Malta - Key Characteristics
Located in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Sicily, the Maltese archipelago consists of three islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. The area of the Maltese Islands is 316 km2.
The largest island of the group is Malta which has a population of approximately 375,000. Valletta, the capital, is the cultural, administrative and commercial centre of the archipelago. Malta is well served with harbours, chief of which is the Valletta Grand Harbour. Malta's international airport is situated five kilometres from the capital.
Malta’s strategic location has allowed Malta to develop as an important trading post. The Malta Freeport is one of the Mediterranean's leading ports for container transhipments.
Malta has no mountains or rivers. A series of low hills with terraced fields on the slopes characterise the Island. Malta is an important tourist resort, largely due to its temperate climate of really only two seasons - the dry summer season and the mild winter season.
Possessing few indigenous raw materials and a very small domestic market, Malta based its economic development on the promotion of tourism and labour-intensive exports. Recently the importance of services and capital-intensive exports has been increasing dramatically. Since the mid-1980s, expansion in these activities has been the principal reason for strong growth in the Maltese economy. Malta became a member of the European Union in 2004.