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History Malta

Malta
Malta

Our expert Malta

Neil Kreeger Section editor

only a third of the story is completed, watch this space!

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Malta : Discover the country's history

 Historical dates

From the 4th century BC to the 9th century AD: domination by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Arabs and the Sicilians.
870: the island occupied by the Arabs was converted to Islam.
1090: Malta came under the rule of the King of Sicily.
1530: Charles Quint granted the island to the Order of Saint John, chased out of Rhodes.
1565: the Turks attacked. Thousands of Maltese are taken away as slaves.
1798: after the stopover of Bonaparte, on his way to Egypt, the island came under French rule.
1802: Malta became British.
1939-45: the island of Malta became a naval base and was often bombarded.
1961: it gained its autonomy.
1964: Malta became independent under the Commonwealth.
1974: the Republic was established.
1987: the nationalist party came to power.
1989: Censu Tabone became President of the Republic.
1996: the labour party regained power following legislative elections.
1998: the pro-European nationalists took advantage of early legislative elections to return to power.
1999: Guido De Marco is elected president.
March 2003: the Maltese voted to join the European Union.
2004: Eddie Fenech Adami became president.
May 1st 2004, Malta joined the EU.