The population of Malta in the post-war period

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to give a detailed account of the demographic problem in the Maltese Islands, in the post-war period 1946-1960, and to attempt a scientific analysis of the social and economic causes which give rise to this problem, which in its turn creates social and economic results. These are likewise examined in this dissertation; which ends with a serious discussion of the various solutions devised to mitigate this grave problem of overpopulation in the Maltese archipelago – one of the most densely populated parts of Europe. But before embarking on the implementation of the above aim, it is worth while to depict briefly the problem of overpopulation in the world at large so as to form an overall picture of the situation, and thus be in a better position to understand the significance of Maltese overpopulation, in relation to world population. Every year 45 million more people inhabit the Earth, and thus the world population which was estimated at about 1,600 millions at the beginning of this century, is expected to reach the 5,500 million level by the end of the century. The ‘population explosion’ of this century has occurred and is occurring mainly in the underdeveloped countries of the world. In these countries, the death rate has been reduced drastically by the medical achievements which have helped to wipe out disease and the causes of them; to reduce infant mortality; and to prolong the life of those who, until this century, could not normally expect to live long. But while the death rate has sharply decreased, the birth rate has remained high – and thus, it is expected that by 2000 A.D. there will be as many people in the countries of the Far East, as there are at present in the whole world. As a matter of fact, there are about 130,000 more people to be fed every day, and this involves a problem of food resources. In fact, overpopulation prompts two main questions to the analysing mind: is the world filling up at a dangerous rate? Is the world capable of feeding all its population? These questions may be briefly dealt with here. The pessimists, such as Sir Julian Huxley, maintain that there are no longer any empty spaces to take the overspill of densely populated countries. But when we examine the distribution of the people over the world, we find facts which are diametrically opposed to Huxley’s statement. Indeed, there need not be any real worry the world ‘filling up’, when we know that the present population of the world could all be put on the Isle of Wight only; that China is using only 10% of the her land surface; that Australia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world; that the United States ha a population density of 53 persons per square mile, while Central America and South America have a population density of 40 and 17 per square mile; that the continent of Africa has likewise a density population of 17 persons per square mile. These figures should be understood in the context of the number of persons per square mile in other countries. Holland has a density of 900 persons to the square mile and Malta has a population density of 2600 persons per square mile. […]