Malta (island) in an archipelago in the central Mediterranean, some south of the Italian island of Sicily across the Malta Channel. Malta is located east of its sister islands of Gozo and Comino. It lies on the Malta plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last Ice Age. Malta is therefore situated in the zone between the Eurasian and African tectonic plates. Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbours. The landscape consists of low hills with terraced
Crown Colony of Malta Crown Colony of Malta The Crown Colony of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies (commonly known as the Crown Colony of Malta) was a British colony in the present-day Republic of Malta. It was established when the Malta Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1813, and this was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. From 1530 to 1798, Malta had been ruled by the Order of Saint John. The Order was ousted during the War of the Second Coalition and Malta was occupied by Napoleon. The Maltese rebelled after a couple of months of