Dear Malpaso,

Yes Malta is a Country on its own merits. It is an archipelago located at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, with the largest inhabited Island measuring approximately 32km x 16km. It is a European Country and an EU state as from 01 May 2004, our currency is the € and our language is Maltese which is of semitic origin but which, like many other languages, has been greatly influenced over the years by Anglo-Saxon and Latin verbosity. Malta is a Democratic Republic state based on Christian Catholic foundations.

Malta is a country with a very rich history dating back to Megalithic times, in fact pre-historic evidence is very apparent on the island and this dates back to thousand of years older than Stonhenge. everywhere you go in Malta, and every town or village you walk through is overflowing with history and folklore, thus one does not need to dig deep into the books and internet to find any, but one would definitely end up digging for more and more information once he/she becomes captivated and mesmerised with the beauty and history as this will be uncovered.

It is suggested that one would visit Wikipedia or http://www.visitmalta.com/main for better acquaintance with this Mediterranean gem.

With respect to Tourism, well this is our main industry and visiting Malta is definitely an experience not to be missed.

Last week, His Highness the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and HE Dr George Abela, the President of the Republic of Malta signed and agreement whereby Qatar Airways will be flying to Malta for Aircraft servicing. This has surely paved the way to the introduction of direct flights from Doha to Malta which are now expected to possibly start as from 2010. The transit would approximately last 4½ hours as opposed to the much longer one which we presently have to go through via Dubai with Emirates Airlines. Another option at present however would be on Qatar Airways via Rome from where an Airmalta or Alitalia flight can then be boarded to Malta.

I trust that you will find the above to be of interest and wish you to visit Malta for an experience of a lifetime.