| About Malta |
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About Malta Situated in the Central Mediterranean Sea, Malta is a small archipelago of five islands - Malta (the largest), Gozo, Comino, Comminotto (Maltese, Kemmunett), and Filfla. The latter two are uninhabited. The distance between Malta and the nearest point in Sicily is 93 km while the distance from the nearest point on the North African mainland (Tunisia) is 288 km. Gibraltar lies at 1,826 km to the west while Alexandria is 1,510 km to the east. The capital city of Malta is Valletta. The climate is a typically Mediterranean one with hot, dry summers, warm autumns and short, cool winters with adequate rainfall. Temperatures are stable, the annual mean being 18°C and monthly averages ranging from 12°C to 31°C. Winds are strong and frequent, the most common being the cool northwesterly known locally as the majjistral, the dry northeasterly known as the grigal, and the hot, humid southeasterly known as the xlokk.
Malta attained independence in 1964. Under the 1964 Independence Constitution, Malta was a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary state. This constitution was amended in 1974 to make Malta a republic within the Commonwealth. Its head of state is a president appointed by the Maltese Parliament which, in its turn, is elected by Universal Suffrage for a term of five years. Maltese culture stems largely from the Islands' history of domination by Arab, Norman, European and English influences, as well as from the widespread prevalence of the Roman Catholic Church. Folk traditions have grown mainly around the festas, held in honour of the patron saints of towns and villages; these are marked by religious ceremonies, processions and celebrations of a more mondaine nature. The Easter period also gives rise to a spate of Good Friday biblical character pageants in several parts of the Islands, these being colourful and devotional at the same time. Folk festivals are also popular. The principal one is l-lmnarja, an agrarian feast held on June 29, the joint feastday of St. Peter and St. Paul, and highlighted by I-ghana, a type of folksinging peculiar to the Maltese Islands. Carnival in Malta dates back to at least the middle of the 15th Century. Balls and dance competitions featuring the Maltija, the national dance, the Parata, a sword dance, as well as contemporary dances and defile`of floats, satirical and other, are the order of this 3-day festival. Malta is a country of bastions and belfries. No other country in the world has so many walled cities, churches and chapels in so small an area. The walled cities are Valletta, Mdina, Furjana (Floriana), Bormla (Cospicua), lsla (Senglea), and Birgu (Vittoriosa). Mdina, Malta's old capital city, ranks amongst the world's oldest mediaeval cities. St. John's Co-Cathedral, in the heart of Valletta, is hung with beautiful Flemish tapestries and houses many famous paintings by Caravaggio and Mattia Preti. Another church of distinction is the Mosta Rotunda, noted worldwide for its immense dome. Malta owes its rich architectural heritage to the rule of the Knights of the Order of St. John (1530-1798). Under the Knights, the Maltese discomfited the Turks of the Ottoman Empire in the Siege of 1565. They also built their capital city Valletta, a jewel of Baroque architecture.
Fact File
Sources: Fiott Charles. Towns and villages in Malta and Gozo, Vol 1-4. - Rabat (Malta); Conventual Franciscans, 1994-1998, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Online Version, Malta-related articles
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