Portal:Malta
The Malta Portal
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a small island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands (Malta, Gozo (Għawdex) Comino (Kemmuna) Filfla, Cominotto (Kemmunett) Manoel, Selmunett (St.Paul's Islands)) in the Mediterranean Sea. A country of Southern Europe, Malta lies south of Sicily, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The country's official languages are Maltese and English. Roman Catholicism is the most practised religion. The islands constituting the Maltese nation have been ruled by various powers and fought over by many states for centuries. Malta has been a member state of the European Union (EU) since 2004 and it is currently the smallest EU country both in population and in area.
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The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta by King George VI in a letter dated 15 April 1942 to the island's Governor Lieutenant-General Sir William Dobbie, so as to "bear witness to the heroism and devotion of its people" during the great siege it underwent in the early parts of World War Two. The George Cross is woven into the Flag of Malta and can be seen wherever the flag is flown. While Italian and German bombers brought havoc to the Maltese islands, the problem of supplies was soon felt. An invasion threat in July 1941 ended in complete failure when coast defenders spotted E-boats of the Italian Decima Flottiglia 10th Fleet MAS. Whilst people suffered hunger, a final assault to neutralise the island was ordered by the German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.(more...) Selected Locality Marsaskala is a modest sea-side village in Malta that has grown up around the small harbour at the head of Marsaskala Bay, a long narrow inlet also known as Marsaskala Creek (inset picture). The bay is sheltered to the north by Ras iż-Żonqor, the south-east corner of Malta, and to the south by the headland of Ras il-Gżira. The village extends along both sides of the bay, and across most of Il-Ħamrija, locally nicknamed as Siberia due to its exposure to icy northerly winds in winter and because buildings there are deemed to be too cut off from the centre of the village and church area. Marsaskala boasts a rather modern church, and a very pleasant promenade of shops, restaurants and coffee shops along the long stretch of waterfront. The shore north of Ras iż-Żonqor is of low cliffs, with shelving rock ledges south of the point. Marsaskala Bay is largely edged by promenade, with low shelving rock ledges cut with salt pans on the seaward face of Ras iċ-Ċerna, which continue on round the eastern point, past l-Abjad iż-Żgħir, and into Il-Bajja ta' San Tumas (Saint Thomas Bay) to the south. (more...) Selected Picture Photo credit: Philip Serracino Inglott
A typical Maltese farmhouse, called Razzett in Maltese. Typically the razzett was one or two storeys. The flat roofs are typical of Maltese housing. They serve many practical purposes, including: a place to hang and dry clothes; a place to spend a summer evening to catch the evening breeze; a place to watch fireworks displays from distant towns and villages; and for farmers, a place to let pumpkins mature. The roofs are also designed to catch rain water and to direct it to wells dug in the soft limestone. Did you know
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