Helping You To Understand Malta
Welcome to the GeoVisionMalta blog, we hope you find the information here to be useful.
Essentially, this is a small website about the small islands of the Republic of Malta. The main island, Malta is just 27kms long and 14kms wide, so the country really is small. Despite that, Malta is one of the most densely populated countries on earth, one of the driest and one of the places with the most cars per person. It is definitely unusual here!
Firstly, modern Malta is very much a product of it’s amazing history. Religion and the Crusade’s feature heavily in it’s past, leading to the capital city, Valletta, being the home to the ‘Knights of Malta’. Their incredible legacy can be seen in many places in churches, fortifications and architecture. Unfortunately, their meticulous attention to detail and stunning architecture is not so evident in modern Malta…
These days Malta is a member of the EU, uses the euro and is a holiday destination for over 1 million tourists per year. Of course there is much more to it, but those are the immediate headlines.
The country joined the European Union in 2004, making it the smallest member state. That said, there are some Maltese politicians making a splash in Brussels.
The Economy
As suggested above, the Maltese economy is very heavily tipped towards tourism. If there are lots of tourists in Malta, everyone here does pretty well.
The impact of foreigners also is felt in the property market, especially for residential property in Malta. Since the island is so small, the majority of properties in Malta are apartments. There simply isn’t the space for individual homes for everyone here.
Prices are pushed up by foreign buyers and renters arriving to work in the large pharma sector, the online gambling sector, tourism or to retire and take it easy. The wonderful weather and friendly tax rules make the country a favourite place to early retire to. Sectors such as pharma and online gaming leverage the EU membership and access to the European Union’s single market while operating from a relatively low cost, English speaking location.
For example, the large pharmaceutical companies like Malta because their English speaking workforce can interact easily with their American and British colleagues, they can access the rest of the EU easily and there are no ‘snow days’ where production stops because people cannot get to work.
The economy has also, obviously, been impacted for centuries by Malta’s position. It has both strategic and trade relevance and has had for hundreds of years. These days, the sea provides for different things, tourism being the main one. There are locations for water sports, sailing, diving and much more. For most, simply sitting on the beach in the sun is enough 
For those of us that are land-lubbers and would like the opportunity to do amazing things in water without having to do them in the open sea, there is an alternative in Malta. The Marine park Malta at Mediterraneo offers the chance to swim with dolphins, watch sea lions and other species that we wouldn’t normally see.