Malta is the largest of a group of islands, measuring only 246 sq.km. Geographically it lies at the heart of the Mediterranean sea, with Sicily some 97 km. to the North, Tripoli 355 km. to the South and Tunisia 323 km. to the West. Hence Malta practically lies at the crossroads between continents. With a population of 500,000, inhabiting a total area of 320 sq. km., the islands are the most densely populated in Europe.

For its very strategic position Malta has been subject to a succession of rulers, who all made an impact on the country and the language as we know it today. The Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs and the Spanish all ruled the island for varying lengths of time. In 1530 King Charles V of Aragon offered the islands to the Knights of St. John who yielded to Napoleon in 1798. In 1800 the Maltese turned to Britain for protection and British domination was sealed under the treaty of Paris in 1914 and the islands remained a colony till acquiring Independence in 1964. In 1974 Malta became a Republic and more recently, in 2004, it obtained European membership.

The islands have been termed the open air museum of the Mediterranean, for their high concentration of cultural, historical, and megalithic sites. Malta’s prehistoric temples are the oldest free-standing buildings, being a thousand years older than the Pyramids in Egypt.

For detailed information about the island and its history visit the Wikipedia Site about Malta.