Malta

Malta is an island republic in the central Mediterranean, south of Sicily and north of Libya, made up mainly of Malta and Gozo. Valletta is the capital, and Maltese and English are the official languages.

Hunter-gatherers from Sicily reached the island by 6500 BC, and around 3500 BC farmers built the Ġgantija temples on Gozo, among the oldest free-standing stone structures anywhere and older than the Egyptian pyramids. Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra belong to the same temple tradition. Over the following millennia Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and the Crown of Aragon ruled the islands, and the name probably comes from the Greek for place of honey or the Phoenician for haven.

On 23 March 1530 Emperor Charles V granted the islands to the Knights Hospitaller in return for a yearly Maltese falcon, and in 1565, under Jean Parisot de Valette, the Knights held out against the Ottoman Siege of Malta. The Knights ruled until Napoleon took the islands in 1798, the French garrison surrendered in 1800, and the Treaty of Paris made Malta British in 1814. As base of the British Mediterranean Fleet, Malta was besieged by the Axis in World War II, and on 15 April 1942 King George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole island, which now appears on its flag.

Malta became independent on 21 September 1964, a republic in 1974, a member of the European Union in 2004 and of the eurozone in 2008. Catholicism is the state religion, and close ties with Sicily mean that about two-thirds of the Maltese know Italian. Tourism is a pillar of the economy, drawn by the warm climate and the monuments of its long history.