Malta Protectorate the late 18th century, while Malta was still under the Knights, the Prince of Lampedusa had let the island to Salvatore Gatt, a Maltese entrepreneur, who settled on the island with a few Maltese workers. The British considered taking over Lampedusa as a naval base instead of Malta, but the idea was dropped as the island did not have deep harbours and was not well developed. Despite this, the authorities in Malta and the British government still attempted to take over the island as they believed that it could be used to supply Malta with food in case Sicily fell
Malta (island) are 54 local councils and 13 administrative committees in Malta. The island is also divided into five districts, but these serve primarily for statistical purposes: Malta (island) Malta is the largest of the three major islands that constitute the Maltese archipelago. It is sometimes referred to as Valletta for statistical purposes to distinguish the main island from the entire country. Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea directly south of Italy and north of Libya. The island is long and wide, with a total area of . The capital is Valletta, largest locality is Birkirkara. The island is