1. The Maltese Islands

2. The Maltese archipelago lies virtually at the centre of the Mediterranean, with Malta 93km south of Sicily and 288km north of Africa.

3. The archipelago consists of three islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino with a total population of 400,000 inhabitants over an area of 316sq km and a coastline of 196.8km (not including 56.01 km for the island of Gozo).

4. Malta is the largest island and is the cultural, commercial and administrative centre.

5. Gozo is the second largest island and is more rural, characterised by fishing, tourism, crafts and agriculture while Comino is largely uninhabited.

6. Its capital is VallettaValletta

7. The largest city is Birkirkara.Birkirkara

8. MalteseMaltese is the national language and a co-official language, alongside English. English

9. IndependenceIndependence - from the United Kingdom21 September 1964 Republic- 13 December 1974

10. EUEU accession - 1 May 2004accession