History

The history of Malta is a long and  colourful. In 60 A.D. St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island while on his way to Rome and brought Christianity to Malta.The Arabs conquered the islands in 870 A.D. and left an important mark on the language of the Maltese. Until 1530 Malta was an extension of Sicily,In 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became a part of the British Empire and was used as a shipping way-station and fleet headquarters. Between 1915 and 1918, during the First World War, Malta became known as the Nurse of the Mediterranean due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were sent in Malta. British rule in Malta lasted until 1964 when Malta became independent.

Modern Malta became a Republic in 1974. The foreign military bases on the island closed down permanently in 1979. Malta joined the European Union in May 2004 and the Eurozone in January of 2008.