The country, Malta, which is formally known as the Republic of Malta, is an island on the Mediterranean Sea. Funnily enough it consists of three smaller islands, one of which is also known as ‘Malta’. It does have other islands, seven to be exact, but only the three mentioned above are populated. These three are known as Malta, Gozo and Comino.

The island country, Malta is surrounded by Sicily, Tunisia and Libya, in the south, east and north respectively. The main languages of the country are Maltese and English, while Roman Catholicism is the main religion followed here. Even though it had been under various nations, it is nearly three years since Malta has been an independent affiliate of the European Union. All the same, it is the smallest affiliate as well. A part of the British Commonwealth, Malta has for its capital Valletta. Other than Valletta and the ones already mentioned, Malta has three more islands. These go by the names of Filfla, Cominotto and St. Paul’s Island.

Malta has in its favor several bays along its sunken seashore, which in turn offer excellent harbors and anchorages. It has little hills, which are adorned with fields on which terrace farming is practiced. The uppermost peak is at Ta' Dmejrek near Dingli, on Malta Island (253 meters). Even Malta is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and even though it is an island country, it has no rivers running through it, unless those which are formed during periods of heavy rain. However there is a channel, which lies in the north. This channel is known as the Malta Channel, which serves the singular purpose of simply separating Malta from Sicily in Italy.

Malta experiences the Mediterranean climate. As a result it has gentle, wet winters and warm, dried up summers. Even though the plants are not seasonal and grow all the time, excessively hot and cold weather may lead to the death of the plants, and so vegetation is not always seen to be flourishing in Malta. Thus there are only two main seasons –the summer and the winter for the plants and the tourists alike. Sometimes during the sultry summer, water becomes a problem. This is a huge hassle as there is no rain and it is very hot. It leads to dehydration too. Thus Malta, as of now, does not have all the modern facilities of the top countries of the world, which can be easily explained, due to its geographical location.

Tourists might also want to know the fact that Malta is popular as it is the fourth southernmost country in the whole of Europe. However the other southernmost points-France, Spain and Greece-are so much more modern, that this does not do much to attract tourist. However Malta has a charm of its own which these stereotypical countries will find hard to possess.