Malta Colony
| Crown Colony of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies | ||||||||||
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Kolonja tal-Gżira ta' Malta u d-Dipendenzi tagħha (Maltese) Colonia dell'Isola di Malta e Sue Dipendenze (Italian) |
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| British colony | ||||||||||
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Anthem L-Innu Malti The Malta Hymn Royal anthem God Save the King (1813–1837; 1901–1952) God Save the Queen (1837–1901; 1952–1964) |
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 1813–1922: Malta in dark green, United Kingdom in light blue
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 1922–1964: Malta in dark green, United Kingdom in light blue
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| Capital | Valletta | |||||||||
| Languages | English, Maltese, Italian (to 1934) | |||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | |||||||||
| Political structure | Colony | |||||||||
| Monarch | ||||||||||
| • | 1813–1820 | George III (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1952–1964 | Elizabeth II (last) | ||||||||
| Governor | ||||||||||
| • | 1813–1824 | Thomas Maitland (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1962–1964 | Maurice Henry Dorman (last) | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||
| • | 1921–1923 | Joseph Howard (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1962–1964 | Giorgio Borġ Olivier (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||||||
| • | Upper house | Senate (to 1933) | ||||||||
| • | Lower house | Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 23 July 1813 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of Paris | 30 May 1814 | ||||||||
| • | Independence | 21 September 1964 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 1823 | 316 km² (122 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | 1823 est. | 112,204 | ||||||||
| Density | 355.1 /km² (919.6 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| • | 1911 est. | 211,564 | ||||||||
| Density | 669.5 /km² (1,734 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| • | 1957 est. | 319,620 | ||||||||
| Density | 1,011.5 /km² (2,619.7 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Currency |
Maltese scudo and various other currencies (1813–1825) Pound sterling (1825–1964) |
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The Crown Colony of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies (commonly known as the Crown Colony of Malta) was part of the British Empire in the present-day Republic of Malta. It was established when the Malta Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1813, and this was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814.
From 1530 to 1798, Malta had been ruled by the Order of Saint John. The Order was ousted during the War of the Second Coalition and Malta was occupied by Napoleon. The Maltese rebelled after a couple of months of French rule and asked Britain for help. Eventually, the French capitulated in 1800 and Malta voluntarily became a British protectorate. Britain was then supposed to evacuate the island according to the terms of the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, but failed to keep this obligation – one of several mutual cases of non-adherence to the treaty, which eventually led to its collapse and the resumption of war between Britain and France a year later.
Malta became a Crown Colony on 23 July 1813, when Sir Thomas Maitland was appointed as Governor of Malta. That year, Malta was granted the Bathurst Constitution. Malta's status as a Crown Colony was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris of 1814, which was itself reaffirmed by the Congress of Vienna of 1815.
The plague broke out in Malta in March 1813, when a British merchant ship infected with the disease arrived from Alexandria. The disease began to spread especially in Valletta and the Grand Harbour area, and when Governor Maitland arrived, stricter quarantine measures were enforced. The plague spread to Gozo by January 1814, but the islands were free of the disease by March of that year. Overall, 4,486 people were killed which amounted to 4% of the total population.
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