The Maltese Islands

The Maltese Islands form a small archipelago in the center of the Mediterranean Sea. If one would search for them on an atlas it would be easier to find Italy first, go down to Scicily, and search right below it on the map. In fact, the islands are found right between Scicily and Libya. The archipelago contains three inhabited islands (shown in the map) and two uninhabited islands (Cominotto and Filfla).  Together the islands occupy a total area of 316 sq Km (122sq miles). The population of the islands has reached 357,000 (in 1991). The capital city of the islands is Valletta.

Although the islands are realtively small, their geographical position was always considered strategically important. This has led to various struggles of a succession of powers  for the domination of the Mediterranean.

The official languages of the islands are Maltese and English. Unlike what the Brittanica Encyclopaedia states, Maltese is a language in its own right.  It is no "dialect of Arabic that is written in Latin letters." Maltese has developed into a separate language spoken by more than 300,000 people. It is a living language that is still maturing and has its own literature, with various important novels, poems and songs even translated in foreign languages, such as Italian and English. It is a semitic language. However due to various influences it contains vocabulary which originated from Italian, French and English. The only problem with the language is that some native people do not give it the importance it merits. However, most Maltese people are proud that a small island like ours, we have our own language, while countries much bigger than ours still share languages with neighbour countries.

The Maltese History dates back 3800 BC. There were times where the megalitic temples found in various places around the islands were considered a proof Phoenician settlement. However, modern archaeology has established that these temples were built by prehistoric humans and are among the oldest human monuments in the Mediterranean. We can also say that Malta also made history hosting the summit between American President George Bush and Russian President Michail Gorbachev in 1989 which led to the end of the cold war.

The Maltese Flag