Malta with its sister islands of Gozo and Comino form the Maltese archipelago. Situated virtually at the center of the Mediterranean Sea with Malta 93km south of Sicily and 288km north of Africa it is at the crossroads of shipping lanes joining Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The archipelago has a total population of 400,000 inhabitants over an area of 316 sq km and has a coastline of 252.81 km. Malta is the largest island and the cultural, commercial and administrative center. Gozo is the second largest island and is more rural, charicterised by fishing, tourism, crafts and agriculture while Comino is largely uninhabited.

Due to it strategic position in the centre of the Mediterranean The Malta brings together a cross fertilization of styles and tradition which is very representative of the region.

Its political and economically stable environment, backed up by a strong legal and financial system Malta has seen its tourism and financial industries grow from strength to strength.

General Information

Time in Malta is 1 hour ahead of Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT) and in line with Central European Time (CET).

The currency is the Euro (€)

The offical languages are Maltese and English.

The capital city is Valletta

Climate

The Islands have a very sunny climate with a daily average of five to six hours sunshine in mid-winter to around 12 hours in summer.

Winters are mild, with the occational short chilly periods whereas summers are hot, dry and very sunny. Day-time tempertures in summer are often mitigated by cooling sea breezes, but in spring and autumn a very hot wind from Africa occasionally brings unseasonably high tempertures and humidity.

Annual rainfall is low, averaging 586mm a year, and the length of the dry season in summer is long.

Air Transport