World Country Malta

About the world country Malta, its location, size, population, and who is in power.

NATIONS OF THE WORLD

MALTA

Location: An island just south of Sicily (Italy), north of Libya, in the Mediterranean Sea. Size: 122 sq. mi. (316 sq. km.). Population: 338,000.

Who Really Rules: Socialist Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, whose Labor party holds a small majority in the House of Representatives, is leading Malta onto a path of nonalignment. In 1979 Britain closed its bases at Maltese request, and in 1980 Libyan military advisers were expelled from the small island republic. Malta offers its citizens a number of social programs and encourages foreign investment. Mintoff sees the island as an economic bridge between Europe and the Arab world.