Country Overview – Malta
Malta is a densely populated developed European microstate in the European Union. The island nation comprises an archipelago of seven islands situated in the Southern European areas of the Mediterranean sea, 93 km off the coast of Sicily (Italy), 288 km east of Tunisia and 300 km north of Libya. It is a country renowned for its world heritage sites, most prominently the Megalithic Temples which are the oldest free-standing structures on Earth. According to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island. Malta is also considered a potential location for the mythical lost island of Atlantis. The country’s official languages are Maltese and English, which replaced Italian in 1934. Malta has a long legacy of Roman Catholicism, which continues to be the official and dominant religion in Malta.
The Maltese Islands are a group of small, barren rocks, jutting out of the middle of the dark blue Mediterranean sea. In these conditions, they would have been relegated to the footnotes of history. Yet, ever since the archipelago was first colonised thousands of years ago, they have never been far from the centre of events and have often played a crucial role in the making of history. Their strategic situation in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea makes up for all the lack of resources that nature endowed the rest of the globe with. Malta, the largest island, and her sister islands of Gozo, Comino, Filfla and other very small islands, are strategically placed in the narrow channel joining the eastern and the western basins of the Mediterranean. This had landed the Maltese Islands right in the middle of the most important historic events: the wars between Rome and Carthage, the rise of Islam, the Crusades, the wars between Christians and Moslems, the rise and fall of Napoleon, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the fight for democracy against Fascism and Nazism, the Cold War, the rise of a United Europe and the challenges of the Third Millennium.
The islands were first settled in 5200 BC by stone age farmers who had arrived from the larger island of Sicily, possibly the Sicani. The extinction of the dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta
The Sicani were the only known tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as related to the Iberians. The population on Malta grew cereals, raised domestic livestock and, in common with other ancient Mediterranean cultures, worshiped a fertility figure represented in Maltese prehistoric artifacts as exhibiting the large proportions seen in similar statuettes, including the Venus of Willendorf.
During World War II, Malta played an important role owing to its proximity to Axis shipping lanes. The bravery of the Maltese people during the second Siege of Malta moved HM King George VI to award the George Cross to Malta on a collective basis on April 15, 1942 “to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history”. Some historians argue that the award caused Britain to incur disproportionate losses in defending Malta, as British credibility would have suffered if Malta surrendered, as Singapore had. A replica of the George Cross now appears in the upper hoist corner of the Flag of Malta. The collective award remained unique until April 1999, when the Royal Ulster Constabulary became the second – and, to date, the only other – recipient of a collective George Cross.
Following the Second World War, the Labour Party pursued a goal of integration with Britain, but abandoned it when it became clear that the British would not accept total integration. Eventually, Malta received its independence on Sep¬tember 21, 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. On December 13, 1974 (Republic Day) Malta became a republic within the British Commonwealth, with the President as head of state. A defence agreement signed soon after independence (and re-negotiated in 1972) expired on March 31, 1979 (Freedom Day), under the prime minister Dom Mintoff. On that day British military forces departed and Admiral Sir John Hamilton GBE, Commander in Chief of the Eastern Mediterranean fleet, lowered the Union Jack for the last time. The Maltese then raised the Maltese flag over the Freedom Monument in Vittoriosa, to the sound of the first playing of Malta’s national anthem. Malta adopted a policy of neutrality in 1980 and was a member of the Movement of Non- Aligned Countries until 2004. 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 signaled the end of the Cold War.
Malta joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. Following the European Council of 21 June to 22 June 2007 it joined the Eurozone on January 1, 2008.
Malta Republic in brief
Area: 316 sq km
Coastline: over 196.8 km (does not include 56.01 km for the island of Gozo)
Climate: typically Mediterranean climate.
Time Zone: CET (UTC+1)
Capital city: Valletta
Population: 410,290 inhabitants (2007 estimate)
Official languages: Maltese, English