Geography of Malta


The geography of Malta is dominated by water. Malta is an archipelago of coralline limestone, located in the Mediterranean Sea, 81 kilometres south of Sicily, Italy, and nearly 300 km north and northeast of Africa. Although Malta is situated in Southern Europe, it is located farther south than Tunis, capital of Tunisia, Algiers, capital of Algeria, Tangier in Morocco and also Aleppo in Syria, and Mosul in Iraq in the Middle East. Only the three largest islands - Malta, Gozo and Comino - are inhabited. Other islands are: Cominotto, Filfla and the St.Paul's Islands. The country is approximately 316 km2 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, on mainland Malta. The capital is Valletta.
Geographic coordinates:

Statistics

Malta has a total area of 315.718 km2, with land making up 315.718 km2 and water taking up zero area. Malta is 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. It's maritime claims of territorial sea are, contiguous zone is, continental shelf is 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation, and Malta's exclusive fishing zone spans.

Islands

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.

Land use

32 km2

Total renewable water resources

0.05 km3

Environment

Current issues

Limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination.

International Agreements

signed, but not ratified: