马尔他(Malta)
独立共和国，位於地中海西西里以南一小群岛。由三个有人居住的岛屿︰马尔他岛（最大岛屿）、戈佐岛和科米诺岛屿两个无人居住的小岛︰科米诺托岛和菲尔夫拉岛组成。面积316平方公里。人口381,000（2001）。首都︰法勒他。马尔他的人口几乎全在本地出生，混杂着义大利人、阿拉伯人、英国人和腓尼基人的後裔。语言︰马尔他语、英语（均为官方语）。宗教︰天主教（国教）。货币︰马尔他里拉（Lm）。虽然土地面积约2/5为可耕地，但大部分食品是进口的。旅游业是主要产业。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首为总统，政府首脑为总理。
马尔他在西元前3800年便有居民。西元前8世纪～西元前7世纪被迦太基人统治。西元前218年被罗马人统治，西元60年使徒圣保罗在该岛遭受海难，使岛民皈依了基督教。後被划归拜占庭直至870年由阿拉伯人取得控制权。1091年诺曼人打败了阿拉伯人。此後马尔他相继为一些封建领主统治，直至16世纪初。1530年马尔他被割让给马尔他骑士团；1798年拿破仑取得控制权。1800年被英国占领。1802年「亚眠条约」将群岛交还马尔他骑士团。马尔他人抗议不从，承认英国国王为马尔他君主，这些在1814年的「巴黎条约」中得到认可。1921年马尔他成立自治政府，1936年又回复殖民状态。第二次世界大战期间受到德国和义大利空军狂轰滥炸。1942年被授予英国最高文职勳章－－乔治十字勳章，这是英国向国协成员首次颁发的奖章。1964年马尔他获得国协内的独立，1974年成为共和国。1979年与英国的联盟结束後，马尔他宣告中立地位。
English version：
Malta
Independent state, located on a small archipelago, south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of three inhabited islands, Malta (the largest), Gozo, and Comino, and two uninhabited islets, Comminotto and Filfla. Area: 122 sq mi (316 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 375,000. Capital: Valletta. Malta's population, nearly all native-born, has a mixture of Italian, Arab, British, and Phoenician heritages. Languages: Maltese, English (both official). Religion: Roman Catholicism (official). Currency: Maltese lira. Although two-fifths of the total land area is arable, it imports most of its food; tourism is its major industry. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. Inhabited as early as 3800 BC, it was ruled by the Carthaginians c. 8th-7th century BC. It came under Roman control in 218 BC. In AD 60 the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the island and converted the inhabitants to Christianity. It was under Byzantine rule until the Arabs seized control in 870. In 1091 the Normans defeated the Arabs, and it was ruled by a succession of feudal lords until the early 16th century. In 1530 it came under the Knights of Malta; Napoleon seized control in 1798, and the British took it in 1800. The 1802 Treaty of Amiens returned the islands to the Knights. The Maltese protested and acknowledged the British as sovereign; this arrangement was ratified in the 1814 Treaty of Paris. It became self-governing in 1921 but reverted to a colonial regime in 1936. Malta was severely bombed by Germany and Italy during World War II, and in 1942 it received the George Cross, Britain's highest civilian decoration, the first time that a medal was conferred upon any part of the Commonwealth. In 1964 it gained independence within the Commonwealth, and in 1974 became a republic. When its alliance with Britain ended in 1979, Malta proclaimed its neutral status.