Malta

• Mediterranean;
• mild, rainy winters;
• hot, dry summers

• limited natural freshwater resources;
• increasing reliance on desalination;
• deforestation;
• wildlife preservation

party to:

Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• the country comprises an archipelago, with only the three largest islands (Malta, Ghawdex or Gozo, and Kemmuna or Comino) inhabited;
• numerous bays provide good harbors;
• Malta and Tunisia are discussing oil exploration on the continental shelf between their countries, although no commercially viable reserves have been found as of 2017

noun:

Maltese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Maltese

0-14 years:

14.29% (male 33,156 /female 31,012)

15-24 years:

11.03% (male 25,713 /female 23,815)

25-54 years:

40.92% (male 95,162 /female 88,602)

55-64 years:

13.25% (male 29,787 /female 29,703)

65 years and over:

20.51% (male 41,900 /female 50,193) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

48.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

21.4 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

27.3 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

3.7 (2015 est.)

total:

41.8 years (2018 est.)

male:

40.6 years

female:

43.1 years

at birth:

1.04 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.08 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.83 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

total:

4.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

4.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

4.9 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

82.7 years (2018 est.)

male:

80.6 years

female:

84.8 years

conventional long form:

Republic of Malta

conventional short form:

Malta

local long form:

Repubblika ta' Malta

local short form:

Malta

etymology:

the ancient Greeks called the island "Melite" meaning "honey-sweet" from the Greek word "meli" meaning "honey" and referring to the island's honey production

name:

Valletta

geographic coordinates:

35 53 N, 14 30 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology:

named in honor of Jean de Valette, the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (crusader knights), who successfully led a defense of the island from an Ottoman invasion in 1565

history:

many previous; latest adopted 21 September 1964

amendments:

• proposals (Acts of Parliament) require at least two-thirds majority vote by the House of Representatives;
• passage of Acts requires majority vote by referendum, followed by final majority vote by the House and assent of the president of the republic;
• amended many times, last in 2016 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Malta

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President George VELLA (since 4 April 2019)

head of government:

Prime Minister Joseph MUSCAT (since 11 March 2013)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the House of Representatives for a single 5-year term;
• election last held on 2 April 2019 (next to be held by April 2024);
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president for a 5-year term;
• deputy prime minister appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister

election results:

• George VELLA (PL) elected president;
• House of Representatives vote - unanimous;
• Joseph MUSCAT (PL) reappointed prime minister

description:

• unicameral House of Representatives or Il-Kamra Tad-Deputati, a component of the Parliament of Malta (normally 65 seats but can include at-large members; members directly elected in 5 multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms);
• note - the parliament elected in 2013 had 69 seats;
• an additional two seats were added in 2016 by the Constitutional Court to correct for mistakes made in the 2013 vote-counting process

elections:

last held on 3 June 2017 (next to be held in 2022); note - Prime Minister MUSCAT called for early elections amid corruption allegations

election results:

• percent of vote by party - PL 55%, PN 43.7%, other 1.3%;
• seats by party - PL 37 PN 30;
• note - PN was awarded two additional seats for a total of 30 in accordance with the proportionality provisions specified in the constitution;
• PD candidates ran under the PN list;
• composition - men 57, women 10, percent of women 14.9%

highest courts:

• Court of Appeal (consists of either 1 or 3 judges);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 3 judges);
• Court of Criminal Appeal (consists of either 1 or 3 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court judges appointed by the president, usually upon the advice of the prime minister;
• judges of both courts serve until age 65

subordinate courts:

• Civil Court (divided into the General Jurisdiction Section, Family Section, and Voluntary Section);
• Criminal Court;
• Court of Magistrates;
• Gozo Courts (for the islands of Gozo and Comino)

• Democratic Party (Partit Demokratiku) or PD [Godfrey FARRUGIA]
• Labor Party (Partit Laburista) or PL [Joseph MUSCAT]
• Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista) or PN [Adrian DELIA]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Mark A. SCHAPIRO (since 29 September 2018)

telephone:

[356] 2561-4000

embassy:

Ta' Qali National Park, Attard, ATD 4000

mailing address:

5800 Valletta Place, Dulles, VA 20189

FAX:

[356] 2561-4183

• two equal vertical bands of white (hoist side) and red;
• in the upper hoist-side corner is a representation of the George Cross, edged in red;
• according to legend, the colors are taken from the red and white checkered banner of Count Roger of Sicily who removed a bi-colored corner and granted it to Malta in 1091;
• an uncontested explanation is that the colors are those of the Knights of Saint John who ruled Malta from 1530 to 1798;
• in 1942, King George VI of the UK awarded the George Cross to the islanders for their exceptional bravery and gallantry in World War II;
• since independence in 1964, the George Cross bordered in red has appeared directly on the white field

name:

"L-Innu Malti" (The Maltese Anthem)

lyrics/music:

Dun Karm PSAILA/Robert SAMMUT

note: adopted 1945; written in the form of a prayer

agriculture:

1.6%

industry:

20.7%

services:

77.7% (2016 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

• machinery and mechanical appliances;
• mineral fuels, oils and petroleum products;
• pharmaceutical products;
• books and newspapers;
• aircraft/spacecraft and parts;
• toys, games, and sports equipment

• mineral fuels, oils and products;
• electrical machinery;
• aircraft/spacecraft and parts thereof;
• machinery and mechanical appliances;
• plastic and other semi-manufactured goods;
• vehicles and parts

general assessment:

• automatic system featuring submarine cable and microwave radio relay between islands;
• one of the most advanced telecoms in Europe, high penetration of mobile and broadband, and a way forward to expand e-commerce opportunities;
• '5G ready' and LTE network;
• regulatory system that encourages investors (2018)

domestic:

fixed-line 58 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular subscribership 135 per 100 persons (2018)

international:

• country code - 356;
• landing points for the Malta-Gozo Cable, VMSCS, GO-1 Mediterranean Cable System, Malta Italy Interconnector, Melita-1, and the Italy-Malta submarine cable connections to Italy;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

• 2 publicly owned TV stations, Television Malta broadcasting nationally plus an educational channel;
• several privately owned national television stations, 2 of which are owned by political parties;
• Italian and British broadcast programs are available;
• multi-channel cable and satellite TV services are available;
• publicly owned radio broadcaster operates 3 stations;
• roughly 20 commercial radio stations (2019)

number of registered air carriers:

9 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 28 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

1,583,046 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

3.352 million mt-km (2015)

total:

2,254 km (2001)

paved:

1,973 km (2001)

unpaved:

281 km (2001)

urban:

1,422 km (2001)

non-urban:

832 km (2001)

major seaport(s):

Marsaxlokk (Malta Freeport), Valletta

container port(s) (TEUs):

Marsaxlokk (3,150,000) (2017)