Thesaurus
Term:
Malta
Comprises 3 islands in strategic location in Mediterranean; inhabited since 3800 BCE; ruled by Carthaginians (8th century BCE), Rome (until 395), Constantinople, Arabs (870) and Normans (1091); ceded to Hospitalers (Knights of St. John) in 1530; British by 1802; official languages are Maltese (a Semitic language of the Southern Central group) and English.