Geography and Climate

The Maltese Archipelago comprises the islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, all of which are inhabited, together with some very small barren and uninhabited islets and rocks. The largest island, Malta has an area of about 246 km2 (95 sq mi), while its sister island, Gozo is only 67 km2 (26 sq mi). Comino has an area of 3 sq km (1.1 sq mi). The total area is 316 sq km (122 sq mi). The maximum length and width of Malta are 27.36 km and 14.48 km respectively. The corresponding extensions for Gozo are 14.48 km and 7.24 km. The group is situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, with Malta being 93 km away from Sicily and 288 km from North Africa. Gibraltar is 1826 km to the west and Alexandria is 1519 km to the east. At their extreme points the Maltese Islands fall within the following points: Northern latitude 36ø35'00", Southern latitude 35ø48'00", Eastern longitude 14^o35'00", Western longitude 14^o10'30". The capital and leading port of the country is Valletta.

Historical and Cultural Background

The exact origin of the Maltese people is uncertain, but archaelogical remains suggest that the first settlers in the Islands came from nearby Sicily towards the end of the fifth millennium BC. These immigrants crossed from Sicily on sufficiently sturdy and reliable sea-craft and settled on the Islands. Early Neolithic man (c.5000-4100 BC) brought with him an agriculture economy. By the fourth millennium BC another wave of immigrants reached the Islands. The new agricultural population, after a modest start inspired by the cultural background imported from its original homeland, was gradually set on a path of very independent cultural development. Late Neolithic man (c.4100-2500 BC) had a more progressive culture which was characterized by the enormous megalithic 'temples', underground hypogea/cave-tombs and settlement remains. The megalithic temples have been associated with a progressive Fertility Cult on the basis of the clay statuettes and symbols associated with the obese-steatonic fertility deity. It has been suggested that the deity had an interest in death as well as fertility, death being looked upon as a prelude to rebirth.

The Late Neolithic culture came to an abrupt end when it disappeared obscurely. The Maltese Islands were repopulated, possibly after an interval of several scores of years, by an entirely different people carrying a totally different culture. These were, in contrast with their predecessors, a warlike people using copper and bronze tools and weapons. Bronze and Iron Age man (2300-800 BC) showed little sign of exceptional technical expertise or wealth further than their use of metal. Towards the end of the Bronze Age period the Maltese population apparently came into regular contact with Mediterranean seafaring nations and cultures. Maltese history can be conveniently divided into four basic periods: 1] Ancient history taking up to the ninth century A.D. by which time Malta had witnessed the arrival of the Phoenicians, the Cartaginians, the Romans and the Arabs. 2] Medieval history leading to the sixteenth century. During these centuries, Malta changed hands a number of times and was dominated by the Arabs, the Normans, the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. 3] Modern History follows the Great Siege in the mid-sixteenth century up to the expulsion of the Order by the French in 1798, and of the latter in 1800. 4] Contemporary History is the final phase leading up to recent events, with the islands falling under British dominion until the attainment of Independence within the Commonwealth in 1964 and the declaration of a Republic ten years later.

Excavated Late Neolithic skulls from various hypogea/tombs in Malta and Gozo indicate a long-headed race presenting certain Armenoid features being thus representative of the Mediterranean race. All the skulls excavated from the various sites were reported as being Dolicocephalic. In comparison with modern Maltese skulls, the Neolithic material differs only by being consistently longer and narrower. The present hybrid and genetic make-up of the Maltese race is the result of the impact of history. The genetic mixture is primary Levantine with strong Greco-Roman and Arab influence. European blood, mainly Italian, Spanish and French, was assimilated in due course and the traces of Anglo-Saxon are the result of the long period of British rule.

