Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is an island country of the European Union consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, and considered part of Southern Europe. It lies 80 km south of Sicily, 284 km east of Tunisia, and 333 km north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language.

Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. Most of these foreign influences have left some sort of mark on the country's ancient culture.