History of Malta Ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks have also inhabited the Maltese islands. In 533, Byzantine general Belisarius briefly landed at Malta while on his way from Sicily to North Africa, and by 535, the island was integrated into the Byzantine province of Sicily. During the Byzantine period, the main settlements remained the city of Melite on mainland Malta and the Citadel on Gozo, while Marsaxlokk, Marsaskala, Marsa and Xlendi are believed to have served as harbours. The relatively high quantity of Byzantine ceramics found in Malta suggests that the island might have had an important strategic role within the empire from
Malta (island) there are minorities, the largest of which are British, many of whom have retired to Malta. According to the government's estimate of 2013, the population of Malta stood at 409,259 people which is about 91.6% of the country's total population. The largest city is Birkirkara with a population of 22,319. The capital Valletta has a relatively small population of 6675 people. The main language spoken on Malta is the Maltese language, a Semitic language descended from the now defunct Siculo-Arabic dialect of southern Italy. The language has substantial borrowing from Sicilian, Italian, a little French, and more recently and increasingly,