The various circum-Mediterranean cultures have influenced various aspects of Maltese life, notably the language. The Maltese language, one in its own right, is basically a semitic off-shoot of Phoenician with a heavy infiltration of Arabic and the romance languages. One other aspect of this cultural influence reflects itself in the food pattern of the population. The Maltese kitchen is a very complex entity being a mixture of the Mediterranean, Western European and African way of nutrition. From a biological aspect of the food value, it seems that the Maltese took over from their neighbours the most disadvantageous nutritional habits: pasta, pizza and sweets from Southern Italy; spices and sugar for food preparation from North Africa; and saturated fats, soft drinks and small amount of fibre rich food from the Western civilization. Coupled with a low level of physical activity, the energy intake of the Maltese predisposes to obesity and abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism.

Demography

The Maltese population in the 2005 census stood at 404,039 with a male to female ratio of 0.99. A century previously (1881) the Maltese population stood at about 149,000 made up of 73,000 males and 76,000 females. Since 1842, when the first population census in a series of regular censuses was taken, there has been a more or less continuous growth of the population during each intercensal period except in 1911-1921 and 1957-1967, when the population decreased because of long-term migration to other countries. The sex-ratio of the population has always been characterised by an excess of females over males.

The age structure of the population has changed significantly since the Second World War (1939-1945). The immediate post-war period was characterised by a baby-boom which continued until 1957 when a drop in birth rate was documented. This fall in birth rate has persisted. The age structure now has a roughly pyramidal pattern of an increasing population where the crude birth rate [9.6 per 1000 population] is in excess of the crude death rate [7.8 per 1000 population]. There is little effect on the population from emigration-imigration patterns, making the Maltese population a relatively closed community with limited changes in the genetic pool.

Assuming the maintanance of average death and natality rates, and a zero migration, estimates of the population structure in the Maltese Islands can be worked out using standard methods of projections. Based on the 2005 census, the Maltese population is projected to grow by 1.0 per cent by the year 2015. These population changes will also alter the age structure of the population.

People and Government

The Maltese are predominantly Roman Catholic and speak a language similar in vocabulary to Arabic, although its alphabet and grammatical structure are derived from Latin. Both Maltese and English are official languages. Italian is widely spoken. Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. The University of Malta (1592) in Msida had approximately 2500 students in 1991.

 By the terms of the constitution of 1964, as substantially amended in 1974, Malta is a constitutional republic. The head of state is the president, who is appointed by parliament to serve for five years. Legislative authority is vested in the House of Representatives, composed of 65 members elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage on the basis of proportional representation. The head of government is a prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of parliament and responsible to the legislature. The prime minister is assisted by a cabinet.

Organisation of health services

The health of the Maltese population is the administrative responsibility of the Ministry for the Interior and Social Development, while the day-to-day running of the health service devolves primarily upon the Parliamentary Secretariat for Health and the Care of the Elderly. The Department of Health is a civil service structure and is headed by the Chief Government Medical Officer, who also functions as Superintendent of Public Health. Access to state health care is free-of-charge at all levels to all Maltese citizens, irrespective of their income or financial status.

Besides the Government health services, there is a widespread network of private medical services, including facilities for surgery, obstetric care and dentistry. A wide variety of laboratory and other investigative facilities are also available. Individuals from all levels of the social strata use "private" medical care often interchangeably with the state health service.

Seven state hospitals provide a total of 3200 beds, 1200 of which are designated for acute care (3.4 acute beds per 1000 population). Community care services are based around six health centres. These provide a variety of primary health care services including domiciliary visits by general medical practitioners, community nursing, midwifery care, physiotherapy, speech therapy, psychiatric social work, chiropody and a child psychological advisory service. A new hospital is scheduled to open sometime in 2007. This will serve as a general hospital replacing the current one. Health centres also provide certain specialist facilities such as clinics in dentistry, diabetes mellitus, psychiatry and child health. Perinatal care and certain preventive services such as immunisation facilities are also provided. The Department of Health is also responsible for industrial health and hygiene and the health of school children. A Health Education Unit was set up in 1982 in order to promote healthy lifestyles and to advise on the prevention and control of certain health hazards. Recent programmes were directed against tobacco smoking, inappropriate nutrition and AIDS.