The Maltese Islands are situated the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, 93 kilometers (58miles) south of Sicily and 209 kilometers (180 miles) north of Africa.


The island of Malta has an area of 250 square kilometers (166 square miles). The area of Gozo is 67 square kilometers (42 square miles). The combined islands of Malta and Gozo cover an area slightly larger than that occupied by the Channel Islands. The one big advantage of living on a small island is that everything is at close hand... however, one soon develops an `island mentality' which means that a short five mile drive is viewed in the way that a drive from London to Glasgow used to be.


The physical features of Malta show an undulating landscape of fairly low hills 230 metres (750 feet) with valleys and plains sweeping down to a coastline of cliffs, harbours, sandy and rocky beaches. There are no mountains as such and no permanent rivers.


The coastline of Malta extends to 137 kilometers (85 miles) and that of Gozo to 43 kilometers (27 miles). It is safe to swim practically anywhere off the coast and there are no tides in the Mediterranean. The international airport is in the centre of Malta at Gudja.


Sicily (Catania) is from 3 to 12 hours sailing time from Malta, depending on the type of craft used. Air Malta, Lufhansa and Alitalia are the principle air carriers. Malta is on Central European time which means that the islands are normally one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in September the clock goes forward one hour. Malta's summer time thus puts the islands two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time for this period.