Background: Great Britain formally acquired possession of Malta in 1814. The island staunchly supported the UK through both World Wars and remained in the Commonwealth when it became independent in 1964. A decade later Malta became a republic. Over the last 15 years the island has become a major freight transshipment point financial center and tourist destination. It is an official candidate for EU membership.

Geographic coordinates: 35 50 N 14 35 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 316 km²
Land: 316 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Washington DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 196.8 km (does not include 56.01 km for the island of Gozo)

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 25 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: Mediterranean with mild rainy winters and hot dry summers

Terrain: mostly low rocky flat to dissected plains; many coastal cliffs

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
Extremes highest point: Ta'Dmejrek 253 m (near Dingli)

Natural resources: limestone salt arable land

Land use
Arable land: 32%
Permanent crops: 3%
Permanent pastures: 0%
Forests and woodland: 4%
Other: 61% (2000 est.)

Irrigated land: 11.45 km² (2000 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: the country comprises an archipelago with only the three largest islands (Malta Ghawdex or Gozo and Kemmuna or Comino) being inhabited; numerous bays provide good harbors; Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries particularly for oil exploration

Population: 394,583 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: 0.74% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Maltese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Maltese

Ethnic groups: Maltese (descendants of ancient Carthaginians and Phoenicians with strong elements of Italian and other Mediterranean stock)

Languages: Maltese (official) English (official)

Religions: Roman Catholic 91%

Age structure
0-14 years: 19.98% (male 40,791; female 38,062)
15-64 years: 67.49% (male 133,914; female 132,402)
65 years and over: 12.53% (male 20,643; female 28,771) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.74% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 12.75 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.74 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.37 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

Environment
Current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.09 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.07 male/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.83 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.1 years
Male: 75.64 years
Female: 80.79 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.92 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.52% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 10 and over can read and write
Total population: 88.76%
Male: 86.91%
Female: 89.55% (1995 census)

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Malta
Conventional short form: Malta
Local long form: Repubblika ta' Malta
Local short form: Malta

Government type: republic

Capital: Valletta

Administrative divisions: none (administered directly from Valletta)

Independence: 21 September 1964 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day 21 September (1964)

Constitution: 1964 constitution substantially amended on 13 December 1974

Legal system: based on English common law and Roman civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Guido DE MARCO (since 4 April 1999)
Head of government: Prime Minister Eddie FENECH ADAMI (since 6 September 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence GONZE (since 4 April 1999)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
Elections: president elected by the House of Representatives for a five-year term; election last held NA April 1999 (next to be held by NA April 2004); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president for a five-year term; the deputy prime minister is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
Election results: Guido DE MARCO elected president; percent of House of Representatives vote - 54%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 5 September 1998 (next to be held by September 2003)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PN 51.8%, MLP 46.9%, AD 1.2%; seats by party - PN 35, MLP 30

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister

Political parties and leaders: Alternativa Demokratika/Alliance for Social Justice or AD [Harry VASSALLO]; Malta Labor Party or MLP [Alfred SANT]; Nationalist Party or PN [Edward FENECH ADAMI]

International organization participation: C CCC CE EBRD ECE EU (applicant) FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IFAD IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Inmarsat Intelsat Interpol IOC IOM (observer) ISO ITU NAM OPCW OSCE PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCL WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador George SALIBA
In the us chancery: 2017 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 462-3,611, 3,612
In the us fax: [1] (202) 387-5,470
In the us consulates: New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador George SALIBA
From the us embassy: 3rd Floor, Development House, Saint Anne Street, Floriana, Malta VLT 01
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 535, Valletta, Malta, CMR 01
From the us telephone: [356] 235,960 through 235,965
From the us fax: [356] 243,229

Flag description: two equal vertical bands of white (hoist side) and red; in the upper hoist-side corner is a representation of the Saint George Cross edged in red

Economy overview: Major resources are limestone a favorable geographic location and a productive labor force. Malta produces only about 20% of its food needs has limited freshwater supplies and has no domestic energy sources. The economy is dependent on foreign trade manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles) and tourism. Malta is privatizing state-controlled firms and liberalizing markets in order to prepare for membership in the European Union. However the island is divided politically over the question of joining the EU. The sizable budget deficit remains a key concern.

Real gdp growth rate: 3.4% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $14,300 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.8%
Industry: 25.5%
Services: 71.7% (1999)

Agriculture products: potatoes cauliflower grapes wheat barley tomatoes citrus cut flowers green peppers; pork milk poultry eggs

Industries: tourism; electronics ship building and repair construction; food and beverages textiles footwear clothing tobacco

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 145,901 (1999)
By occupation industry: 24%
By occupation services: 71%
By occupation agriculture: 5% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (3rd Quarter 2000)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $1.6 billion
Expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $265.4 million (1999)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.5% (2000 est.)

Exports: $2 billion (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactures
Partners: US 21.4% France 15.2% Germany 12.6% UK 9.3% Italy 4.9% (1999)

Imports: $2.6 billion (f.o.b. 1999)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment manufactured and semi-manufactured goods; food drink and tobacco
Partners: France 19.1% Italy 16.7% UK 10.9% Germany 10.0% US 8.5% (1999)

Debt external: $130 million (1997)

Exchange rates: Maltese liri per US dollar - 0.4370 (January 2001) 0.4376 (2000) 0.3994 (1999) 0.3885 (1998) 0.3857 (1997) 0.3604 (1996)

Electricity
Production: 1.65 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (1999)
Consumption: 1.534 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 0 kWh (1999)
Imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 187,000 (1997)
Mobile cellular: 17,691 (1997)

Telephone system
General assessment: automatic system satisfies normal requirements
Domestic: submarine cable and microwave radio relay between islands
International: 2 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .mt
Service providers isps: 2 (2000)
Users: 40,000 (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $201 million (FY98)
Percent of gdp: 5.5% (FY98)

Airports: 1 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Railways: 0 km

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 1,414 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 28,191,090 GRT/46,773,603 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 443, cargo 394, chemical tanker 48, combination bulk 12, combination ore/oil 14, container 69, liquefied gas 2, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large-load carrier 2, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 296, refrigerated cargo 37, roll on/roll off 50, short-sea passenger 15, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 18
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 1, Bermuda 1, Belgium 1, Bangladesh 2, Bulgaria 11, China 7, Costa Rica 1, Cuba 2, Cyprus 15, Denmark 1, Estonia 2, Finland 1, Germany 23, Greece 258, Hong Kong 3, Croatia 9, Hungary 1, India 2, Israel 2, Italy 17, South Korea 1, Lebanon 2, Latvia 2, Lithuania 1, Monaco 14, Nigeria 1, Netherlands 10, Norway 31, Poland 8, Romania 3, Russia 39, Singapore 6, Spain 3, Sweden 3, Syria 1, Switzerland 25, UAE 2, Turkey 24, UK 8, Ukraine 9, US 9, Venezuela 1, Vietnam 1 (2000 est.)

Disputes international: none