Prehistory Malta has been inhabited from at least , with the arrival of
Mesolithic hunter-gatherers likely originating from Sicily. Discoveries at
Latnija Cave led by the Maltese archaeologist Eleanor Scerri included the remains of hearths, stone tools and an abundant and diverse range of animal bones. These included indigenous red deer that are now extinct, fish and marine mammals, as well as abundant edible marine
gastropods. To arrive on Malta, these hunter-gatherers had to cross around 100 km of open water, documenting the longest yet-known sea crossing by hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean. The extinction of the
dwarf hippos,
giant swans and
dwarf elephants has historically been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. However this seems unlikely since recent work suggests these animals went extinct many thousands of years before the arrival of the first people, and no such animals were found in association with the earliest known Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The Neolithic population on Malta grew
cereals, raised livestock and, in common with other ancient Mediterranean cultures, worshipped a
fertility figure.
megalithic temple complex A culture of
megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period. Around 3500 BC, these people built some of the oldest existing free-standing structures in the world in the form of the megalithic
Ġgantija temples on
Gozo; other early temples include those at
Ħaġar Qim and
Mnajdra. The temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex
trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BC. Tentative information suggests that
animal sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, whose statue is now in the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. Another archaeological feature of the Maltese Islands often attributed to these ancient builders is equidistant uniform grooves dubbed "cart tracks" or "cart ruts", which can be found in several locations throughout the islands, with the most prominent being those found in
Misraħ Għar il-Kbir ("Clapham Junction"). These may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone. The culture apparently disappeared from the islands around 2500 BC, possibly due to famine or disease. After 2500 BC, the Maltese Islands were depopulated for several decades until an influx of
Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that
cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called
dolmens. They are claimed to belong to a population certainly different from that which built the previous megalithic temples. It is presumed the population arrived from
Sicily because of the similarity of Maltese dolmens to some small constructions found there.
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans , at its greatest extent since the fall of the
Western Roman Empire (its
vassals in pink)).
Phoenician traders
colonised the islands under the name Ann (, ) as a stop on their trade routes from the eastern
Mediterranean to
Cornwall. Their seat of government was apparently at
Mdina, which shared the island's name; the primary port was at
Cospicua on the
Grand Harbour, which they called Maleth. During this time, the people on Malta mainly cultivated
olives and
carob and produced textiles. After the failure of his expedition, the island fell back in the hands of Carthage, only to be
conquered again during the
Second Punic War in by the
Roman consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Local Roman coinage, which ceased in the first indicates the slow pace of the island's Romanisation: the last locally minted coins still bear inscriptions in
Ancient Greek and Punic motifs, showing the resistance of the Greek and Punic cultures. In the second century, Emperor
Hadrian upgraded the status of Malta to a or free town: the island's local affairs were administered by four
duumvirs and a municipal senate, while a Roman
procurator living in
Mdina represented the
proconsul of Sicily. In 395, when the
Roman Empire was divided for the last time at the death of
Theodosius I, Malta, following Sicily, fell under the control of the
Western Roman Empire. During the
Migration Period as the
Western Roman Empire declined, Malta was conquered or occupied a number of times. Malta remained under the
Byzantine Empire until 870, when it was conquered by the
Arabs.
Arab period and the Middle Ages Malta became involved in the
Arab–Byzantine wars, and the conquest of Malta is closely linked with
that of Sicily that began in 827 after
Admiral Euphemius' betrayal of his fellow Byzantines, requesting that the
Aghlabids invade the island. The
Muslim chronicler and geographer
al-Himyari recounts that in 870, following
a violent struggle against the defending Byzantines, the Arab invaders, first led by Halaf al-Hadim, and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, pillaged the island, destroying the most important buildings, and leaving it practically uninhabited until it was recolonised by the Arabs from Sicily in 1048–1049. The
Arab Agricultural Revolution introduced new irrigation, cotton, and some fruits. The
Siculo-Arabic language was adopted on the island from Sicily; it eventually evolved into the
Maltese language.
Norman conquest returned Malta to Christian rule. The
Normans attacked Malta in 1091, as part of their
conquest of Sicily. The Norman leader,
Roger I of Sicily, was welcomed by Christian captives, Malta became part of the newly formed
Kingdom of Sicily, which also covered the island of Sicily and the southern
Italian Peninsula. Malta was declared a county and a
marquisate, but its trade was totally ruined. For a long time it remained solely a fortified
garrison. A mass expulsion of Arabs occurred in 1224, and the entire Christian male population of
Celano in Abruzzo was deported to Malta in the same year. or compelled to convert. For a brief period, the kingdom passed to the
Capetian House of Anjou, but high taxes made the dynasty unpopular in Malta, due in part to
Charles of Anjou's war against the Republic of Genoa, and the island of
Gozo was sacked in 1275. with the Aragonese aiding the Maltese insurgents in the
Sicilian Vespers in
the naval battle in
Grand Harbour in 1283. Relatives of the
kings of Aragon ruled the island until 1409 when it formally passed to the Crown of Aragon. Early on in the Aragonese ascendancy, the sons of the monarchs received the title
Count of Malta. During this time much of the local nobility was created. By 1397, however, the bearing of the comital title reverted to a feudal basis, with two families fighting over the distinction. This led King
Martin I of Sicily to abolish the title. The dispute over the title returned when the title was reinstated a few years later and the Maltese, led by the local nobility, rose up against Count
Gonsalvo Monroy. built in the
Baroque style On 23 March 1530,
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the islands to the
Knights Hospitaller under the leadership of Frenchman
Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, in perpetual lease for which they had to pay an annual
tribute of a single Maltese Falcon. These knights, a military religious order also known as the Order of St John and later as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of
Rhodes by the
Ottoman Empire in 1522.
