Malta

Year of EU entry: 2004 Political system: Republic Capital city: Valletta Total area: 316 km² Population: 0.4 million Currency: Euro Official languages: Maltese , English

Malta is a group of seven islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Only the three largest islands - Malta, Gozo and Comino - are inhabited. The terrain is low and rocky with coastal cliffs.
Malta, in the heart of the Mediterranean, is a melting pot of civilisations with a history stretching back thousands of years. The country has been inhabited since around 5200 BC and a significant prehistoric civilisation existed on the islands prior to the arrival of the Phoenicians who named the main island Malat, meaning safe haven. Later the islands were for centuries the seat of the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John and then part of the British Empire. Malta became independent in 1964.

The Maltese government is headed by the leader of the party with a majority of seats in the unicameral House of Representatives, known in Maltese as Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti.

The national language is Maltese, which is part of the Semitic language family that includes Arabic. English is also recognised as an official language, and many Maltese also speak Italian.

Tourism is important in Malta but the island also has an expanding services sector.

Traditional Maltese food includes soup (minestrone, fish), pasta and pastry dishes. Stuffed dishes are also a feature of Maltese cuisine. Stuffat Tal-Fenek (rabbit stew) is a national dish.

Football is the most popular sport in Malta. The national stadium is called Ta' Qali Stadium. It is generally noted that the population tends to be split half and half with regards to supporting Italy or England in football, due to the cultural affinities of the island.

In Spain is very famous the football match played in1983 beetwen Spain and Malt wich Spain won with the score of 12-1

The national football team has won several matches over big opponents that reached the final phases in World Cups, such as Belgium, Hungary, and Greece.

Rugby union is popular in Malta, with the national men's team currently (May 2010) ranked 49th in the world – the second highest ranking that Malta holds in any international team sport after Table Football. The national squad was given a significant boost early in its history by inviting children of ex-patriate Maltese who had learned the sport in other, higher-level, countries (such as Australia and the U.K.) to improve the level of play. However, in recent years, the national team has included an increasing number of locally based players, while maintaining its position in the mid-rank of European rugby (currently ranked 22nd of 40 competing European nations).

In my opinion i´d like to live in Malt because it´s has a very good temperature during all the year and there are a lots of beach , i can´t speak Maltese but this isn´t a problem because everyone in malt can speaks English and Italian