ABSTRACT
Malta is a small group of islands lying on the margins of Europe in the centre of the Mediterranean. Malta has two official languages: Maltese (Malti) and English. Traditional Maltese villages consisted of narrow streets and alleys of flat-roofed terrace houses, two or three storeys high, radiating out from an enormous baroque church which faced on to a square. The pjazza formed the hub of village social life and is still the vital centre of feast-day celebrations. Malta's long history of colonization has led to certain ambiguities and ambivalence within the society: there is a defensive pride about things Maltese, but also, in some quarters, something of a cultural cringe with respect to things foreign, particularly British. In Gozo and in the south and north-west of Malta, the country is more rural and there are still pockets of countryside where people enjoy hiking and camping. Paul's shipwreck on Malta is claimed as a source of both religious and cultural affiliation.
