Member state · EU since 2004
The story
Malta's temples predate the pyramids; its harbours drew Phoenicians, Rome (St Paul shipwrecked here), Arabs (who shaped the language), and in 1530 the Knights of St John, who held off the Ottoman siege of 1565 and built Valletta with the victory. Napoleon took it in passing; Britain stayed 160 years. The island's WWII resistance under relentless bombing earned the George Cross on its flag. Independence came in 1964, the EU in 2004.
The people
Half a million people share 316 square kilometres, Europe's densest state, speaking the only Semitic language written in Latin script, seasoned with Italian and English. Village festas with fireworks and brass bands fill the summer calendar, band clubs rival parishes, and every family seems to own a boat, a nickname, and an opinion about the neighbouring village.
The economy
Tourism, financial services, iGaming (a European hub for online gambling licensing), and film work (the Mediterranean's biggest water tanks have hosted everything from Gladiator to Game of Thrones) drive one of the eurozone's fastest growing economies.
Traveling there
Valletta is a baroque city in miniature; the Three Cities across the harbour are older and quieter. Add Mdina's silent lanes, Gozo's slower island rhythm, and Comino's Blue Lagoon on a shoulder-season morning. English is official, buses reach everywhere, and winter is pleasantly mild.
Cities to visit
What's on
The Grand Harbour lit up by the islands' centuries-old fireworks tradition.