Maltese People
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 690,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Malta 395,969(Maltese descent only) |
|
 Australia
|
163,990 (Maltese-ancestry) |
 United States
|
43,831 (2012) |
 United Kingdom
|
40,230 (Maltese-born) |
 Canada
|
38,780 |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Italians,Spaniards | |
|
a. ^ The total figure is merely an estimation; sum of all the referenced populations. |
|
The Maltese (Maltese: Maltin) are an ethnic group indigenous to Malta, and identified with the Maltese language. Malta is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Included within the ethnic group defined by the Maltese people are the Gozitans (Maltese: Għawdxin) who inhabit Malta's sister island, Gozo.
Malta has been inhabited from around 5200 BC, since the arrival of settlers from the island of Sicily. A significant prehistoric Neolithic culture marked by Megalithic structures, which date back to c. 3600 BC, existed on the islands, as evidenced by the temples of Mnajdra, Ggantija and others. The Phoenicians colonized Malta between 800-700 BC, bringing their Semitic language and culture. They used the islands as an outpost from which they expanded sea explorations and trade in the Mediterranean until their successors, the Carthaginians, were ousted by the Romans in 216 BC with the help of the Maltese inhabitants, under whom Malta became a municipium.
After a period of Byzantine rule (4th to 9th century) and a probable sack by the Vandals, the islands were invaded by the Aghlabids in AD 870. The fate of the population after the Arab invasion is unclear but it seems the islands may have been completely depopulated and were likely to have been repopulated in the beginning of the second millennium by settlers from Arab-ruled Sicily who spoke Siculo-Arabic.
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Wikipedia