The Knights Hospitaller ruled Malta and Gozo between 1530 and 1798. During this period, the strategic and military importance of the island grew greatly as the small yet efficient fleet of the
Order of Saint John launched their attacks from this new base targeting the shipping lanes of the Ottoman territories around the Mediterranean Sea. In 1551, the population of the island of
Gozo (around 5,000 people) were
enslaved by
Barbary pirates and taken to the
Barbary Coast in North Africa. on 21 August 1565 The knights, led by Frenchman
Jean Parisot de Valette, withstood the
Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565. After the siege they decided to increase Malta's
fortifications, particularly in the inner-harbour area, where the new city of
Valletta, named in honour of Valette, was built. They also established
watchtowers along the coasts – the
Wignacourt,
Lascaris and
De Redin towers – named after the Grand Masters who ordered the work. The Knights saw the completion of many architectural and cultural projects, including the embellishment of Città Vittoriosa (modern
Birgu) and the construction of new cities including Città Rohan (modern
Ħaż-Żebbuġ). However, by the late 1700s the power of the Knights had declined.
French period and British conquest in Valletta The Knights' reign ended when
Napoleon captured Malta on his way to
Egypt during the
French Revolutionary Wars in 1798. During 12–18 June 1798, Napoleon resided at the
Palazzo Parisio in Valletta. He reformed national administration with the creation of a Government Commission, twelve municipalities, a public finance administration, the abolition of all feudal rights and privileges, the
abolition of slavery and the granting of freedom to all
Turkish and
Jewish slaves. On the judicial level, a family code was framed and twelve judges were nominated.
Public education was organised along principles laid down by Bonaparte himself, providing for primary and secondary education. He then sailed for Egypt, leaving a substantial garrison in Malta. The French forces left behind became unpopular with the Maltese, due particularly to the French forces' hostility towards Catholicism and pillaging of local churches to fund war efforts. French financial and religious policies so angered the Maltese that they rebelled, forcing the French to depart. Great Britain, along with the
Kingdom of Naples and the
Kingdom of Sicily, sent ammunition and aid to the Maltese, and Britain also sent
its navy, which blockaded the islands. General
Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois surrendered his French forces in 1800.
British Empire and the Second World War , 1942 In 1814, as part of the
Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became a part of the British Empire and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters. After the
Suez Canal opened in 1869, Malta's position halfway between the
Strait of Gibraltar and Egypt proved to be its main asset, and it was considered an important stop on the way to India, a central trade route for the British. A
Turkish Military Cemetery was commissioned by
Sultan Abdul Aziz and built between 1873 and 1874 for the fallen Ottoman soldiers of the
Great Siege of Malta. Between 1915 and 1918, during the
First World War, Malta became known as
the Nurse of the Mediterranean due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were accommodated there. On 7 June 1919, the Maltese public rioted in response to a
cost-of-living crisis; British troops eventually managed to suppress the riots, killing four in the process. The event, known as
Sette Giugno ("7 June"), is commemorated every year and is one of five National Days. Until the
Second World War, Maltese politics was dominated by the
Language Question fought out by
Italophone and
Anglophone parties. Before the Second World War, Valletta was the location of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean fleet headquarters; however, despite
Winston Churchill's objections, the command was moved to
Alexandria, Egypt, in 1937 out of fear that it was too susceptible to air attacks from Europe. During the war, Malta played an important role for the
Allies; being a British colony, situated close to Sicily and the
Axis shipping lanes, Malta was bombarded by the Italian and German air forces. Malta was used by the British to launch attacks on the Italian Navy and had a submarine base. It was also used as a listening post, intercepting German radio messages including
Enigma traffic. The bravery of the Maltese people during the second
siege of Malta moved
King George VI to
award the George Cross to Malta on a collective basis on 15 April 1942. Some historians argue that the award caused Britain to incur disproportionate losses in defending Malta, as British credibility would have suffered if Malta had surrendered,
as British forces in Singapore had done. A depiction of the George Cross now appears on the
Flag of Malta and the country's
arms.
Independence and Republic in 2007. Malta achieved its independence as the
State of Malta on 21 September 1964 (
Independence Day). Under its 1964 constitution, Malta initially retained
Elizabeth II as
Queen of Malta and thus head of state, with a
governor-general exercising executive authority on her behalf. In 1971, the
Malta Labour Party led by
Dom Mintoff won the general elections, resulting in Malta declaring itself a republic on 13 December 1974 (
Republic Day) within the
Commonwealth. A defence agreement was signed soon after independence, and after being re-negotiated in 1972, expired on 31 March 1979 (
Freedom Day). Upon its expiry, the British base closed and lands formerly controlled by the British were given to the Maltese government. In the aftermath of the departure of the remaining British troops in 1979, the country intensified
its participation in the Non-Aligned Movement. Malta adopted a policy of
neutrality in 1980. In that same year, three of Malta's sites, including the capital
Valletta, were inscribed on the
UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1989, Malta was the venue of a
summit between US President
George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev, their first face-to-face encounter, which signalled the end of the
Cold War.
Malta International Airport was inaugurated and became fully operational on 25 March 1992, boosting the local aircraft and tourism industry. A
referendum on joining the European Union was held on 8 March 2003, with 53.65% in favour. Malta joined the
European Union on 1 May 2004 and the
eurozone on 1 January 2008. ==Geography==