The densely populated Maltese archipelago lies between Africa and Europe. The island of Gozo is more densely vegetated.
The main island of Malta has low hills and a rugged coastline with numerous harbors, bays, sandy beaches, and rocky coves. Malta became an EU member in May 2004 and began using the euro as currency in 2008. Since about the mid-1980s, the island has transformed itself into a freight transshipment point, a financial center, and a tourist destination while its key industries moved toward more service-oriented activities. While under British rule, the island staunchly supported the UK through both world wars. Most recently, a British colony (since 1814), Malta, gained its independence in 1964 and declared itself a republic ten years later. Situated in the center of the Mediterranean, Malta’s islands have long served as a strategic military asset, with the islands at various times have come under the control of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Moors, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, Knights of St. With a civilization that dates back thousands of years, Malta boasts some of the oldest megalithic sites in the world. Malta is the only country to receive the George Cross for gallantry in 1942 for national resilience to relentless German bombardment. Covering just half a square kilometer, it has around 320 buildings, including countless Renaissance and Baroque churches, palaces, and residences – the most significant number of monuments globally for its size. Valletta, the capital of Malta, was founded in the 16th century by the Knights of the Order of St John. The necropolis of the Hypogeum of Hal Safien, built around 2500 BC, is a labyrinth of countless underground chambers and passages. The seven megalithic temples found on the islands of Malta, about the size of the island of Csepel, and Gozo, the size of the island of Szentendre, are the masterpieces of the Bronze Age craftsmen. The remains of the early settlements are universal treasures of humanity. It was later occupied by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, and even by the Knights Hospitallers, the Spanish, the French, and, most recently, for 150 years by the British. The submerged estuaries of the karstic limestone plateau make excellent natural harbors, and the archipelago, strategically located, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Located in the central Mediterranean basin, about 90 km from Sicily, this archipelago of three large and two small islands are the remains of a former land bridge between Europe and Africa, which sank and is now the only island without a single watercourse.
Etymology: the ancient Greeks called the island Melite meaning honey-sweet from the Greek word meli meaning honey and referring to the islands honey production.The conventional long form of the name: Republic of Malta.Conventional short form of the name: Malta.
0 kommentar(er)
