Nationality: Maltese
Capital: Valletta
Timezone: GMT+1
Area: 316 sq km (spread over 3 quaint islands)
Malta - Length: 27.359 kms
Width: 14.480 kms
Gozo - Length : 14.484 kms
Width: 7.242 kms
Malta - Shoreline: 196.80 kms
Gozo - Shoreline: 56.01 kms
Population: 412,000
Climate: Mediterranean climate with mild, rainy winters and hot dry summers. Sunny climate with a daily average of 6 hours sunshine in mid-winter to more than 12 hours in summer.
Descendants: Maltese are descendants of ancient Phoenicians and Carthaginians. The islands’ 7000 year history has seen a succession of foreign conquerors ruling the island until independence in 1964.
Official languages: Maltese and English
European Union Member since May 2004
Currency: Euro (2008)
GDP per Capita (€): 15,300 (2011)
Economic Sectors: Tourism, electronics, high value added manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, ICT, financial services, education and training, creative arts.
Main trading partners: Italy, Uk, France, German, Singapore, and US
Labour force: 165,000
Unemployment: 6%
Departing tourists: 1.4 million (Dec 2011)
Principal Religion: Roman Catholic
Other religious denominations are also represented with places of worship.
Head of State: President – George Abela
Head of Government: Prime Minister - Dr Lawrence Gonzi
Ruling Party: Nationalist Party
International dialling code: +356
Internet: Domain suffix for Malta is .mt
Weights & Measures: Metric
Electricity Supply: Conforms to UK standards (230 volts AC, 50 Hz). (UK style three-pin plugs and sockets are used).
Rankings
WEF Global Competitiveness Report (out of 139 countries)
- 2nd – Fixed Line Telephony
- 7th – Business Impact of Rules on FDI
- 9th – Financing through Local Equity Market
- 8th – Strength of Auditing & Reporting Standards
- 10th – Soundness of Banks
- 11th – Impact of Crime & Violence on Business Costs
- 11th – Financial Market Development
- 12th – Ease of Access to Loans
- 21st – FDI & Technology Transfer
- 20th - Quality of Port Infrastructure
- 21st - Quality of Air Transport Infrastructure
- 26th – Utility Patents for Inventions (per million population)
- 29th – Technological Readiness
- 30th - Health & Primary Education
- 33rd – Availability of Financial Services
- 36th Goods Market Efficiency
- 37th - Higher Education & Training
Other Rankings
Health
33rd – Malta’s ranking out of 169 countries in the Human Development Report
Quality of Life
1st – Malta is rated as having the best climate worldwide by International Living Magazine
3rd – The island nation’s overall ranking in the 2011 Quality of Life Index
15th - Most democratic country (out of 167)
Public Holidays
January 1st (New Year’s Day)
February 10th (St Paul’s Shipwreck)
March 19th (St Joseph)
March 31st (Freedom Day)
April 10th (Good Friday)
May 1st (Worker’s Day)
June 7th (Sette Giugno)
June 29th (St Peter & St Paul)
August 15th (Assumption)
September 8th (Victory Day)
September 21st (Independence Day)
December 8th (Immaculate Conception)
December 13th (Republic Day)
December 25th (Christmas Day