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Malta Weather 5 day weather forecast |
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MALTA GEOGRAPHICAL MAP |
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MALTA MAP |
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Geography of Malta:
Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean Sea (in its eastern basin), some 93 km south of the Italian island of Sicily across the Malta Channel; east of Tunisia and north of Libya in Africa. Only the three largest islands Malta Island (Malta), Gozo (Għawdex), and Comino (Kemmuna) are inhabited. The smaller islands, such as Filfla, Cominotto and the Islands of St. Paul are uninhabited. Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The archipelago itself lies on the edge of the African tectonic plate, as it borders with the Eurasian plate. The landscape is characterised by low hills with terraced fields. The highest point is at Ta' Dmejrek on Malta Island at 253 metres (830 ft) near Dingli. Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Malta. However, some watercourses are found randomly around the island that have fresh water running all year round. Such places are Baħrija, Intaħleb and San Martin. Running water in Gozo is found at Lunzjata Valley. |
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Population:
A census of population and housing is held every ten years. The last census was held over three weeks in November 2005 and managed to enumerate an estimated 95% of the population. A preliminary report was issued in April 2006, and results were weighted to an estimate for 100% of the population. The resident population of Malta, which includes foreigners residing in Malta for at least a year, as of 27 November 2005 was estimated at 404,039 of whom 200,715 (49.7%) were males and 203,324 (50.3%) were females. Of these, 17.1 per cent were aged 14 and under, 68.2 per cent were within the 15–64 age bracket whilst the remaining 13.7 per cent were 65 years and over. Malta's population density of 1,282 per square kilometre (3,322/sq mi) is by far the highest in the EU, and one of the highest in the world. The only census year showing a fall in population was that of 1967, with a 1.7% total decrease, attributable to a substantial number of Maltese residents who emigrated.[18] The Maltese-resident population for 2004 was estimated to make up 97.0% of the total resident population. |
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Maltese Language:
The national language of Malta is Maltese, a Semitic language which descended from Maghrebi Arabic, with many borrowings from Italian and, in particular, Sicilian. The Maltese alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, but uses the diacritically altered letters ż, also found in Polish, as well as the letters ċ, ġ, għ, ħ and ie, which are unique to Maltese. The official languages are Maltese and English. Italian was an official language of Malta until the 1930s, and is widely spoken as a second or third language. French, Arabic, German and Spanish, amongst other languages, are taught as foreign languages in secondary schools.
Religion:
The Constitution of Malta provides for freedom of religion but establishes Roman Catholicism as the state religion.[23] Freedom House and the World Factbook report that 98 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, making the nation one of the most Catholic countries in the world. The Sunday Mass Attendance Census 2005[24] commissioned by the Archdiocese of Malta reports that 52.6% of the population attends regular religious services. This is one of the highest rate of attendance in Europe.
Migration:
EU nationals require neither a visa nor a passport (an ID card or an expired passport are enough) to enter the country. Citizens of a number of third countries are not required to apply for a visa and require only a valid passport when residing in Malta for up to three months. Visas for other nationalities are valid for one month. Immigrants, even those with EU citizenship, are required to apply for a work permit. This exception to EU law was agreed upon before accession to safeguard the Maltese labour market. In practice though, all work permits to EU nationals are granted and currently this exercise is only used to monitor the labour market for any needed intervention. The safeguards negotiated in Malta's accession have never been put into effect and it is unlikely that they will.
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Maltese cuisine:
Maltese cuisine is the result of a long relationship between the Islanders and the many foreigners who made Malta their home over the centuries. This marriage of tastes has given Malta an eclectic mix of Mediterranean cooking. Many popular Maltese specialities are Sicilian-Southern Italian or Eastern in origin.
National Holidays:
March 31 - Freedom Day (Jum il-Ħelsien) June 7 - Sette Giugno September 8 - Victory Day (Jum il-Vitorja) September 21 - Independence Day (Jum l-Indipendenza) December 13 - Republic Day (Jum ir-Repubblika)
Public Holidays:
January 1 - New Year's Day (L-Ewwel tas-Sena) February 10 - Saint Paul's Shipwreck (San Pawl Nawfragu) March 19 - Feast of Saint Joseph (San Ġużepp) Friday before Easter - Good Friday (Il-Ġimgħa l-Kbira) May 1 - Worker's Day (Jum il-Ħaddiem) June 29 - Feast of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, patron saints (L-Imnarja) August 15 - Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady (Santa Marija) December 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Il-Kunċizzjoni) |
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Public Transport:
The Maltese bus system is the primary method of public transport for the islands, which offer a cheap and frequent service to many parts of Malta and Gozo.
For more information please link to: http://www.maltatransport.com/en/ |
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FERRY BOAT CROSSING TO GOZO:
Ċirkewwa is a harbour situated on a point at the nothernmost part of Malta. It is the site of the Ċirkewwa Ferry Terminal, where regular car ferries operate to the port of Mġarr on Gozo. In the summer, boat trips to Comino also operate, as well as organised diving excursions. As Ċirkewwa is a point on the northernmost end of the island, and not a town, there is no infrastructure besides the terminal. Ċirkewwa is one of the most visited scuba diving sites on the Maltese Islands. It has underwater cliffs, caves, tunnels and an arch down to the seabed at 27m. A short swim away is the wreck of the MV Rozi, an old tugboat sunk intentionally as an attraction for tourists aboard a tourist submarine that worked the area in the early 1990s. Visitors travelling to Gozo can reach Ċirkewwa by car by following road signs to Gozo, and by bus from Valletta, Sliema, Buġibba and St. Paul's Bay.
