MALTA INFORMATION
MALTA INFORMATION
ABOUT MALTA
Malta is a small island in the middle of the 
Mediterranean Sea. The population of Malta is around 500,000 people. The flag of Malta is red with white and has a grey cross. One of the most interesting facts about the island is that it is shaped like a fish. Next to Malta is the island of Gozo. There is also an island named Comino; this is a very small rocky island. But every day the island is crowded with tourists!
Malta has many tourist attractions such as "Ħaġar Qim" and "Imdina".
Like other countries Malta has many traditional types of food such as the "Ä bejna" which is a type of cheese. 
Malta is also known for its festivals. Bands play, fireworks rattle and traditional food is sold. In summer the feasts never stop so you can say that the band is often playing.
Malta is the home country of the famous priest and saint, San Ä orÄ¡ Preca. He started giving catechism lessons to young people and, till this day, young people still attend catechism lessons. And not just in Malta!
There are many beaches to explore in Malta and Gozo such as ‘Ir-Ramla l-Ħamra’ in Gozo and ‘l-Għadira’ in Malta.
It does not snow in Malta, it only rains. So you can say that most of the time the weather is nice and sunny. Although Malta has cold weather, in summer the temperature can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. In winter it never drops below 1 degree Celsius. Tourists even go for a swim in winter!  
In Malta usually the summer heat stays for a little longer and then all of a sudden it starts to get colder.
The Maltese people like to go on holiday in Gozo, mostly in summer. Kids in Malta have 3 months of summer holidays because of the hot weather but when it comes to Christmas, the holidays are less.
Tourists also visit Gozo by travelling on a ship. The population of Gozo is only about 40,000 people; you might think it is a lot but it's actually a really small population. Most of the people who live in Gozo have to take a 20-minute trip to arrive to Malta to get to work. People who live in Gozo and have a job there can consider themselves very lucky.
Malta has a fantastic history. It has gone through a lot in the past years.
A well-known war that took place in Malta was the Great Siege. It is still remembered by the Maltese people to this day. In World War 1 Malta was known as ‘the nurse of the Mediterranean’ until World War 2 as it was heavily bombed by the Germans. There is also a lot to say about prehistory in Malta.
One of the gods that prehistoric people worshipped was known as ‘Il-Mara l-Ħoxna’. The statue of this god can be found in a museum. 
There are 7 temples made of rock. Before people used the sun to measure time. The temples are still standing to this day and people visit them to this day. 
Let me describe the history of Malta from the beginning.     
At around 5000 BC Malta was discovered. The people who discovered Malta built temples
and used to believe in different gods. They were people like us, we just do not know how they used to communicate because prehistory was before the story began to be written down. One day Saint Paul was shipwrecked on Malta; he introduced Christianity to the Maltese people. The Great Siege happened in 1565. Malta was ruled by the knights of Saint John and they fought against the Turkish people. These 2 groups were always enemies. The Turks wanted to take Malta to attack more places. The Maltese and the knights won this battle. During World War 1, Malta was ruled by the British. During World War 2, Malta was heavily bombed by the Germans. 
Malta has a traditional boat called the ‘Luzzu’. It is a very colourful boat used a lot by the Maltese people. Houses in Malta are built different; they are not made of wood, they are made of stone and since it does not snow in Malta almost all the Maltese people have a roof were they can get some fresh air and hang their clothes and let them dry. 
The only couple of houses that are made of wood are in a place called ‘Popeye Village’. This is the place where the famous film, ‘Popeye’, was filmed; now people go and visit this place for fun.
One of the main reasons that tourists come to Malta is because they want to see the culture of Malta and its buildings. Buildings in Malta are pretty chilly in winter.
The longest route in Malta is from Marsaxlokk to ÄŠirkewwa. This is where you need to go if you want to go to Gozo.
The Maltese language is made up of different languages mainly Arabic, Italian and English.
The traditional Maltese bird is known as the ‘Merrill’. Malta is also the place where the founder of the scouts Badin Powel went for his honeymoon with his wife Olive, who was the founder of the girl guides scouts.
The current President of Malta right now in 2024 is Myriam Spiteri Debono. The current prime minister is Robert Abela.
Did you know that in 2022 Malta’s students came first in the world in SuperTMatik? This is a game designed to practice mental Maths.
You can travel to Malta by using Malta's airline called ‘Air Malta’, and if you live in Sicily you can travel by boat.
It is a very good thing that tourists visit the islands as tourism is very important for the Maltese. Over 1 million tourists visit Malta every year. Apart from seeing the temples you can also go to the Capital city of Malta which is called Valletta. People love to go there!
Apart from old and important places there are plenty of nice towns like Mosta or Siġġiewi. Siġġiewi is a town surrounded by fields and has one of the biggest schools in Malta. It has a pool and a huge hall.
Young Maltese people can go to university; a lot go abroad to study as we only have one university in Malta.
Since the Maltese language is coming from Arabic lots of Arabic people understand Maltese.
In Malta school starts when you are at the age of 3 years not 6. 
