Malta Facts | Interesting Facts about Facts

Interesting Facts about Facts:

• Malta is home to seven Megalithic structures that are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with the oldest structures dating from the 6th Millenium BCE, making it 1,000 years older than the Pyramids of Egypt. Very little is known about the mysterious yet highly complex civilization that built them over a span of thousands of years. Valletta, a walled, 16th century gem of baroque architecture and the capital city is yet another World Heritage site.

• Malta welcomes 1.2 million tourists a year (triple its population of 400,000), who flock to the island not only to experience its natural beauty, climate, and clean seas, but also its ancient heritage—the island’s 7,000 year old history and pre-history. Tourism accounts for 24.3 percent of Gross National Product and over 25 percent of exports of goods and services. Malta has also become a center for Conferences and Learning of English as a Foreign Language.

• In 1967, Arvid Pardo, the Maltese Ambassador to the UN, proposed that the UN declare the seabed and ocean floor "underlying the seas beyond the limits of present national jurisdiction" to be "the common heritage of mankind." The UN General Assembly convened the 1973 Third UN Conference of the Law of the Sea to write a new treaty. The convention came into force on November 14, 1994.

• There are two main political parties in Malta and elections generate a widespread voter turnout exceeding 96 percent. The margin between the two parties is so narrow that a 52 percent share of the votes can still be considered a "landslide" for the winning party.