Portal:Malta
The Malta Portal
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a small island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands (Malta, Gozo (Għawdex) Comino (Kemmuna) Filfla, Cominotto (Kemmunett) Manoel, Selmunett (St.Paul's Islands)) in the Mediterranean Sea. A country of Southern Europe, Malta lies south of Sicily, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The country's official languages are Maltese and English. Roman Catholicism is the most practised religion. The islands constituting the Maltese nation have been ruled by various powers and fought over by many states for centuries. Malta has been a member state of the European Union (EU) since 2004 and it is currently the smallest EU country both in population and in area.
Selected Article
The SS Ohio was an oil tanker. When built for the Texas Oil Company (now Texaco), she was the largest oil tanker in the world. She was launched on April 20, 1940 at Sun Shipbuilding Yard in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. SS Ohio was capable of doing over 16 knots (30 km/h) at sea. Ohio was the most important survivor of Operation Pedestal, a convoy sent to Malta in August 1942 during the Second World War. During the convoy's journey she was torpedoed by Italian submarine Axum and hit several times by bombs, and by a Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber which crashed onto her deck. With a wrecked engine room and nearly broken in half, she was abandoned and reboarded twice but was eventually towed into Grand Harbour whilst sandwiched between two destroyers (HMS Penn and Ledbury) to deliver most of her original cargo of 12,000 tons of diesel and kerosene to the beleaguered island. Her captain, Dudley William Mason, was subsequently awarded the George Cross. After Ohio reached Malta, the ship broke in two from the damage it had sustained. There were insufficient shipyard facilities to repair the tanker, so the two halves were used for storage, and later barracks facilities for Yugoslavian troops. On 19 September 1946, the two halves were towed ten miles (16 km) off the coast, and sunk with naval gunfire. The aft section sank first, followed by the forward half. (more...) Selected Locality Żabbar (or Ħaż-Żabbar) is the fifth largest town in Malta, with a population of 14,694. Originally a part of Żejtun, Żabbar was granted the title of Città Hompesch by the last of the Grandmasters of the Knights of St. John to reign in Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim. The Grandmaster gave his surname to the city, which is still known (in honorem) as Città Hompesch. The name of the city probably derives from the Maltese word 'niżbor', the process of pruning trees. Indeed, a number of families who specialised in żbir, this process, are known to have lived in the vicinity of this village during the Middle Ages. (more...) Selected Picture Photo credit: Philip Serracino Inglott
The Sopu Tower is situated at the edge of a cliff between San Blas Bay and Dahlet Qorrot Bay. It was built in 1667 by Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner to guard this part of Gozo from the warships of the Turks who at that time sailed between Gozo and Sicily. The tower is unique in its kind in Gozo. It resisted the incursions of the French troops on 10th June 1798, who landed on this part to capture Gozo. Did you know
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