Malta

Capital City: Valetta

People: Maltese (descendants of ancient Carthaginians and Phoenicians, with strong elements of Italian and other Mediterranean stock)

Religion: Roman Catholic 98%

Language: Maltese (official), English (official)

Currency: Maltese Lira

Electrical Voltage: 230 volts

How to get there:
By plane: Malta possesses its own national carrier, Air Malta, with regular connections to many European, North African and Middle Eastern centres.
Ryanair fly to/from London Luton, Dublin, Bremen, Pisa, Stockholm (Skavsta), Valencia and Girona.
The island's international Airport is located at Luqa.

By boat: There are frequent fast ferries to the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy. The trip takes around 4 hours, can get bumpy (or cancelled) if it's windy, and is often more expensive than flying.
There is also a high-speed catamaran between Pozzallo and Valetta that takes approximately 90 minutes.

Weather: Malta’s climate is strongly influenced by the sea and is typical of the Mediterranean.  The Islands have a very sunny climate with a daily average of five to six hours sunshine in mid-winter to around 12 hours in summer.
Winters are mild, with the occasional short chilly period brought about by the north and north-easterly winds from central Europe.
Summers are hot, dry and very sunny. Day-time temperatures in summer are often mitigated by cooling sea breezes, but in spring and autumn a very hot wind from Africa occasionally brings unseasonally high temperatures and humidity.  This is known as the Sirocco, or, in Maltese, the Xlokk – this wind affects Greece and Italy as well; in Malta the air is generally drier because of the short sea track from the African coast.
Annual rainfall is low, averaging 568mm a year, and the length of the dry season in summer is longer than in neighboring Italy. Sea bathing is quite possible well in to the ‘winter’ months, and the peak beach season can last until mid- to late October.

Travel Documentation and Custom Duty: No visa is required for entry by EU, Canadian, and American citizens. Visitors from outside the EU, including Americans, must fill out a landing card, available on board some arriving flights (sometimes) or in the entrance hall of the airport from the small box between the customs agents.

Getting Around: Bus, Car, Taxi, Ferry, Seaplane

Tourism Website: http://www.visitmalta.com/main

Medical Facilities:

Banks:

Emergency Numbers: Emergency 112, Ambulance 196, Police 191