11 facts about Malta for your next holidays to Malta

Most of such lists seem to be written by people who have never been to Malta or at least write as if they have just read a Wikipedia page or seen a picture or two. Which is kind of weird, but okay. Last year I was in Malta three times, totaling roughly 5 months. The year before 2 times, around 3 months. Some of the things I have heard, some of the things I have read, some of the things I have learned.

It's not just an Island
Malta is not just one island like many of you might think – it's actually an archipelago. The main island is called Malta, the smaller one (with roughly 30k inhabitants) is Gozo. The other 5 ones are uninhabited - just one of them, the third biggest one, Comino, has one luxury vacation resort on it.

Malta - the Mediterranean Hollywood
Because of its nature (or one might argue, just rock, no nature), beautiful coastline, transparent blue water, and ancient artifacts, Malta is an attractive filming location. Even when I was there, part of it was a small war zone, as one movie about Syria was being filmed there. Additionally it has been used as a filming location for a number of huge Hollywood productions such as Gladiator, Troy, Captain Philips, Game of Thrones, and of course, many others.

To forest or not to forest
Allegedly it's entirely forest-free zone. So if you're into all this green stuff, Malta is not the place to go. Weirdly enough though, in Malta it doesn't bother you much. Then again, a Finnish friend of mine still managed to find a forest-like part of Malta, where he managed to find some solitude. So if you look hard enough, you might find a tree or two.

Valletta has history
You might be surprised to know that Valletta was the first ever planned city in Europe, being sketched out in 1565 and completed in just 15 years, it is one of the quickest scaled cities in the world. Port of Valletta used to be a very important one as it was one of the deepest ports for bigger ships. Because of this, during the British colonial rule, the harbor became a strategic base for the Royal Navy and the base of the Mediterranean Fleet.

The language?
Maltese language is the only Arabic language written in Latin. Don't tell that to the locals though, they don't like much the comparison of Maltese to anything Arabic. When travelling there though, you don't have to worry - Malta has two official languages - Maltese and English, so it's a perfect travel destination in that sense.

The size of Malta
Considering it's possible you have not even noticed Malta on the world map, it can't come as a surprise to you, but Malta is one of the world's smallest countries. (204th largest country). While it's small, just 316 km2, it's the eight most densely populated country in the world.

Malta is catholic
Malta is a rather religious country. While it's almost correct to say that there's a church for every day of the year, the exact number of churches is 359. Being religious, it does have a kink or two. Abortion is still illegal in the country. At the same time, civil unions equal to marriage between gay people are allowed, "in all but name, with the same rights and obligations including joint adoption rights."

Nightlife in malta - Paceville
While there are lots of bars and pubs around, if you're into clubbing, Paceville is the place to go. It's located west of St. Julian's, Malta. It's a district full of nightclubs, strip clubs, pubs, and restaurant. The main hub for nightlife on the island. The average age of the party goers - something like 16-26. A number of the nightclubs and strip clubs are owned by the Paceville boss (well, he owns a lot of shit in Paceville) Hugo Chetcuti.

University of Malta
The University of Malta is one of the oldest universities in the entire Europe and was founded in 1592. Nowadays, considering Malta is a tax paradise for gambling companies from around the world, the university has evolved together with the country - the Institute of Digital Games was established in 2013 and it offers a number of courses to obtain knowledge in the field.

Boats have eyes
The boats in Malta have eyes - you can check pretty much any fishing boats to see the eyes on them - they are supposed to keep bad luck away from them.

Drunk driving in Malta
It's kind of a rule, not an exception, especially at nights. And often above the limit 0.8. But, while it's weird to say that, it seems it's kind of part of the culture in Malta - as it's still one of the safest place to drive - even though you wouldn't think of it based on the nightly drunkenness of people, nor when you just look at the driving culture during the day. I once asked one local Maltese girl what she thinks about it. The answer was a bit longer, but what the said was that her father told her that she will either need to learn to drink or drive, or, ... oh wait, there was no other option.

Enjoy Malta! I know I do.