Maltese
Maltin

File:Maltese people.png Rużar Briffa • Maria Adeodata Pisani • Edward de Bono • Gerald Strickland • Dun Karm Psaila • Enrico Mizzi
Regions with significant populations
Malta:    400,000 (2006)  Australia:    92,332 (2006)[1]  United States:    35,540 (2002)[2])  Brazil:    58,000<  Canada:    37,125 (2006)[3])  United Kingdom:    30,178 (Maltese born in 2001[4])  Ireland:    285 (2006)[5]  Gibraltar:    100
Languages
Official languages: Maltese, English[6] Significant historical languages: Punic, Greek, Latin, Sicilian, Siculo-Arabic, Italian, French
Religion
Roman Catholic

The Maltese people are a Southern European nation and ethnic group native to Malta, an island nation consisting of an archipelago of seven islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

Historical background

Malta has been inhabited from around 5200 BC, since the arrival of settlers from the island of Sicily.^[7] A significant prehistoric Neolithic culture marked by Megalithic structures, which date back to c. 3600 BC, existed on the islands, as evidenced by the temples of Mnajdra, Ggantija and others. The Phoenicians colonized Malta from about 1000 BC, bringing their Semitic language and culture, using the islands as an outpost from which they expanded sea explorations and trade in the Mediterranean until their successors, the Carthaginians, were ousted by the Romans in 216 BC with the help of the Maltese inhabitants, under whom Malta became a municipium^[8].

After a period of Byzantine rule (4th to 9th century) and a probable sack by the Vandals^[9], the islands were invaded by the Fatimid Arabs in AD 870. The Arabs generally tolerated the population's Christianity^[10] and their influence can be seen in the modern Maltese language, a descendant of Siculo-Arabic and the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet in its standard form.

The Arabs were expelled from the islands by the Normans in 1090 and their leader Roger I of Sicily was warmly welcomed by the native Christians^[11]. Until 1530 the islands were part of the Kingdom of Sicily and briefly controlled by the Capetian House of Anjou. In 1530 Charles I of Spain gave the islands to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in perpetual lease.

The French under Napoleon took hold of the Maltese islands in 1798, although with the aid of the British the Maltese were able to oust French control two years later. The inhabitants subsequently desired Britain to accept the sovereignty of the islands under the conditions laid out in a Declaration of Rights^[12] stating that "his Majesty has no right to cede these Islands to any power...if he chooses to withdraw his protection, and abandon his sovereignty, the right of electing another sovereign, or of the governing of these Islands, belongs to us, the inhabitants and aborigines alone, and without control." As part of the Treaty of Paris (1814) Malta became a part of the British Empire, ultimately rejecting an attempted integration with the United Kingdom in 1965.

Malta became independent on September 21, 1964 (Independence Day). Under its 1964 constitution Malta initially retained Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta, with a Governor-General exercising executive authority on her behalf. On December 13, 1974 (Republic Day) it finally became a republic within the Commonwealth, with the President as head of state. Malta joined the European Union on May 1, 2004 and joined the Eurozone on January 1, 2008.

Culture

The culture of Malta is a reflection of various cultures that have come into contact with the Maltese Islands throughout the centuries, including neighbouring Mediterranean cultures, and the cultures of the nations that ruled Malta for long periods of time prior to its independence in 1964.

The earliest inhabitants of the Maltese Islands are believed to have crossed over from nearby Sicily sometime before 5000 BCE. The culture of modern Malta has been described as a "rich pattern of traditions, beliefs and practices," which is the result of "a long process of adaptation, assimilation and cross fertilization of beliefs and usages drawn from various conflicting sources." It has been subjected to the same complex, historic processes that gave rise to the linguistic and ethnic admixture that defines who the people of Malta and Gozo are today.^[13]

Maltese culture has both Semitic and Latin European origins; however, the Latin European element is more readily apparent in modern Malta for two key reasons: the fact that Latin European cultures have had more recent, and virtually continuous impact on Malta over the past eight centuries through political control; and the fact that Malta shares the religious beliefs, traditions and ceremonies of its Sicilian neighbor.

