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Malta is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It is actually a collection of three main islands; Malta, Gozo and Comino. It is almost exactly in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and is south of the Italian island of Sicilly and north of Libya in Africa.

Malta is obviously surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

The land is mostly rocky with coastal cliffs.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Malta, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 35 50N
Longitude - 14 35E

The capital of Malta is Valletta.

During the second World War, Malta became a very important base because it allowed the British to attack German ships bringing supplies to their troops in North Africa. The Germans and Italians began bombing Malta to try to eliminate the British bases. From January 1 1942 until July 24 1942, there was only one day when no bombs fell on Malta. After 1940 it had become more and more difficult to get supplies to the people of Malta as many of the ships bringing food were sunk by the Germans. It was mainly for these two reasons that George VI awarded the George Cross to the people of Malta. The King said it was to "bear witness to the heroism and devotion of its people" during these times. The George Cross is the second highest award for bravery in the United Kingdom. It has only been awarded to a group of people on one other occasion.

Malta became independent in 1964. It is now a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 must vote.

The currency in Malta is the euro. Malta is a member of the European Union, having joined in 2004. Malta is also a member of the Commonwealth.

Maltese and English are the official languages.

Check the weather in Luqa now. Luqa is a town nearest to the only airport on Malta and about 5 miles from the capital, Valletta.

This is the time in Valletta now

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The Maltese flag is 2 equal vertical stripes of white and red. In the top left hand side is an image of the George Cross which has been on the flag since Malta declared independence in 1964. The colours are said to have been those of the Knights of St John who ruled Malta between 1530 and 1798.

Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Maltese National Anthem called The Hymn of Malta. It was adopted in 1945. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

 To this sweet land, our mother, to which we owe our name,
Guard her, Lord God, like always you have guarded,
Remember her, which you have clothed with light.

Give, Great God, intellect to whom who governs,
Give mercy to the proprietor, and strength to the workman,
To let us serve upright, true and faithful, a united people, Maltese, and in peace.

The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of Malta is 316 sq kms which is the 40th largest in Europe.

Malta has no significant lakes, rivers or canals.

Malta has no boundaries with any other country

Malta has a coastline of 252 kms which is the 23rd longest in Europe

The highest point in Malta is Ta'Dmejrek at 253 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Malta is 415,196 people, making it the 38th largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 208,380 are females and 206,816 are males.

A person from Malta is called a Maltese.

To be a citizen of Malta, one of your parents must be a citizen of Malta. It is not sufficient to be born in Malta. You have to live in Malta for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Malta, by population are:-

• Birkirkara 21,676 people
• Qormi 18,230
• Mosta 17,789
• Zabbar 15,030
• St Paul's Bay 14,057

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



95.4% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Malta is 10.9 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Malta is 9.2 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 3.1 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 3.8 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 42.7 and for males is 40.4. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 26.9.

The elderly dependency ratio is 27.3. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 3.7. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Malta spends 9.7% of its total income on health care.

There are 3.49 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 4.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

28.9% of the population are estimated as obese.

100% of people in Malta have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

100% of people in Malta have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Malta releases 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 39th highest in Europe.

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Malta spends 8.3% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 5 in Malta. Primary education is for six years until age 11 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the last week of September and finishes at the end of June. There is usually a 2 week break at Christmas and a 1 week break at Easter and a one week break in the middle of the first term.

95.8% of females and 93.1% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

11.0% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 10.9% are unemployed while with males 11.2% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Malta is 196,600.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

5.4% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There is 1 paved airport in Malta, which is the 39th highest number in Europe.


There are 0 kilometres of railways in Malta.


There are 3,096 kilometres of roads in Malta, which means Malta is in 38th place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 4 major national newspapers in Malta.

There are 558,000 mobile phone users.

56% of the people have a fixed landline.



315,000 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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