Malta Becomes a Republic

Date: December 13, 1974 • Location: Valletta, Malta

Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country located in the central Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a number of islands, of which Malta and Gozo are the two main ones—south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. Valletta is the country's capital. Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country by area, ninth-most densely populated, and 166th most populated. It consists of a single urban region, because of which it is often described as a city-state. The two official languages are Maltese—recognised as the national language—and English.