Languages of Malta and Maltese language

Maltese people speak the Maltese language, a Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet in its standard form. The language is descended from Siculo-Arabic, a dialect spoken in Sicily and surrounding Southern Italy from the ninth century. In the course of Malta's history, the language has adopted large amounts of vocabulary from Sicilian, Italian, English, and to a smaller degree, French. The official languages of Malta are English and Maltese, with Italian also widely spoken.

Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1934, replacing Italian, and joining English, to give co-official status. There are an estimated 371,900 speakers in Malta of the language, with statistics citing that 100% of the people are able to speak Maltese, 88% English, 66% Italian, and 17% French, showing a greater degree of linguistic capabilities than most other European countries. In fact multilingualism is a common phenomenon in Malta, with English, Maltese, and Italian, often used in everyday life and increasingly interchanged. Whilst Maltese is the national language, the ascending use of English is often limiting, during a time described as a language shift.

Religion in Malta

The Constitution of Malta provides for freedom of religion but establishes Roman Catholicism as the state religion.

The Church in Malta is described in the Book of Acts (Acts 27:39-42; Acts 28:1-11) to have been founded by its patrons Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Publius, who was its first bishop. The Islands of St. Paul (or St. Paul's Islets), are traditionally believed to be the site where Saint Paul was shipwrecked in the year 60 CE, on his way to trial and eventual martyrdom in Rome.

Freedom House and the World Factbook report that 98% of the Maltese religion is Roman Catholic, making the nation one of the most Catholic countries in the world.

Editor:Yang Jie