Language

Throughout history, various rulers established their languages over the people of Malta. The Italian language (or the Sicilian form of it) have repeatedly become predominant, with shorter intervals of Greek, Arabic, French, and English. This history is reflected in the eclectic mix of the Maltese language today, a language with Sicilian Arabic (a dialect spoken in Sicily and surrounding Southern Italy from the ninth century) roots, relexified by Italian/Sicilian, French, and English, and written in the Latin Alphabet.^[14] Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1934, replacing Italian, and joining English, to give co-official status. There are an estimated 371,900 speakers in Malta of the language, with statistics citing that 100% of the people are able to speak Maltese, 88% English, 66% Italian, and 17% French, showing a greater degree of linguistic capabilities than most other European countries.^[15] In fact multilingualism is a common phenomenon in Malta, with English, Maltese, and Italian, often used in everyday life and increasingly interchanged. Whilst Maltese is the national language, the ascending use of English is often limiting, during a time described as a language shift.^[16]

Religion

The Constitution of Malta provides for freedom of religion but establishes Roman Catholicism as the state religion.

The Church in Malta is described in the Book of Acts (Acts 27:39–42; Acts 28:1–11) to have been founded by its patrons Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Publius, who was its first bishop.^[17] The Islands of St. Paul (or St. Paul's Islets), are traditionally believed to be the site where Saint Paul was shipwrecked in the year 60 CE, on his way to trial and eventual martyrdom in Rome.

Freedom House and the World Factbook report that 98% of the Maltese religion is Roman Catholic, making the nation one of the most Catholic countries in the world.

Genetic links

The first settlers of Malta were from the island of Sicily.^[7] However, the result of the influences on the population after this have been fiercely debated among historians and geneticists. The origins question is complicated by numerous factors, including Malta's turbulent history of invasions and conquests, with long periods of depopulation followed by periods of immigration to Malta and intermarriage with the Maltese by foreigners from the Mediterranean, Western and Southern European countries that ruled Malta.

The many demographic influences on the island include:

• The exile to Malta of the entire male population of the town of Celano (Italy) in 1223
• The stationing of Norman French and Sicilian Italian troops on Malta in 1240
• The removal of all remaining Arabs from Malta in 1224^[18]
• The arrival of several hundred Catalan (Spain) soldiers in 1283
• Further waves of European repopulation throughout the 13th century,^[19]
• The settlement in Malta of noble families from Sicily (Italy) and Aragon (Spain) between 1372 and 1450
• The arrival of several thousand Greek and Rhodian sailors, soldiers and slaves with the Knights of St. John
• The introduction of several thousand Sicilian laborers in 1551 and again in 1566
• The emigration of some 891 Italian exiles to Malta during the Risorgimento in 1849
• The posting of some 22,000 British servicemen in Malta from 1807 to 1979.^[20]

Present view

Confirming the idea that the first settlers on Malta were Sicilian, studies on the Y-chromosomes of men have indicated that the Maltese population has Southern Italian origins, with little genetic input from the Eastern Mediterranean.^[21] However, a study carried out by geneticists Spencer Wells and Pierre Zalloua of the American University of Beirut showed that more than 50% of Y-chromosomes from Maltese men could have Phoenecian origins.^[22]

Historical accounts

Over time, the various rulers of Malta published their own view of the ethnicity of the population.^[23] The Knights of Malta promoted the idea of a continuous Roman Catholic presence,^[24] the British colonial rule disregarded a genetic connection between the Maltese and Italians in an attempt to counteract the growing Italian power in the area,^[25] and at a time of closer relations between Libya and Malta under the Mintoff government an ideology of a connection between the Maltese and Libyans was pushed.^[26]

See also

• Malta
• List of Maltese people
• History of the Maltese in Gibraltar
• Demographics of Malta

External links

• Godfrey Wettinger, "The Origin of the 'Maltese' Surnames", in Melita Historica New Series, 12 (1999) 4, pp. 333-44. Online at Melita Historica website, last visited January 7, 2007.

References