Location: Southern Europe, islands in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily (Italy)

Geographic coordinates: 35 50 N, 14 35 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total : 320 sq km
land: 320 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 140 km

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
highest point: Dingli Cliffs 245 m

Natural resources: limestone, salt

Land use:
arable land: 38%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: NA%
forests and woodland : NA%
other: 59% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified : Biodiversity, Desertification

Geography - note: the country comprises an archipelago, with only the three largest islands (Malta, Gozo, and Comino) being inhabited; numerous bays provide good harbors

Population: 397,499 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years : 19.7% (male 40,609; female 37,882)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 135,047; female 133,207)
65 years and over: 12.8% (male 21,215; female 29,539) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate:0.73% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 12.76 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 7.77 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years : 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.26 years
male: 75.78 years
female:80.96 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2002 est.)

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)

Religions: Roman Catholic 98%

Languages: Maltese (official), English (official)

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

Data code: MT

Government type: parliamentary democracy

National 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; has accepted 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 GONZI (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 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: unicameral House of Representatives (usually 65 seats; note - additional seats are given to the party with the largest popular vote to ensure a legislative majority; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
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, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NACC (observer), NAM, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador George SALIBA
chancery: 2017 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 462-3611, 3612
FAX : [1] (202) 387-5470
consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Anthony H. GIOIA
embassy: 2nd Floor, Development House, Saint Anne Street, Floriana, Malta
mailing address: P. O. Box 535, Valletta
telephone : [356] 235960
FAX: [356] 223322

Flag description: two equal vertical bands of white (hoist side) and red; in the upper hoist-side corner is a representation of the 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 and is expected to complete EU accession negotiations in 2002. The island is divided politically, however, over the question of joining the EU.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $5.95 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 25.5%
services : 71.7% (1999)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 2.8% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
total : 147,700 (2000)
by occupation: industry 24%, services 71%, agriculture 5% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (2000)

Budget:
revenues : $1.5 billion
expenditures: $1.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000)

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

Industrial production growth rate: -NA%

Electricity - capacity: 405,000 kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 1.75 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita:1.628 billion kWh (2000)

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

Exports:
total value: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, clothing and footware, printed matter
partners: US 27.3%, Germany 9.6%, France 8%, UK 7.3%, Italy 3.4% (2000)

Imports:
total value: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
commodities: food, petroleum, machinery and semimanufactured goods
partners: France 19.2%, Italy 16.3%, US 10.7%, UK 8.1%, Germany 8.1% (2000)

Debt - external: $130 million (1997)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 Maltese lira (MTL) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Maltese liri per US dollar - 0.4542 (January 2002), 0.4499 (2001), 0.4376 (2000), 0.3994 (1999), 0.3885 (1998), 0.3857 (1997)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Telephones: 187,000 (1997)

Telephone system: 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)

Radio broadcast stations:AM 1, FM 18, shortwave 6 (1999)

Radios: 255,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 6 (2000)

Televisions: 280,000 (1997)

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total : 1,742 km
paved: 1,677 km
unpaved: 65 km (1997)

Ports and harbors: Marsaxlokk, Valletta

Merchant marine:
total : 1,323 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 27,208,819 GRT/44,617,877 DWT
ships by type: bulk 440, cargo 334, chemical tanker 54, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 12, container 75, liquefied gas 4, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 270, refrigerated cargo 39, roll on/roll off 45, short-sea passenger 9, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 17
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 4, Austria 6, Bangladesh 1, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 19, Canada 2, China 16, Croatia 14, Cuba 1, Cyprus 7, Denmark 3, Estonia 5, Finland 1, Germany 54, Greece 627, Hong Kong 12, Iceland 3, India 10, Iran 2, Israel 26, Italy 36, Japan 2, Latvia 24, Lebanon 6, Monaco 29, Netherlands 10, Nigeria 2, Norway 43, Poland 29, Portugal 2, Romania 15, Russia 85, Saudi Arabia 1, Slovenia 2, South Korea 5, Spain 1, Switzerland 54, Syria 4, Turkey 84, Ukraine 25, United Arab Emirates 3, United Kingdom 4, United States 10 (2002 est.)

Airports: 1 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
over 3,047 m : 1 (2001)

Military branches: Armed Forces, Maltese Police Force

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49 : 99,107 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 78,909 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $60 million (2000 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.7% (2000)

Disputes - international: None

Illicit drugs: minor transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Western Europe