For more information please link to: http://www.gozochannel.com/timetable.asp?w=1
INFORMATION ABOUT SISTER ISLANDS OF GOZO AND COMINO:
Visit the local website: http://www.gozo.us |
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© 2008 |
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© 2008 |
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© 2008 |
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MDINA—THE SILENT CITY: |
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MDINA: - The town itself is a joy to stroll around in, many of the alleys really give the sense that nothing has changed here for more than a millenium since the Arabs were here. The main attractions are the cathedral whose design inspired many of the other churches in Malta, the cathedral museum, and the views. Cathedral The cathedral was built after the earthquake of 1693 destroyed the original Norman structure built in the 12th century. Like the Cathedral of St. John in Valletta its floor is covered with intricately inlaid marble gravestones belonging to Maltese aristocracy. Also noteworthy is the impressive wallpainting at the back of the cathedral depicting the shipwrecking of st Paul on Malta. Cathedral museum. The quaint cathedral museum houses a variety of different small collections. Perhaps the the most important is a beautiful set of woodcut prints The Life of the Virgin by Albrecht Dürer. Furthermore it has a collection of the cathedral's attributes and a tiny display on the 19th century priests who took the first initiative to develop Maltese in a written form. Amazingly, as it was never in the colonial power's interest and the Maltese had to do without writing in their own language since the Arabs left in the 11th century. The entire archive of the inquisition in Malta, which was only banned by Napoleon the day he invaded, is kept here, but is unfortunately not on public display. If you come with serious credentials you may be able to persuade Father Michael to show them to you. The view from the city walls makes it plain why this site was chosen in ancient times, one has a commanding view over most of the island from here. |
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The Megalithic Temples of Malta: |
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The temple of Ħaġar Qim (pronounced ha-jar-eem) excavated for the first time in 1839, dates from the Tarxien phase (c.3200-2500 BC). It stands on a hilltop on the southern edge of the island of Malta overlooking the sea and the islet of Filfla and lies some 2km south-west of the village of Qrendi. Adjacent to Ħaġar Qim, further towards the cliff face, lies another remarkable temple site, Mnajdra. The surrounding area, which is typical of Mediterranean garrigue and spectacular in its starkness and isolation, is designated a Heritage Park. Much of interest has been unearthed at Ħaġar Qim, notably a decorated pillar altar, two table-altars and some of the "fat lady" statues on display in the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta. Ħaġar Qim itself consists of a single temple unit. However, it is not clear if it was constructed as a four- or five-apse structure. Another aspect of Ħaġar Qim is the small, three-apse structure near the temple which may have been the quarters of the temple's priest or shaman. Other temple ruins stand a few metres away from the main temple.
The Mnajdra temple grouping lies on the southern coast of Malta, a small island located directly south of Italy in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a complex of three Neolithic temples surrounding an oval courtyard, the oldest having been built during the Ġgantija phase (3600-3200 BC), while the other two date from the early and mid Tarxien phase (3150-2500 BC). It has been stated by numerous historians that part of the Mnajdra Temples are the oldest free standing buildings in the world, much older than Stonehenge. These temples are located approximately 500m from another temple site, that of Ħaġar Qim, but unlike Ħaġar Qim, which is built of soft globigerina limestone, Mnajdra is made of the much harder coralline limestone, these two choices representing the type of stone found directly at the two building sites. The main structural systems used in the temples are corbeling, done with smaller stones, and post-and-lintel constructions made of large s
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Ħaġar Qim Temples—MALTA |
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Mnajdra Temples — MALTA |
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Ġgantija (also Ggantia) - GOZO |
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Ġgantija (also Ggantia) is a megalithic temple complex on the Mediterranean island of Gozo (part of Malta). The two temples of Ġgantija on the island of Gozo are notable for their gigantic Neolithic structures, which were erected during the Neolithic Age (c. 3600-2500 BC). At more than 5500 years old, the Ġgantija temples are the world's oldest free-standing structures, and the world's oldest religious structures, pre-dating the Pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge. The temples were possibly the site of an Earth Mother Goddess Fertility Cult, with numerous figurines and statues found on site believed to be connected with that cult. In the Maltese language, Ġgantija means "belonging to the giants". According to local Gozitan legend, the temples were built by the giants who resided in Gozo during ancient times. It is said that the temples themselves were used by the giants as watchtowers. |
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The Tarxien Temples are an archaeological complex in Tarxien, Malta. They date back to approximately 2800 BC. The site was accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 along with the other Megalithic temples on the island of Malta. The Tarxien consist of three separate, but attached, temple structures. The main entrance is a reconstruction dating from 1956, when the whole site was restored. At the same time, many of the decorated slabs discovered on site were relocated indoors for protection at the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. The first temple has been dated to approximately 3100 BC and is the most elaborately decorated of the temples of Malta. . |
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