According to allcitycodes, the archipelago of Malta is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, 93 km S of Sicily and 288 km N of Tunisia, and includes the islands of Malta, Gozo (Ghawdex), Comino (Kemmuna) and some minor uninhabited islets.. It emerges from an underwater platform, which extends from the southern end of Sicily towards Africa, in a position of great strategic interest for the control of the routes between the western and eastern Mediterranean basins. This geographical situation has made Malta, a land of ancient civilization, the meeting point of different cultural influences: from Arabic to Italian and Spanish, from French to English; the imprint left in the country by the long British rule (1814-1964) is particularly evident. The name Malta probably owes its origin to the Phoenician word melet, which means “paradise”.
World Heritage Sites
- City of Valletta (1980)
- Ġgantija Temple Complex (1980)
- Hypogeum by Ħal Saflieni (1980)
Order of Malta
Order of Malta, officially sovereign knight and hospital order of St. John of Jerusalem, called by Rhodes and Malta, since its enfeoffment with Malta (1530), short name for the Order of St. John (today name for the evangelical branch, restored in 1852 as an independent spiritual knightly order). The seat of the Order of Malta has been Rome since 1834. In 1879 Pope Leo XIII. the vacancy since the loss of Malta (1798 by French conquest) grandmaster was restored. The 1961 constitution was revised in 1997.
The Order of Malta has a dual nature as a subject of international law and as an ecclesiastical order. The Order of Malta maintains diplomatic relations with 105 countries and international organizations. Since 1993 he has been admitted as a permanent observer by the UN General Assembly.
The legislative power of the Order rests – with the exception of questions of the Order’s constitution – with the Grand Master, elected for life, and the Sovereign Council, consisting of ten Knights. The highest order assembly – responsible for constitutional questions – is the general chapter. The executive rests with the Sovereign Council, presided over by the Grand Master. The Order of Malta has its own jurisdiction and issues its own stamps and coins. The members of the Order of Malta are divided into three classes. The Grand Master is elected from the first estate whose members have taken the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. The members of the second estate make a binding promise of obedience,
The Order of Malta is v. a. active in medical and social fields and providing humanitarian aid. It is active in charities in over 120 countries and supports aid organizations in over 30 countries; in Germany of the Malteser-Hilfsdienst e. V., in Austria of the “Malteser Hospitaldienst Austria” and in Switzerland of the “Malteser Hospitaldienst-Schweiz”.
Today (2018) the Order of Malta has around 13,500 members (knights and ladies) and is divided into six major priorities, six subpriorities and 47 national associations worldwide. The branch of the German order, which was dissolved in the secularization, was revived through the establishment of the “Genossenschaft Rheinisch-Westphalian Maltese Knights of Devotion” (1859) and the “Association of Silesian Knights of Malta” (1867). In 1993 both of them merged to form the “German Association of the Sovereign Order of Malta”. In Austria, the Order of Malta is represented by the Grand Priory of Austria, which was not abolished by secularization, and in Switzerland by the Swiss Association founded in 1961.
Gozo
Gozo [ gə ʊ tsə ʊ, English], maltese Għaudex [ audε ʃ ], Italian Gozzo, island in the Mediterranean, part of Malta, 69 km 2, with the island of Comino (2.6 km 2) 31 700 residents; The main town is the bishopric Victoria (6,200 residents); Vegetable, fruit and wine growing, fishing, tourism; Ferry service to the main island of Malta.
The Azure Window, a rock gate on the west coast created by erosion, was the island’s landmark; it collapsed completely on March 8, 2017 after violent storms. The temple complex Ġgantija (4th millennium BC) in the interior of the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Valletta
Valletta [ v- ], capital of the Republic of Malta, on a rocky headland on the northeast coast, with (2017) 5,800 residents.
Planned as a fortress and residence city, Valletta has important buildings from the 16th century, including St. John’s Cathedral, the Palace of the Grand Masters and the houses of the Knights of the Order; the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Valletta was founded in 1566 under the Grand Master of the Order of St. John Jean Parisot de la Valletta (1494–1568) as the capital of the island given to the order. It has been the Maltese capital since 1964.
