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
Culture of Malta at night, while by day they remained free to transact business, trade and commerce among the general population. Local place names around the island, such as "Bir Meyru" (Meyer's Well), "Ġnien il-Lhud" (The Jew's Garden) and "Ħal Muxi" (Moshé's Farm) attest to the endurance of Jewish presence in Malta. Exposure to semitic influences continued to a limited extent during the 268-year rule of the Knights of St. John over Malta, due in part to trade between the Knights and North Africa, but primarily due to the large numbers of slaves present in Malta during the 17th and 18th centuries: upwards