valletta, Malta: seaport Aerial view of the
government subsidies. Efforts seaport in Valletta, Malta.
aimed at engendering financial
sustainability during the late 20th
century were not successful. Upon EU accession, such subsidies were no
longer permissible, and the Maltese government has taken steps to reduce
and privatize the industry.

Finance
The Central Bank of Malta was founded in 1968. Malta’s former currency,
the lira, was adopted in 1972. On Jan. 1, 2008, the euro became the
country’s official currency. The banking system remains highly
concentrated, with half of the local commercial banks accounting for
about nine-tenths of total loans and deposits. The Malta Financial
Services Authority, established in 2002, is an autonomous body and the
single regulator for financial services, taking over supervisory functions
that were formerly carried out by the Central Bank of Malta, the Malta
Stock Exchange, and the Malta Financial Services Centre. The Maltese
government encourages and facilitates direct foreign investment, which
began to increase in the early 2000s. While the private sector still consists
mostly of small enterprises, there are some internationally owned
companies operating in Malta, mostly in the pharmaceutical, automotive,
and electronics sectors.

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Trade

Malta imports machinery and transport equipment, chemical products,

and mineral fuels. The country’s main export products are
semiconductors, but it also exports other manufactured goods and refined
petroleum. Italy, the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., and Singapore are
Malta’s major trading partners.

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Services
Services account for about half
of Malta’s GDP and employ
1 of 3
zoom_in
about three-fifths of the labour
force. Tourism is a major source
of income and follows a seasonal keyboard_arrow_right
pattern, with June through
October being the peak season.
Malta Ġgantija Temple remains, Gozo,
Some notable tourist sites Malta.
include the ancient megalithic
temple Ġgantija on Gozo and the
temples of Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, and Tarxien on Malta; this group of
temples was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980. Also on
Malta are spectacular medieval castles and cathedrals, as well as the
ancient inland capital of Mdina. Tourism has had a major impact on the
natural environment of the Maltese islands, and the government has
attempted to promote ecotourism.

Labour and taxation

The majority of Malta’s workforce is employed in the manufacturing and
services sectors. Women make up about one-third of the workforce. The
public sector is to a very large extent unionized. In the private sector, most
large enterprises are unionized. Malta has two chief labour unions—the

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General Workers’ Union, Malta’s largest union, and the Union of United
Workers—as well as a confederation of smaller sectoral unions, each of
which came into being around the mid-20th century. Although unions are
independent of political parties, they have tended to occupy a central role
in national issues and at times have operated on the basis of the party
affiliations of their members.

The bulk of government tax revenue comes from a progressive income tax
system. There is a value-added tax on consumer goods and services. Taxes
on real-estate transactions also contribute to government revenue.

Transportation and telecommunications

The island of Malta’s road system
connects all towns and villages and
zoom_in
includes a coast road and a
panoramic road. Bus services
radiating from Valletta provide
inexpensive and frequent internal
transportation. Taxis and rented Valletta, Malta: harbour Harbour area and
vehicles are available on the island. city of Valletta, Malta.

Most families own automobiles,

and the number of cars per household is one of the highest in Europe.
There is no railway. Ferry services operate between Malta and Gozo, and
Malta and Sicily are connected by both ferry and high-speed catamaran.
The national airline, Air Malta, connects Malta with most European
capitals as well as with North Africa, the Middle East, and North America.
Since 2007 a number of low-cost airlines have offered services to and from
Malta.

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Malta’s telecommunications sector was fully liberalized in 2004, after

Malta joined the EU. The mobile phone penetration rate increased
substantially in the early 21st century; the majority of the inhabitants now
use cellular telephones, while the number of fixed-line phone lines has
remained relatively static. Internet usage increased as well. The Malta
Communications Authority, established in 2001, is the regulatory body of
the telecommunications sector.

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