Simple directory > Regional > Malta

Country : Malta Official name: Republic of Malta Head of State: President Eddie Fenech Adami (from 4 Apr 2004) Head of government: Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi (sworn in 23 Mar 2004) Ruling party: Partit Nazzionalista (PN) (Nationalist Party) (elected Sep 1998; re-elected 12 Apr 2003) Area: 316 square km Population: 396,329 (2004) Capital: Valletta Official language: Malti and English Currency: - (Lm) = 100 cents Exchange rate: Lm0.33 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$11,705 (2003) GDP real growth: 2.80% (2003) Labour force: 160,000 (2003) Unemployment: 5.60% (2003); 5.8% (Mar 2004) Inflation: 2.00% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$800.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$130.00 million (2003)

Historical profile

1814 Malta became a crown colony of the UK, with limited self-government.

1942 The islanders were awarded the George Cross for heroism during a three-year siege and severe bombing by Germans and Italians in the Second World War.

1947 Malta was granted full internal self-government.

1956 In a referendum, a majority voted in favour of integration with the UK as proposed by the Partit Laburista (PL) (Labour Party) under Dominic Mintoff.

1959–62 Disturbances followed the rejection of Mintoff's integration proposals by the British, leading to his resignation. The British reinstated direct rule.

1964 Malta was granted full independence within the Commonwealth, reinforced by defence and aid treaties with UK.

1971 A Labour government was elected under Mintoff , who signed co-operative treaties with Eastern and Western countries and established close relations with Libya.

1974 Malta declared itself a republic.

1981 The PL gained more seats but fewer votes than the Partit Nazzionalista (PN) (Nationalist Party), which mounted a campaign of civil disobedience and boycotted the House of Representatives for over a year.

1987 The PN, under Eddie Fenech Adami, came to power following constitutional amendments. The government's aim was to maintain non-aligned status, while seeking closer ties with the West.

1990 Malta applied to join the EU.

1996 The EU application was frozen by Alfred Sant when he took office as prime minister in the new PL government.

1998 Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami renewed the island's application to join the EU after the PN was returned to power in early elections.

2000 At the EU summit in Nice, Malta was placed in the first wave of accession candidates.

2002 An independent survey revealed that over 60 per cent of Maltese were happy with the government's actions to prepare the country for EU membership.

2003 A March referendum produced a 53.6 per cent vote in favour of EU membership in a turnout of 91 per cent. The ruling PN won the parliamentary elections.

2004 On 23 March, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami stepped down and Lawrence Gonzi was sworn in as prime minister. On 4 April, Eddie Fenech Adami took office as president. Malta entered the EU on 1 May.

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