Malta (island)

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / height missing

The island of Malta is the largest island of the archipelago located in the Mediterranean Sea Malta and namesake for the state of Malta.

Geography

The island is 246 square kilometers, the longest distance from one point to the other coast is 27 kilometers and 136 kilometers of coast measures. Sicily is located about 100 kilometers north, while the next African coast (Tunisia ) is 290-300 miles away. The also inhabited the Malta archipelago belonging to Comino and Gozo are two and six kilometers off the northwestern coast of Malta. On the island of Malta live about 357,000 inhabitants, or 90 percent of the total population of the state.

Geology

The surface subsoil consists mainly of Oligocene and Miocene limestones. As a slanted desk plaice dominates the island from the Mediterranean, uplifted by tectonic deformations of the mantle from the late Miocene. In the southwest, a height of 253 meters is achieved, while the plateau leveling off in the opposite direction. The coast is characterized by deeply cut bays. Due to the porous limestone no rivers have formed on Malta.

Nature

Due to the lack of water, the vegetation of the island is a little rich. The still existing in the early period forests have already been deforested in the Bronze Age, partly in order to gain material or to make way for agricultural crops. Since cultivation attempts failed repeatedly, the soil erosion became more and more abandoned and karst increasingly. Therefore Agriculture plays only a minor role on the island of Malta. After the 2nd World War, the vegetation was enlivened by planting of olive and eucalyptus trees and pine trees. Otherwise the island floor with undemanding shrubs such as thyme, rosemary and hard grasses is covered.

According to the sparse vegetation is found on the island of Malta with only a few species. Among the mammals, the wild rabbits make up the majority. Are widespread reptiles such as lizards. For migratory birds Malta is an important passage. It is estimated that annually make nearly two million songbirds, raptors and herons in Malta rest on the way to Africa. Native birds such as bluebirds, swallows and shearwaters, however, are encountered much less.

Comino | Cominotto | Filfla | Filfoletta | Fungus Rock | Gozo | Malta | St. Paul 's Islands

  • Island ( Europe)
  • Island (Malta )
  • Island (Mediterranean)
  • NUTS 2 region
Lacertidae Thrush (bird)
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