The Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta, English: Republic of Malta), commonly known as "Malta", is a small republic country located in southern Europe. It is an island country in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, known as "the heart of the Mediterranean", and known as "the village of Europe". The official languages are Maltese and English, the capital, Valletta. Malta is also a member of the Commonwealth and the European Union. Most of the residents believe in Catholicism, while a few believe in Protestantism and Orthodox Christianity.
In the days of Carthage and Roman Republic, it flourished because of Mediterranean trade, and then the power of Arab Empire once dominated for a time. The Knights of Malta, a special political entity based in Rome, was named after its occupation of Malta for centuries. The Phoenicians settled here in Malta from the 10th to the 8th century BC. In 1523, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem moved here from Rhode Island, and was later expelled by France. It became a British colony in the 19th century, declared independence in 1964, is now a member of the Commonwealth, and became the Republic of Malta in 1974, which joined the European Union in 2004.
Malta is a highly developed country with foreign exchange and tourism as its main source of economy. Malta has trade relations with more than 100 countries and regions, and the EU is the most important trade partner of Malta. In addition, the Malta’s social security system is relatively complete, with free education, free medical care and retirement insurance.
Malta is located in southern Europe, 90 km south of Sicily, Italy, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of 316 square kilometers. The country is composed of five small islands, namely, Malta Island, Gozo Island, Comino Island (namely Camino Island, with an area of about 3 square kilometers), Cominoto and Filfra Island, with a coastline of 180 km. Among them, Malta island is the largest, with an area of 245.73 square kilometers and many natural ports; the second largest island is Gozo Island, with an area of 67.08 square kilometers.
The topography of Malta island is high in the West and low in the East. There are small basins, no forests, rivers or lakes, and lack of fresh water. Malta has a subtropical Mediterranean climate, the average temperature in summer is 25 ℃, the average temperature in winter is 15 ℃, the average temperature is 21.3 ℃, the maximum temperature is 40 ℃, and the minimum temperature is 5 ℃. The average annual precipitation is 560 mm. From November to march of the next year is the winter rainy season. Malta is short of natural resources, besides the production of limestone for construction, there are no mineral resources, oil and natural gas are completely imported. Solar energy and wind energy resources are rich, but the development is insufficient, the utilization rate of alternative energy is only 0.36%.
