The island in the middle : a summary of the history of Malta

Abstract

The total area of the Maltese Islands is 122 square miles (rather less than the area of the Isle of Wight). There are no important natural resources, the soil is not particularly fertile and over the last 1,000 years there has even been a shortage of water. Yet from the earliest times the archipelago has not only been at the centre of world events but has often played a critical part in them. Malta is approximately in the middle of the Mediterranean sea when measured from east to west. When measured from north to south it is approximately half way between Italy and the coast of North Africa. The ancients so called the Mediterranean Sea because it was at the middle of the world. It still is! We now know, of course, that the world is spherical and that in the Eastern Hemisphere (that with the International Dateline at its centre) Siberia and Alaska are less than 50 miles apart. In the Western hemisphere (that with the Meridian of Greenwich at its centre) Malta lies halfway between Central U.S.A. and Central Siberia. Certainly, the shortest way from New York to Moscow (other than via the North Pole, which in this age of nuclear missiles would be most easily defended) is via the Western hemisphere. Israel, having no natural source of power, makes electricity in a coal-fired power station; the coal is imported from Australia. Malta was the furthest point south that the Normans penetrated. [excerpt]