Not many wild animals live in Malta, the only ones are in a place where everyone can go and  see them because jungles are not found in Malta. But you can go for a nice walk in nature.
Rivers are not a thing in Malta but we do have beaches. Some of them are rocky and some of them are sandy. The sandy beaches are usually bigger but in the rocky beaches you do not need to bring an umbrella as you will find some shade under a rock. But be careful to make sure that the rocks are safe to stay under.  
One of the traditional Maltese instruments is called the ‘żafżafa’. It is not however played in bands. Bands are a really common thing in Malta and young people can even attend music lessons.
 
A common Maltese snack is called ‘Twistees’. They are tasty and have a strange appearance. Maltese people eat them a lot.
The national anthem is really nice and was written by Dun Karm Psaila, the national poet of Malta. Here it is:
Lil din l-art helwa, l-Omm li tatna isimha,
Hares Mulej, kif dejjem Int harist:
Ftakar li lilha bl-ohla dawl libbist.
Aghti, kbir Alla, id-dehen lil min jahkimha,
Rodd il-hniena lis-sid, sahha 'l-haddiem:
Seddaq il-ghaqda fil-Maltin u s-sliem.
English:
Guard her, O Lord, as ever Thou hast guarded!
This Motherland so dear whose name we bear!
Keep her in mind, whom Thou hast made so fair!
May he who rules, for wisdom be regarded!
In master mercy, strength in man increase!
Confirm us all, in unity and peace!
In Malta we have two official languages, Maltese and English, children start learning them from a young age.
It is believed that in the past Malta was actually connected with Africa because of the bones found in a cave.
When it comes to books there are a bunch of Maltese books, one of them is called ‘Id-Denfil’. There are many Maltese authors such as Natalie Portelli, she wrote many Maltese books for children which people still read to this day.
Malta is also known for finding the cure to the disease called ‘Deni Rqiq’. This was a disease coming from goats’ milk. Now in Malta we have a company which gives us fresh milk. It is called ‘Benna’.
Two of the most popular shops in Malta are called ‘Pavi’ and ‘Pama’; people go to shop there every day.
If you are a tourist and want to explore the island of Malta, there are many things you can do like go on a boat trip or take a horse ride in Imdina. After a long day in Malta it is also nice to see the wonderful sunset.
You can find the word ‘Malta’ in the famous book called ‘The Diary of a Wimpy kid: The Meltdown’. For the Maltese it is pretty big thing because we rarely ever see the word ‘Malta’ written in a book.
A really interesting fact about Malta is that it is one of the few countries that people still drive on the left side of the rode, because of the British rule in Malta.
In Malta there are 359 churches (almost one for every day of the year).
In Malta there is very little crime so you can say that Malta is a safe place.
Malta has broken some records in the past, it has the record for gathering the most people dressed as characters from a story.
Do you know the numbers in Maltese from 1 till ten? Here are the numbers in Maltese:
One-wieħed
two-tnejn
three-tlieta
four-erbgħa
five-ħamsa
six-sitta
seven-sebgħa
eight-tmienja
nine-disgħa
ten-għaxra
Now let me tell you some colours:
red-aħmar
green-aħdar
blue-blu
pink-roża
yellow-isfar
Now let us have a look at a conversation in Maltese and translate it into English.
Matthias: Bonġu.
Matthias: Good Morning.
Victoria: Kif int?
Victoria: How are you?
Matthias: Tajjeb, grazzi.
Matthias: Fine, thank you.
Victoria: Ħa jkolli mmur, ċaw!
Victoria: I have to go, bye!
Did you see those letters that are only in Maltese?
Here they are: ċ, ġ, ħ, ż.
In Maltese there are also some other letters that are silent. Here they are: għ and h.
Now here are some examples of those letters in a word:
għ:
Maltese:
għasfur
English:
bird
h:
hija
English: she
Do you know how to actually say a sentence in Maltese?
Here is one:
Maltese:
Jiena jisimni Matthias u nħobb il-Matematika.
English:
My name is Matthias and I like Maths.
Do you know the months in Maltese?
Well here they are:
Jannar=January
Frar=February
Marzu=March
April = April
Mejju=May
Ä unju=June
Lulju=July
Awwissu=August
Settembru = September
Ottubru=October
Novembru=November
Diċembru=December
Pretty easy right?
For the British it is pretty easy because, as mentioned before, we have a lot of English words in the Maltese language. That is the proof!
Sadly the Maltese language is only spoken in Malta. Not like other languages, such as English or Spanish.  
Now you know all about the Maltese language. You can read conversations and much more.
In the island of Malta there are 10 school colleges with every school having a head and every college having a leader. In the island of Gozo there is only one college, because, as mentioned before, Gozo is a very small island.
In Malta we get a lot of products from abroad.
In Malta we have 2 companies that provide good internet, and as for companies that give us electricity we only have one.
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Some people call Malta as the Jewel of the Mediterranean.
During the night, from above, Malta looks just like a light bulb giving light because of it's size and the amount of people using light at night.
