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Revision as of 08:47, 19 November 2006
Ethnic group| File:Maltespeople.JPG Gerald Strickland • Enrico Mizzi • Edward De Bono | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Malta: 400,000 (2006) Australia: c. 25,565 | |
| Languages | |
| Maltese | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| • other Latin peoples • Greeks |
The Maltese people or Maltese are an ethnic group native to Malta, an island nation consisting of an archipelago of seven islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Historical background
The first inhabitants of Malta probably reached the island from Sicily, but the earliest recorded settlers were the Neolithic inhabitants of 5000 BC. History shows us that the Phoenicians colonized Malta in about 800 BC. They occupied the islands until their successors, the Carthaginians were ousted by the Romans in 216 BC.
Like most Mediterranean countries, the Maltese islands were once under Arab domination for 200 years, a relatively short period of time compared to the 300 years of occupation in Sicily and parts of Italy and 800 years in Spain.
From the advent of the Normans from 1090 to 1530, Malta was part of the Kingdom of Sicily; thus from 1091 to 1530 when the Order of St. John came to Malta, the original Italic, Phoenician and Byzantine population from the Roman period was further reinforced by other European elements - a period of 440 years.
Culture
Language
Maltese people speak the Maltese language, a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Apart from its phonology, Maltese bears considerable similarity to urban varieties of Tunisian Arabic, however in the course of Malta's recent history, the language has adopted many loanwords, and even phonetic and phonological features, from Italian, Sicilian, and English.
Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1936, prior to which the official language was Italian. Today, there are an estimated 371,900 Maltese speakers. There are a significant number of Maltese expatriates in Australia, the United States and Canada who can still speak the language.
Religion
It is estimated that 98% of the Maltese are Roman Catholic, although as of 2005, the rate of regular mass attendance was estimated at 52.6 percent.