The Republic of Malta comprises a small but important group of islands in the central Mediterranean. Throughout a long and turbulent history, the archipelago has played a vital role in the struggles of a succession for domination of the Mediterranean and in the interplay between emerging Europe and the older cultures of Africa.

Maltese society was molded by centuries of foreign rule, with influences ranging from Arab to Norman to English. Malta has a population of over 380,000 and there are 1,300 people living in every square km.

This makes Malta the second densest country in the world after Honk Kong.
There are five islands-- Malta (the largest), Gozo, Comino, and uninhabited Kemmunett (Comminotto) and Filfla--lying some 58 miles (93 km) south of Sicily, and about 180 miles east of Tunisia, at the eastern end of that constricted portion of the Mediterranean Sea separating Italy from Africa.

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