The Maltese Islands The Maltese archipelago consists of three main islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino together with another two uninhabited small islands of Kemmunet and Filfla. The islands are located in the Mediterranean Sea, 60 miles off the coast of Sicily. Malta, the largest of the islands, is 246 square kilometers (95 sq. miles) in area followed by Gozo which covers an area of 67 sq. kms (26 sq. mi.) and Comino covering an area of 3 sq. km. (1.1 sq. mi.). The Maltese population stood at 364,590 during 1993 showing an increase of 19,172 over the 345,418 census count made in 1985. These figures yield an average density of 1,154 persons per sq. km. (2,988 per sq. mi.) resulting in the highest densely populated country in Europe. The average life expectancy is of 74 years for men and 78 years for women. The capital city of Malta is Valletta. Blessed with year-round sunshine and set in crystal clear waters, Malta and its sister islands of Gozo and Comino, can be a fascinating setting for a truly memorable vacation. The island's numerous cultural, artistic and natural treasures are there to be discovered and are all within easy access from wherever one chooses to stay.
For lovers of music, theatre and the arts Malta boasts an abundant calendar of cultural manifestations and events. For the sportive visitor, the islands offer golf, tennis, sky-diving, horse-riding and unlimited possibilities for water-sports - from sailing to windsurfing and the best scuba diving in the Mediterranean. Malta and Gozo have been inhabited for the past 7,000 years. The two islands have a long and varied prehistoric period: Neolithic, Copper and Bronze age civilisations lasted more than 4,000 years; one can still admire the stone temples, a unique hypogeum and remains of skilful handicrafts. The first known people to settle in Malta were the Phoenicians, who reached these shores on their trading ventures in the 9th century BC. They were succeeded by their Punic kinsmen, the Carthaginians, who were eventually conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC. The Romans governed these islands until the division of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD. Arabs from North Africa occupied the Islands from the 9th to the 13th century and when the last Arab rulers were driven out in the year 1249, they left behind them notable imprints of their culture on the language of the Maltese people. After the Norman overlords, Swabian and Angevin dynasties ruled for brief periods. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Islands fell under the Aragonese domination. In 1530, the King of Spain, Emperor Charles V, granted the Islands on fief to the Order of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. The Knights administered the Islands for 268 years until 1798, when Napoleon Bonaparte drove them from these shores and occupied the country in the name of the French Republic. Following a brief occupation the French were forced to surrender after two years of a land and sea blockade by combined British and Maltese forces, and in 1800, Malta became a part of the British Empire. In 1964, Malta attained independence and ten years later, in 1974, it was declared a Republic within the Commonwealth. The people of these Islands speak their own tongue - Maltese, a language of Semitic origin. English is the second language, however Italian, French and German are also widely spoken in Malta and Gozo. For more information about Malta and its people we suggest that you go to the Malta Tourism Authority's website or to the online guide to everything about the Maltese Islands for a treasure of information.  This site is still under construction
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