Culture of the Month : Malta (June 2007)

Every month, our Cultural Awareness prefects - Menen  Hailu and Eva Oppong - will bring to this page information and interesting facts about a particular culture. 

Malta is situated in the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and North Africa.




At one time there was a land bridge between Malta and Sicily.

Ancient Greeks and Romans called the island "Melita" - the island of honey.

The Temple at Ggantija on Gozo predates the Egyptian pyramids.

Malta's megalithic temples are older than England's Stonehenge.



A submerged archway and underwater structures have been found off the Maltese coast.

Channels have been found cut in the rock on Malta and in the waters along the coast. This has fuelled speculation that Malta might be the site for the legendary city of Atlantis. Plato, in an account about Atlantis, said that Atlantis consisted of nine rings of land surrounded by nine rings of water.

St Paul was shipwrecked on Malta in 60 AD. Paul converted the Governor of the island to Christianity.

The history of the eight-pointed "Maltese Cross" dates back to the Crusades when Christians fought the Saracens for the Holy Land. The Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem wore the symbol. As the Knights went to live on the island, the cross became known as the Maltese Cross.

The Knights of St John ruled the island of Malta from 1530 until 1798.

The University of Malta can trace its origins back to 1592.

When Napoleon and the French took over the island of Malta in 1798 an end was brought to the "Inquisition" which had been introduced by the Order of Knights in 1561.

In 1942, during the Second World War, the King of the UK awarded Malta the George Cross: "To honour her brave people I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history." King George VI.

  

Malta is a member of the Commonwealth.

• Malta has no natural resources, lakes or rivers.
• Malta's modern economy is based on tourism, shipbuilding and light industry.
• Over 350,000 people live in Malta, most crowded on the north-east side of the island.
• Malta’s main exports are electronic products and components, switchgear, automotive parts, plastic and rubber products for industrial and non-industrial applications, medical products and equipment, services to the oil and gas industries, ship building and ship repair services, as well as an assortment of high quality consumer goods and services.
• Maltese food is mainly seafood and vegetables.

Other Cultures of the Month:

May 2007 - Ghana