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Sadly football in Malta is not that common because the Maltese footballers don't have their job around football; it is a part-time job but in the really popular game FIFA, there are a few Maltese footballers.
Did you know that almost all Maltese people support either Italy or England during the World Cup?
There is even a school in Malta related to sports, they still do school work but they focus a lot on sports. Almost all the students want to get in, but to get in you need good grades and to be good in sports.
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Teddy Teuma (born 30 September 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Reims. Born in France, he plays for the Malta national team.
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Carmel Busuttil MQR (born 29 February 1964), nicknamed "Il-Bużu",[1] is a Maltese former professional footballer who played as a striker.
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There is never a natural disaster in Malta; if we do get an earthquake it does not damage our buildings. But right now (2022-2023) we are experiencing earthquakes repetitively. On the other hand tsunamis and stuff like that NEVER EVER happen in Malta. So we are safe!
Did you know that Malta never won the Eurovision song contest? They are the no. 1 country who took part the most times but never won!
In the year of 2023, 2 very famous people visited Malta, Robin Williams and Andre Rieu.
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We already talked about the national anthem. Here is a Maltese poem:
X’kien li laqqgħana f’din id-dar hekk ħiemda
Inti forsi ma tafx, għasfur lelluxi;
U anqa taf il-għaliex, meta jien noħroġ
Għax-xogħ’l fil-għodu, il-bieb niÄ¡bed warajja
U bil-moftieħ insakkru, u l-beda mixi
U l-ebda nifs ma tisma’, qabel narÄ¡a’
Indawwar il-moftieħ u nidħol jiena.
Aħjar għalik ma tafx; hekk ebda sehem
F’għommti ma tieħu, u bejn il-jiem u l-iljieli
Tgħaddi bla niket xejn il-ħajja tiegħek.
Kif jibda jroxx id-dawl narak tistenbaħ,
Għasfur lewn il-lellux, u ċ-ċkejkna rasek
Toħroġ minn taħt il-ġwienaħ fejn tkebbibha
Awl il-lejl, meta x-xemx tinżel u int tiskot
U titħejja biex torqod; dlonk tmedd riġlek
Fuq il-qasba ħdejn l-ieħor u titfarfar,
Tinżel tnaqqar xi qanba u fis il-ħlewwa
Ta’ leħnek tibda ddoqq Ä¡ewwa widnejja
Li kulma tmur titqawwa. Iżżiġġ u taqbeż
Bejn għanja u oħra u mal-ħadid li jagħalqek
Taqbad bir-rqaq difrejk, u terħi u tarÄ¡a’
Għal fuq qasba bla ma tehda ; u l-ħeffa
Ta’ riÄ¡lejk u Ä¡wenħajk, il-ħarsa, il-għanja
Juru li kulma fik hu hena u saħħa.
Bi ħlewwa li ma bħalha tħares lejja
Meta nersaq niex nagħalfek. Int tagħrafni,
Nifhmu wisq tajjeb; u għalhekk taħmilni,
Bla ma titnaffar xejn, niftaħ il-bieba
Tal-qafas tiegħek u l-kejliet inneħħi
Ta’ l-ikel u tax-xorb biex nimlihomlok ;
U b’għajta sħiħa, donnok trid tiżżini
Xi ħajr talli ħsibt fik, tarÄ¡a’ tilqagħni
Meta nagħlaq il-bieba u nerÄ¡a’ ndendlek
F’dik in-naħa tad-dar fejn bard ma jaħqrek
U ftit tax-xemx iżżurek. Għalxejn nersaq
Xi drabi ħiemed fuq subgħajn riġlejja
Biex naqbdek rieqed jew għażżien ; minn tlugħek,
Ja xemx, sa nżulek, l-ebda serħ u l-ebda
Għeja ma tagħmel bik. Xi Ä¡miel ta’ ħajja,
Tgħix bla ma taħseb x’ikun għada u liema
Għilt u ġlied qed isir barra minn darek!
Iżda ma ngħirx għalik, għasfur lelluxi,
Għalkemm ħajtek togħġobni. Iżjed fil-għoli
Mill-ħajja ta’ din l-art it-tama tiegħi.
Naf illi bosta drabi l-ħobż li niekol
Huwa mxarrab bid-dmugħ, u flok il-kelma,
Xi darba bla ma rrid, toħroġ tnehida,
Għaliex fejn żrajt il-ward kiber bil-kotra
Xewk u għolliq, u min bi mħabbtu safja
Sata’ jsabbarni, intemm qabli Ä¡o qabar;
Imma naf illi d-dmugħ miżrugħ fid-dinja
Irodd ferħ fis-smewwiet, u wara dina
Il-ħolma li ngħidulha ħajja, tiġi
Il-qawma mill-imwiet fid-dawl ta’ dejjem.
Hekk ngħixu mela t-tnejn, għasfur lelluxi :
Int hieni bik innifsek u bi mħabbti;
Jien bit-tama li f’qalbi Alla nissilli.
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Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you learned something new about Malta. Sorry if you noticed some spelling mistakes if you did contact us on this email right here. If you want a website made just for you contact here too:
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