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Facts & History

General Information
 Capital: Valletta
Area: 316km² (about 1/6 of Jeju Island, which is larger than Ganghwa Island)
Population: 415,000
Currency: Euro
Continent: Europe (just below the Italian Peninsula)
Official language: English, Maltese
Ethnic composition: 95% Maltese, 1% British. 4% other
State of religion: Catholic (98% of the population are Catholic)
 
History of Malta

The Republic of Malta is a small island country located in the central Mediterranean in southern Europe. The country's history, with its many large and small islands combined, began quite a long time ago.
 

Until the occupation of the island by Napoleon in 1798, the island was ruled by a religious order known as the Knights of Malta. Two years after the occupation, the British formally acquired the island from Napoleon. 

Malta remained a steadfast subject of the British Empire until the outbreak of World War I when the Maltese people gradually began to express resentment towards British domination. While the British government acceded to local autonomy in government at first, the riots of 1958 was a violent expression of the island nation's drive for independence.

 

Eventually,  Malta became independent in September 1964 and joined the British Commonwealth. Malta has a robust democracy protected by a constitution that calls for a presidential/parliamentary system of government. The president  is elected in a one-member parliament consisting of 65 members for a five-year term, and the leader of the majority party is nominated by the prime minister.

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