Top20Malta.com - Your Top20 Guide to Malta!

¹ Total population includes foreign residents. Maltese residents population estimate at end 2004 was 389,769. All official population data provided by the NSO [2].
²Before 2008: Maltese lira
³ Also .eu, shared with other European Union member states.

Malta [ˈmɔːltə] (help·info), officially the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a small and densely populated European microstate island, comprising an archipelago of seven islands, three of which are inhabited. Situated in Southern Europe, 93 km (58 mi) off the coast of Sicily (Italy), it is located in the Mediterranean Sea, giving the country a warm, Mediterranean climate, while a further 288 km (179 mi) to the island's south is Libya.^[1]^[2] The nation's de facto capital city is the historic Valletta.

Throughout much of its history, Malta has been considered a crucial strategic location due in large part to its position in the Mediterranean Sea.^[3] It was held by several ancient cultures including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians, Byzantines and others. The island is commonly associated with the Knights of St. John who ruled it. This, along with the historic Biblical shipwreck of St. Paul on the island, ingrained the strong Roman Catholic legacy which is still the official and most practised religion in Malta today.

The country's official languages are Maltese and English, the latter a legacy from Malta's period as a British colony – the United Kingdom is the most recent outside ruling power. Malta gained independence in 1964 and is currently a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as the European Union which it joined in 2004. Malta is a developed country with the 35th highest GDP per capita, the 28th-highest quality-of-life index, and the 34th-highest Human Development Index rating in the world.

Etymology

The origin of the term "Malta" is uncertain, though the modern day variation is from the Maltese language. The more common etymology is that it comes from the Greek word μέλι (meli) ('honey'). The Greeks called the island Μελίτη (Melite) meaning "honey" or "honey-sweet" possibly due to Malta's unique production of honey; Malta has had an endemic species of bee which lives on the island, giving it the common nickname the "land of honey".^[4] Not only was there Greek influence on the island as early as 700 BC,^[5] but the island was later dominated by the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire from 395 to 870.^[5] Another etymology given is the Phoenician word Maleth meaning "a haven".^[6]

History

Main articles: History of Malta and Timeline of Maltese history

Ancient civilisations

See also: Magna Graecia, Phoenicia, Ancient Rome, Sicilia (Roman province), and Byzantine Empire

Ancient Mnajdra temples.

The Maltese islands were first settled in 5200 BC by stone age farmers who had arrived from the nearby, much larger island of Sicily, they were called Sicanians.^[7]^[8] The Sicani are generally regarded to be related to the Iberians.^[9] During 3500 BC, these people built the oldest free-standing structures and oldest religious structures in the world, in the form of the megalithic Ġgantija temples on Gozo,^[10] other early temples include those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra.^[11] Around 700 BC, there was Ancient Greek culture on Malta, especially around the area of Valletta.^[5] A century later the natives were joined on the island by Phoenician traders,^[5] who used the islands as an outpost for their trade route explorations from the east Mediterranean Sea across to Cornwall.^[12]

Roman mosaic from Rabat, Malta.

After the fall of Phoenicia, the area came under the control of people from a former Phoenician colony in 400 BC; the Carthaginians.^[13] During this time Malta was mainly used as a place to cultivate olives, carobs and produce textiles.^[13] During 218 BC in the Punic Wars tensions arose and the Maltese people rebelled against the rule of Carthage, turning over control of their garrison to Roman Republic consul Sempronius.^[14] During the Syracusan revolt Malta remained loyal to Rome and was rewarded accordingly with the title Foederata Civitas; a designation which meant a level of autonomy within the juristiction of Sicilia province while being allied to Rome.^[14] The island known then as Melita had it's capital located in the centre, this carried the same name, though today it is known as Mdina.^[14]

In 117 BC the Maltese Islands were thriving as part of the Roman Empire and were promoted to the level of Municipium under Hadrian.^[14] During 60 AD in the north of the island at Saint Paul's Bay, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ named Saint Paul was shipwrecked on the shores.^[14] Tradition holds he stayed in Malta for three months introducing Christianity and performing various miracles.^[14] This is documented in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles.^[14] When the Roman Empire split into the east and west divisions, Malta fell under the control of the Greek speaking Byzantine Empire which was ruled from Constantinople.^[15] Although Malta was under Byzantine rule for four centuries, not a lot is known about this period. There is evidence that Germanic tribes the Goths and the Vandals briefly took control of the islands before the Byzantines launched a counter attack and retook Malta, keeping a military presence there.^[15]

Middle Ages

See also: Byzantine-Arab Wars, Emirate of Sicily, Kingdom of Sicily, and Crown of Aragon

Roger I of Sicily returned Malta to Christian rule.

Malta was involved in the Byzantine-Arab Wars, the conquest of Malta is closely linked with that of Sicily due to admiral Euphemius betraying his fellow Byzantines and asking the Aghlabid dynasty to invade the area.^[16] As part of the Emirate of Sicily rule switched to the Fatimids in 909.^[17] The Arabs introduced new irrigation, some fruits and cotton, as well as from the island of Sicily the Siculo-Arabic language which would eventually become Maltese.^[18] The native Christians were allowed freedom of religion but had to pay an extra tax to their rulers.^[17] After the Normans from the Duchy of Normandy had relived Sicily, they did the same on the Maltese Islands by 1091.^[14] Roger I of Sicily was according to Maltese tradition warmly welcomed by the native Christians.^[14] The Maltese offered to fight for him and Roger reportedly tore off a portion of his flag, half-red, half-white presenting it to the Maltese to fight under; the basis of the flag of Malta.^[14]

The Norman period was productive; 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.^[14] The Catholic Church was re-insated as the state religion, with Malta under the See of Palermo and much Norman architecture sprung up around Malta.^[14] Tancred of Sicily the last Norman monarch made Malta and Gozo a feudal lordship or fief within the kingdom with a Count of Malta instated. As the islands were much desired due to their strategic importance, during this time the men of Malta were militarised to fend off capture attempts; the early counts were skilled Genoese corsairs.^[14] The kingdom passed on to the Hohenstaufens from 1194 until 1266. It was under Frederick I that any remaining Muslims were expelled from Malta in 1224^[19] and the entire Christian male population of Celano in Abruzzo was exported to Malta.^[14]

Aragonese flag of the Kingdom of Sicily.

For a brief period the kingdom passed onto the Capetian House of Anjou, however high taxes made the dynasty unpopular in Malta, due to Charles of Anjou's war against the Republic of Genoa the island of Gozo was sacked in 1275.^[14] Following this there was a large revolt on Sicily known as the Sicilian Vespers, this saw the Peninsula part of the kingdom seperating into the Kingdom of Na