A quick guide to Malta.

Quick facts

Full name: Republic of Malta
Population: 408,000 (UN, 2008)
Capital: Valletta
Area: Malta is composed of three major islands (and three minor): Malta Island – 246 km2 (94.9 sq miles); Gozo – 67 km2; and Comino – 3 km2. There are also some minor uninhabited islands.
Major languages: Maltese, English
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 77 years (men), 81 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: euro from January 1, 2008
Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment
GNI per capita: $15,310 (World Bank, 2007)
Internet domain: .mt
International dialling code: +356
Location: 93 km south of Sicily and 288 km east of Tunisia
Terrain: Mostly low, rocky, with dissected plains and coastal cliffs
Climate: Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and mild winters
Average temperature: December–February 13.2°C; June–August 25.8°C
Business hours: Offices are usually open 08.00–12.30 and 13.30–17.00 Monday to Friday. Shops are open 09.00–3.30 and 16.30–19.00 Monday to Saturday. Most offices and shops are not open on Sundays and public holidays, although certain businesses are open in the main tourist centres.

Media

Many of Malta's newspapers and broadcasters have strong political affiliations. Dailies and weeklies appear in Maltese and English.
Maltese radio began in the mid-1930s, partly to counter Fascist propaganda broadcasts from Italy. Malta Television launched in 1962, five years after the islanders started receiving TV signals from Italy. Italian channels remain popular.
The first private broadcasting licences were granted to the two major political parties and the Catholic Church. More stations followed and there is now a proliferation of privately-run radio stations and several TV channels.
Since Malta is a member of the Council of Europe, media laws are based on European law.
Cable TV was introduced in 1992 and satellite TV is widely-watched.
Print press: Times of Malta (daily), Malta Independent (daily), It-Torca (weekly, owned by General Workers' Union), Il-Mument (weekly, owned by Nationalist Party), In-Nazzjon (daily, owned by Nationalist Party), L-Orrizont (daily, owned by General Workers' Union), Malta Today
Television: Television Malta (TVM) (public), Super One TV (owned by Malta Labour Party), Net TV (owned by Nationalist Party)
Radio: Radio Malta (public), Super One Radio (owned by Malta Labour Party), Radio 101 (owned by Nationalist Party), Bay Radio (private, FM music station), RTK (Catholic church station)
Internet: MaltaMedia, dive.com, maltarightnow.com (in Maltese), maltastar.com

Source: BBC

Public holidays: 2010

New Year’s Day: January 1
Feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck: February 10
St Joseph’s Day: March 19
Freedom Day: March 31
Good Friday: April 2
Labour Day: May 1
Sette Giugno (commemoration of 1919 riot): June 7
Fast of St Peter and St Paul: June 29
Assumption Day: August 14
Our Lady of the Victories: September 8
Independence Day: September 21
Immaculate Conception Day: December 8
Republic Day: December 13
Christmas Day: December 25

Economic indicators

Malta is ranked in the top 20 global countries most likely to sustain economic growth over the medium and long term. The country has had strong and almost continuous growth over the last 40 years.

Malta maintained an average GDP growth rate of 5% during 1990s mainly because of large investments in infrastructural projects. However, the economy suffered heavily in the initial years of 2000s due to global slow.

The island's economy is primarily based on tourism (which accounts for 30% of country’s GDP with over one million tourists visiting Malta each year), manufacturing (electronics and pharmaceuticals) which accounts for 20% of the GDP and 75% of the total exports and on financial services (which accounts for 13% of GDP).

Malta does not have any mineral or energy reserves and is completely dependent on imports to meet its energy needs.

Being centrally located in the Mediterranean, Malta has portrayed itself as a bridge between Europe and North Africa, particularly Libya with whom it has enjoyed positive diplomatic and commercial ties.

Its total trade-to-GDP ratio is nearly 153%. Malta's top three export partners are the European Union, the US and Singapore. It mainly exports electric and electronic products, machinery, clothes, and printed books and newspapers.

The top three import partners are Italy, the US and France. Malta mainly imports electrical and electronic components, machinery, mineral fuels and oils, vehicles, plastics, and food products.

The EU is Malta’s largest trade block.

Source Aliaba.com

Fun facts about Malta

Valletta
Malta’s capital city Valletta was originally built by the Knights of St John in the 1500s. Today the UNESCO world heritage city is filled with breathtaking baroque architecture, picturesque narrow streets, churches, palaces, museums, restaurants and cafes – and beautiful views of one of the Mediterranean’s most popular harbours. The city has recently signed world-renowned architect Renzo Piano to re-design its main sights to their pre-WW2 splendour.

Gozo
Gozo is the smaller, quieter and greener sister island of Malta. A short ferry ride or sea plane flight away, it is perfect for exploring the local way of life. The island is dotted with traditional villages, long winding walks, secluded lagoons and caves as well as characteristic farmhouses. The beaches are among the safest and prettiest in the Mediterranean Sea with warm temperatures and calm waters all year round. Gozo is particularly popular for outdoor sports with opportunities ranging from diving, rock climbing, sailing, abseiling to hiking for pros or beginners.

Cuisine
Traditional Maltese food is a mixture of North African, Mediterranean and English flavours, with a heavy Italian influence. The national dish is fenek, rabbit. Being an island, fish is obviously very widely eaten and species are seasonal. Other favourites include Minestra (a thick vegetable soup) and Bragoli (a mixture of meat, bacon, eggs, onions and breadcrumbs wrapped in thin slices of steak). Pastizzi is a savoury puff pastry filled with ricotta cheese or peas and is often eaten as a light snack. Malta also produces its own olive oil, honey and award-winning lager called CISK. There are several vineyards dotted around the islands producing some fine Maltese wine.

