Malta

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Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country by area, the ninth-most densely populated, and the 166th most populated. The country consists of a single urban region, for which it is often described as a city-state.

The island of Malta has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, during the Mesolithic period. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great geostrategic importance, with multiple powers having ruled the islands and shaped its culture and society.

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Etymology

The English name Malta derives from classical Latin Melita, from Latinised forms of the ancient Greek Melítē (Μελίτη), of uncertain meaning, possibly from the Phoenician Maleth. The name Melítē—shared by the Croatian island Mljet in antiquity—literally means "place of honey" or "place of sweetness", derived from the combining form of méli (μέλι, "honey" or any similarly sweet thing) and the suffix -ē (-η). The ancient Greeks may have named the island this after Malta's endemic subspecies of bees.

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History

Malta was first inhabited starting in 8000- 6500 BC, with the arrival of Mesolithic era hunter-gatherers, which likely came from Sicily. Neolithic farmers, also originating from Sicily, are thought to have arrived on the islands by around 5400 BC. Prehistoric settlements dating to the Early Neolithic include the Għar Dalam cave site in the uppermost layers associated with domesticated animals. The Neolithic population on Malta grew cereals, raised livestock and, like many other European civilizations, worshipped a mother goddess.

Later, the people of Malta started to build megalithic temples.

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Geography

Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean (in its eastern basin), some 80 km (50 mi) from southern Italy across the Malta Channel. Only the three largest islands—Malta, Gozo, and Comino—are inhabited. The islands of the archipelago lie on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last ice age. The archipelago is located on the African tectonic plate.

Malta is the largest island, and is both the easternmost of the three inhabited islands, and the southernmost.

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Government and politics

Malta is a republic whose parliamentary system and public administration are modelled on the Westminster system. The parliament is made up of the president and the House of Representatives (Maltese: Kamra tad-Deputati).

The House of Representatives has 65 members, elected for a five-year term in 13 five-seat electoral divisions, called distretti elettorali, with constitutional amendments that establish proportionality among seats and votes of political parliamentary groups.

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Economy

Malta is classified as an advanced economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Malta's major resources are limestone, a favourable geographic location, and a productive labour force. Malta produces only around 20 percent of its food needs, has limited fresh water supplies in the summer, and no domestic energy sources (though with solar power potential). The economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism. Film production has contributed to the Maltese economy.

Access to biocapacity in Malta is below the world average.

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Demographics

As of the 2025 census, Maltese-born natives make up the majority of the island with 574,348 people out of a total population of 588,254. All in all, 89.1% are Caucasian, 5.2% are Asian, 1.7% are from Arabia, 1.5% are African, 1.3% are Hispanic, and 1.2% identify as a mix between two or more of those.

Since 2000, the shift in the age composition towards an older population continued. The median age of the Maltese population increased from 38.5 in 2005 to 40.5 in 2011.

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Culture

A 2010 Charities Aid Foundation study found that the Maltese were the most generous people in the world, with 83% contributing to charity.

Maltese folktales include various stories about mysterious creatures and supernatural events. These were most comprehensively compiled by the scholar (and pioneer in Maltese archaeology) Manwel Magri in his core criticism "Ħrejjef Missirijietna" ("Fables from our Forefathers"). This collection of material inspired subsequent researchers and academics to gather traditional tales, fables and legends from all over the Archipelago.

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