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| | Need to Know | Capital City Valletta | | Tipping 10% | | Electricity 250 V | | Weights and Measurements Metric system |
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Sneak Preview
The ancient island of Malta is fabled in legends as the island where the Greek hero Odysseus was kept for seven long years after being lured into captivity by the siren Calypso. Today Malta doesn’t have any sea nymphs or none that mere mortals can see, but the enchantment remains as it were. The island continues to lures modern day travelers bitten by wanderlust, to its pretty towns and gorgeous beaches.
Malta does have a lot more to recommend it- beautiful bays and harbors, ancient towns with quaint cobble stoned streets, Baroque churches and Roman Catholic festivals and the icing on the cake – a sunny, balmy Mediterranean climate.
The cherry on the traveler’s cake is that Malta is still somewhat off the beaten track- it’s comparatively less visited so that much less crowded than many of the Mediterranean sunspots, and is still rather unspoilt and charming.
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Historically Speaking
Malta is amongst one of the places in the world with the oldest known signs of civilization - it is home to the Haga Qim temples, regarded by many scholars as the oldest manmade structures on the planet and they date back to 3800 BC. The first people to arrive on the island were the Phoenicians, who came in 800 BC, and remained here for the next six centuries. The Romans, who invaded the island in 208 BC, finally ousted them.
Christianity- today the island’s predominant religion- came to Malta around 60 AD, and brought with it an era of peace, one that lasted till 870 AD, when the Arabs of North Africa conquered the land only to be replaced by the Normans who came from Sicily, in 1090.
The year 1530 was an important landmark in Malta’s history; the Spanish King handed over the island for the paltry sum of two Maltese Falcons a year as rent to the Knights of the Order of St John of Malta.
Mainly composed of younger sons of the European aristocracy, the Order was more militant than religious, although celibacy was one of its fundamental tenets. When the Turks invaded Malta in 1565, the knights fought back to save the island and were hailed as the saviors of Europe; in gratitude, they were given the newly constructed fort city of Valletta. But over a period of time, the knights degenerated and corrupted and many eventually became pirates.
When Napoleon arrived in 1798, it was not the knights, but the British armies who helped Malta stave off the conqueror- and in return, got Malta as one of their colonies. Malta remained a fairly important part of the UK in Europe for the next century but started moving away from Britain by the end of World War II. It became independent in 1964, saw a brief period of close friendship with the Eastern Bloc, and finally shifted towards the European Union, a path it follows even today.
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Habitat
The country of Malta consists of three islands lying almost in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, approximately 93 km south of Sicily and 350 km north of Libya. The largest of these islands is Malta (the other two are Gozo and Comino), and it has a sharply indented coastline, with many bays and harbors. The island of Malta is basically lowland, and with no rivers; Gozo has some rugged coastal cliffs, but no steep mountains to speak of. The highest point is Ta’Dmejrek, at a mere 253 m.
Flora and Fauna
The country’s soil cover is so thin that there is virtually no vegetation; forest and woodland cover is nil, and only about 40% of the land is capable of supporting agriculture. The only expanse of greenery on Malta Island is Buskett Gardens full of trees and orange groves and the only wildlife to be seen are birds and the marine creatures live in the surrounding waters. Malta’s main environmental problem is its lack of potable water- the country is increasingly becoming dependent on desalination as a means of fulfilling the demand for water.
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