Evenets
Malta hosts a number of events throughout the year, from traditional village festas (feast days) to international music, art and sports events. One of the highlights is the Malta Carnival in February, a colourful affair during which residents are decked out in outlandish costumes and the streets are besieged with extravagant floats. The summer is rocked by the Isle of MTV concert in July. This brings the hottest international acts and DJs to the islands and its outdoor clubs. For more sophisticated entertainment, the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October entices some of Europe’s finest skippers and crews to take part in this demanding 606-mile Mediterranean route. The race starts and ends in Malta and navigates its way through impressive scenery just off the coast. Spectators can watch from the shore or even rent a boat to get closer to the action.

History
Malta’s history, reaching back over 7,000 years, is rich and eventful filled with influences from the Neolithic period to the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John. Today there are numerous historic sites preserved on the islands, from ancient temples to an underground necropolis. The medieval town of Mdina is particularly one not to miss. Like a small time capsule, it boasts sublime baroque architecture, some great religious sights and mesmerising views of the islands.

Malta's language

The Maltese language (Malti) is a member of the Semitic language group. This group includes Arabic, Hebrew and Amharic. Some believe that Maltese is a descendant of the language that was spoken by the Phoenicians. However, most linguists think it is related to the Arabic dialects of western North Africa. What makes Maltese different from other Semitic languages is the fact it is the only language written in Latin script.

Maltese puppies
The Maltese breed is one of the oldest in the world. It is estimated Maltese dogs originated some 6,000 years ago.
Well known with Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Normans, there are two schools of thoughts as to how the Maltese dog found itself on the island.
Some say it was the ancient Phoenicians that first introduced the dog to Malta while others believe the Maltese was an indigenous specie to Malta and grew in popularity when it was used as barter across the globe.
The Maltese is a small toy spaniel, weighing from 1.5 to 3.0 kgs. Its long silky white coat makes it one of the most recognised dog breeds. Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the Maltese dog originated on the island of Malta and so they called the breed the ‘Melitae dog’, Melitae being one of the ancient names of Malta.
Although there is no evidence that the dog was indigenous to Malta, it eventually became popular and recognised worldwide because it was distributed as an exotic article of trade from Malta across the globe. This theory is even more plausible since the island of Malta was a geographic centre of ancient trade.
It is believed Maltese puppies were traded for necessities and supplies and eventually became a much sought after dog breed for the elite and aristocrats.

Maltese falcon
The 1941 movie based on a novel with the same name, opens with: "In 1539, the Knights Templar of Malta paid tribute to Charles V of Spain by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."
Although this statement was not correct, it is an enduring myth. Although no Maltese falcon jewel encrusted statuette existed, the Knights of Malta were required to pay Charles V an annual fee of one Maltese falcon — only it had to be alive.

Gladiator, the film
The Oscar winning film Gladiator’s fighting scenes with star Russell Crowe were in fact not shot in Rome’s Coliseum but in Malta. A replica of the Coliseum was built in Fort Ricasoli, Malta. In addition, a night scene from Gladiator was filmed just outside Vittoriosa at Couvre Port.

Lost city of Atlantis
The story of Atlantis has led to many debates from scientists and historians. Although many consider Atlantis as fiction, many believe that Malta is the famous Lost City of Atlantis together with a host of other proposed locations such as Crete, Cyprus, Sicily and Troy).

Flag
The Maltese flag is a simple two coloured flag with the white in the hoist and red in the fly. Legend says the colours of the flag of Malta were given to the Maltese people by Count Roger of Sicily in 1091.
The count’s banner was a chequered white and red flag. Tradition says the Count cut off a piece from his banner and gave it to the locals. Although this incident is still taught in history classes to this day, it is generally agreed this is only a legend.
Researchers generally claim the colours of the Malta flag were influenced by the Knights of Malta.
The island nation is also renowned for the bravery shown by its people during World War II. King George VI of Britain gave the islanders the George Cross to honour their heroism during the war. It was the first and only time the George Cross was awarded to a whole country.
The George Cross was added to the flag of Malta in the 1943, in the top left hand corner.
The Malta flag was officially adopted when Malta gained its independence from Britain on September 21, 1964.

Malta’s language
The Maltese language (Malti) is a member of the Semitic language group. This group includes Arabic, Hebrew and Amharic. Some believe that Maltese is a descendant of the language that was spoken by the Phoenicians.
However, most linguists think it is related to the Arabic dialects of western North Africa. What makes Maltese different from other Semitic languages is the fact it is the only language written in Latin script.

Maltese alphabet
The Maltese alphabet has 29 letters that consist of five vowels (as in English) and 24 consonants. Perhaps the hardest thing that visitors usually find is the pronunciation, since it differs from English.
Some of the main differences are: ċ as ch in church; ġ as in j of jolly; ħ as in h of hot; ј as in y of yes; x as in sh of shoe; ż as in z of zebra; għ is silent in most cases and q is a glottal stop (like the sound in the beginning and middle of ‘uh-oh’)

Maltese vocabulary
English speakers will recognize many English words that over the years were assimilated by the locals. This influx of foreign terms that are integrated into the Maltese language continues. Other words were derived from Italian or Sicilian dialects. You will also recognize a direct French influence too.
Good morning     Bonġu
Good evening     Bonswa
Goodbye     Saħħa
Yes    Iva
No     Le
Please     Jekk jogħġbok
Thank you    Grazzi
Excuse me    Skużani
How are you?     Kif inti?
Do you speak English?     Titkellem bl-Ingliż?
When does the bus leave/arrive?     Meta titlaq/tasal ix-xarabank?

Source: Maltabulb.com