Experience the Magic of Malta

the pearl of the Mediterranean

Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean Sea, some 100 km south of Sicily across the Malta Channel, east of Tunisia and north of Libya. It is nearly the southernmost point of Europe. It is so small that it has been labelled the Mediterranean's best kept secret.

Population
The resident population of Malta is estimated at approx. 400,000.  Malta's population density of 1,282 per square kilometre (3,322/sq mi) is by far the highest in the EU, and one of the highest in the world.

A Wealth of History
If there is one reason to visit, it is because of Malta's wealth of history. Malta's rich cultural background derives mainly from its history of foreign domination and the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church with evidence of habitation going back to the Neolithic era (4th millennium B.C.). The inheritance of the various dominations who ruled over the islands all through the ages can be seen and felt : its strategic location and good harbours in the middle of the Mediterannean have attracted Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Crusaders, the French and finally the British, with the colonial period lasting until 1964.

The Knights of Malta and Turkish invasion
The Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitallers, took over sovereign control of Malta in 1530, and by 1533 the Order had built a hospital at Birgu (one of the three cities) to care for the sick.  In 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, mounted a great siege of Malta with a fleet of 180 ships and a landing force of 30,000 men.

In response the Order, with only 8,000 defenders, drove the Ottoman Turks away after a hard siege of several months. After this siege, the Order founded the city of Valletta on a peninsula, and fortified it with a massive stone wall, which even withstood heavy bombing during the Second World War. By 1575 the Order had built a large hospital known as the Grand Hospital or Sacred Infirmary in order to continue with its primary mission of caring for the sick.

Napoleon on his way to Egypt
In 1798, the French under Napoleon took the island on 12 June, without resistance, when the Grand Master of the Order capitulated after deciding that the island could not be defended against the opposing French naval force. French rule lasted a little over 2 years, until they surrendered to the British Royal Navy, under Admiral Nelson's command, in September 1800.

British Dominance
Great Britain formally acquired possession of Malta in 1814. The island staunchly supported the UK through both World Wars. The island was awarded the George Cross for its heroic resistance during the Second World War. An image of the cross is displayed on the flag. The colours on the flag are red and white, colours related to the Order of St. John. Independence from UK was granted on 21 September 1964.

Official languages
English has remained the first language in Malta alongside Maltese, the two official languages since 1936.

Maltese is the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet. In the course of history, the language has adopted numerous loanwords, phonetic and phonological features from Sicilian and Italian, while many words (some with their plural forms) are also borrowed from English or French.

The European Union
Malta became a member of the European Union in 2004 and Maltese the 23rd official language of the Union. The Euro was adopted 1 January 2008 and passport control for EU citizens abolished the same year.