1988 Edition

Climate

Mediterranean with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers

Coastline

140 km

Comparative area

about twice the size of Washington, D.C.

Contiguous zone

24 nm

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation

Environment

numerous bays provide good harbors

Exclusive fishing zone

25 nm

Infant mortality rate

11.2/1,000 (1984)

Labor force

121,686 (1984); 30% services (except government), 24% manufacturing, 21% government (except job corps), 8% construction, 5% utilities and drydocks, 4% agriculture; 8.7% registered unemployed (August 1986)

Land use

38% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 59% other; includes 3% irrigated

Language

Maltese and English (official)

Life expectancy

73

Literacy

83%

Member of

AfDB, APC, CEAO, EGA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, QIC, OMVS (Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Organized labor

about 40% of labor force

Special notes

strategic location in central Mediterranean, 93 km south of Sicily, 290 km north of Libya

Terrain

mostly low, rocky, flat to dissected plains; many coastal cliffs

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

320 km2; land area: 320 km2

Ethnic divisions

mixture of Arab, Sicilian, Norman, Spanish, Italian, English

Nationality

noun — Maltese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Maltese

Population

361,704 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.66%

Religion

98% Roman Catholic

Administrative divisions

2 main populated islands, Malta and Gozo, divided into 13 electoral districts (divisions)

Branches

executive, consisting of Prime Minister and Cabinet; unicameral legislature (65-member House of Representatives); independent judiciary

Capital

Valletta

Communists

less than 100 (est.)

Elections

at the discretion of the Prime Minister, but must be held before the expiration of a five-year electoral mandate; last election December 1981 Political parties and leaders: Nationalist Party, Edward Fenech Adami; Malta Labor Party, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici

Government leaders

Agatha BARBARA, President (since February 1982); Karmenu MIFSUD BONNICI, Prime Minister (since December 1984)

Legal system

based on English common law; constitution adopted 1961, came into force 1964; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

Commonwealth, Council of Europe, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, NAM, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Freedom Day, 31 March

Official name

Republic of Malta

Suffrage

universal over age 18; registration required

Type

parliamentary democracy, independent republic within the Commonwealth since December 1974

Voting strength

(1981 election) House of Representatives— Labor, 34 seats (49% of the vote); Nationalist, 31 seats (51% of the vote)

Agriculture

millet, sorghum, rice, corn, peanuts; cash crops — peanuts, cotton, livestock

overall, 20% self-sufficient; main products — potatoes, cauliflower, grapes, wheat, barley, tomatoes, citrus, cut flowers, green peppers, hogs, poultry, eggs; generally adequate supplies of vegetables, poultry, milk, and pork products; seasonal or periodic shortages in grain, animal fodder, fruits, other basic foodstuffs

Budget

revenues, $475 million; expenditures, $486 million (1984 est.)

Electric power

92,000 kW capacity; 161 million kWh produced, 20 kWh per capita (1986)

217,000 kW capacity; 835 million kWh produced, 2,360 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$174.5 million (f.o.b., 1985); livestock, peanuts, dried fish, cotton, skins

$399.8 million (f.o.b., 1985); clothing, textiles, ships, printed matter -

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Fishing

catch 33,000 tons (1983 est.)

GDP

$1.1 billion, $150 per capita (1983); 4.4% annual real growth rate (1982)

$1.4 billion, $3,920 per capita; 68.9% private consumption, 27.4% gross investment; 17.4% government consumption, — 15.2% net foreign sector; change in stocks 1.0%; 3.1% real GDP growth (1985)

Imports

$294.6 million (f.o.b., 1985); textiles, vehicles, petroleum products, machinery, sugar, cereals

$756.7 million (c.i.f., 1985)

Major industries

small local consumer goods and processing

tourism, ship repair yard, clothing, building industry, food manufacturing, textiles

Major trade partners

mostly franc zone and Western Europe; also with USSR,

74% EC (24% Italy, 22% FRG, 17% UK); 6% US

Monetary conversion rate

2.62 Maltese lira=US$l (November 1986)

Natural resources

gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone; bauxite, iron ore, manganese, lithium, and uranium deposits are known or suspected but not exploited

limestone, salt

Shortages

most consumer and industrial needs (fuels and raw materials) must be imported

Airfields

1 total, 1 usable with permanent-surface runways 2,440-3,659 m

Branches

Armed Forces, Police, Task Force, Paramilitary Dejima Force

Civil air

8 major transport aircraft

Highways

1,291 km total; 1,179 km paved (asphalt), 77 km crushed stone or gravel, 35 km improved and unimproved earth

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1984, $12.2 million; about 2.5% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 98,000; 79,000 fit for military service

Ports

2 major (Valletta, Marsaxlokk is under development), 1 secondary, 1 minor

Telecommunications

modern automatic system centered in Valletta; 125,000 telephones (34.6 per 100 popl.); 7 AM, 4 FM, 2 TV stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable Defense Forces