Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Geography of Malta
Island in Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
The geography of Malta is dominated by water. Malta is an archipelago of coralline limestone, located in Southern Europe, but like most of Sicily sits on the African tectonic plate in the Mediterranean Sea. [1]. Malta is 81 kilometres south of Sicily, Italy,[2] and nearly 300 km north (Libya) and northeast (Tunisia) of Africa. Although Malta is located farther south than Tunis and some other cities in North Africa, it is not the Southernmost point of Europe. Only the three largest islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino – are inhabited. Other (uninhabited) islands are: Cominotto, Filfla and the St. Paul's Islands. The country is approximately 316 km2 (122 sq mi) in area. Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide harbours. The landscape of the islands is characterised by high hills with terraced fields. The highest point, at 253 metres, Ta' Zuta on mainland Malta. The capital is Valletta.
Remove ads
Statistics
Malta has a total area of 315.718 km2,[3] with land making up 315.718 km2 and water taking up zero area. Compared to other political entities, this makes Malta:
- (Australia) slightly less than one-seventh the Australian Capital Territory's size;
- (Canada) roughly one-eighteenth Prince Edward Island's size;
- (UK) slightly smaller than the Isle of Wight;
- (US) slightly less than twice the size of Washington, DC.
Excluding 56 km from the island of Gozo, Malta has a coastline of 196.8 km. Its maritime claims of territorial sea are 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi), contiguous zone is 24 nmi (44.4 km; 27.6 mi), continental shelf is 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation, and Malta's exclusive fishing zone spans 25 nmi (46.3 km; 28.8 mi).
Remove ads
Islands
_03_ies.jpg)
_01_ies.jpg)
_01_ies.jpg)
Remove ads
Seascape
The seabed surrounding Malta's islands retains traces of ancient geomarine features, suggesting potential archaeological discoveries that could shed light on the region's prehistoric environment.[10] The shelf is narrower south of the archipelago and wider on its northern side, with swaths of seagrass close to shore and maerl in the outer part of the shelf.[11] These form belts are regulated by the availability of light and intensity of currents.[12]
Climate
Mediterranean with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.
Elevation extremes
The lowest point is the Mediterranean Sea at 0 m and the highest point is Ta' Dmejrek at 253 m.
Geology
The Geology of Malta consists of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of late Oligocene to late Miocene age cut through by a set of extensional faults of Pliocene age.[13] The sequence is divided into five formations, from the oldest, the Lower Coralline Limestone, followed by the Globigerina Limestone, the Blue Clay and the youngest unit, the Upper Coralline Limestone.[14]
Remove ads
Land use
- Arable land: 28.12%
- Permanent crops: 4.06%
- Other: 67.81% (2011)
Irrigated land
32 km2 (2007)
Total renewable water resources
.jpg)
0.05 km3 (2011)
Environment
Current issues
Limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination.
International Agreements
- Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads