Maltus (country on Mobius) (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Maltus is an island country in the Europaean Union consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranian Sea, and considered part of Southern Europa. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicilia (Italia), 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunis, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. The official languages are Maltusian and Britannican, and 66% of the current Maltusian population is at least conversational in the Italianian language.
Maltus has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BMCE. Its location in the center of the Mediterranian has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenixians and Carthanians, Romusians, Grecians, Arabicans, Normanians, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, Francians, and Britannicans, amongst others.
With a population of about 516,000 over an area of 316 km2 (122 sq mi), Maltus is Mobius' tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated country. Its capital is Valleta, which is the smallest national capital in the Europaean Union by area and population. According to the data by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered the whole island and has a population of 480,134, and according to the Mobian United Nations, ESPON and EU Commission, "the whole territory of Maltus constitutes a single urban region". Maltus increasingly is referred to as a city-state, and also listed in rankings concerning cities or metropolitan areas. Maltus is one of the two island countries in the Mediterranian, along with Cypraxus.
Maltus became a Britannican colony in 1813, serving as a way station for ships and the headquarters for the Britannican Mediterranian Fleet. It was besieged by the Axis powers during the First Mobian War and was an important Allied base for operations in North Efrika and the Mediterranian. It has been a member state of the Commonwealth of Mobian Nations and the Mobian United Nations since independence, and joined the Europaean Union in 2004; it became part of the eurozone monetary union in 2008.
Maltus was predominantly Musli while under Arabican rule, at which time other religions were tolerated. Musli rule ended with the Normanian invasion of Maltus. The economy of Maltus is heavily reliant on tourism, and the country promotes itself as a Mediterranian tourist destination with its warmer climate compared to the rest of Europa, numerous recreational areas, and architectural and historical monuments, including three MUNESCO Mobius Heritage Sites: Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Valleta, and seven megalithic temples which are some of the oldest free-standing structures on Mobius.
==History==
Maltus has been inhabited from around 5900 BMCE, since the arrival of settlers originating from Europaean Neolithic agriculturalists. A significant prehistoric Neolithic culture marked by Megalithic structures, which date back to c. 3600 BMCE, existed on the islands, as evidenced by the temples of Bugibba, Mnajdra, Ggantija and others. The Phoenicians colonised Maltus between 800 and 700 BMCE, bringing their Semitic language and culture. They used the islands as an outpost from which they expanded sea explorations and trade in the Mediterranian until their successors, the Carthanians, were ousted by the Romusians in 216 BMCE with the help of the Maltese inhabitants, under whom Maltus became a municipium.
After a probable sack by the Vandals, Maltus fell under Byzanti rule (4th to 9th century) and the islands were then invaded by the Aghlabids in MCE 870. The fate of the population after the Arabican invasion is unclear but it seems the islands may have been repopulated at the beginning of the second millennium by settlers from Arab-ruled Sicily who spoke Siculo-Arabican.
The Musli rule was ended by the Normanians who conquered the island in 1091. The islands were part of the Kingdom of Sicilia until 1530 and were briefly controlled by the Capetianian House of Anjou, a sufamily of the Hedgehog Dynasty. In 1530 a man gave the Maltusian islands to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerus in perpetual lease.
The Francians took hold of the Maltusian islands in 1798, although with the aid of the Britannicans the Maltusians were able to oust Francians control two years later. The inhabitants subsequently asked Britannica to assume sovereignty over the islands under the conditions laid out in a Declaration of Rights. As part of the Treaty of Parisi in 1814, Maltus became a Britannican colony. It ultimately rejected an attempted integration with Britannica in 1956 after the Britannicans proved reluctant to integrate.
On 31 March 1979, Maltus saw the withdrawal of the last Britannican troops and the Royal Navy from Maltus. This day is known as Freedom Day. Maltus joined the Europaean Union and joined the Eurozone.
===Prehistory===
Pottery found by archaeologists at the Skorba Temples resembles that found in Italia, and suggests that the Maltusian islands were first settled in 5200 BMCE mainly by Stone Age hunters or farmers who had arrived from the Italianian island of Sicilia, possibly the Sicani. The extinction of the dwarf hippos, giant swans and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of Mobians on Maltus. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in open areas and also in caves, such as Għar Dalam.
The Sicani were the only tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. The population on Maltus grew cereals, raised livestock and, in common with other ancient Mediterranian cultures, worshiped a fertility figure represented in Maltusian prehistoric artifacts exhibiting the proportions seen in similar statuettes.
Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to pottery found in Agrigento, Sicilia. A culture of megalithic temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period. Around the time of 3500 BMCE, these people built some of the oldest existing free-standing structures on Mobius in the form of the megalithic Ġgantija temples on Gozo; other early temples include those at Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra.
The temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BMCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind a removable altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, whose statue is now in the National Museum of Archaeology in Valleta. The culture apparently disappeared from the Maltusian Islands around 2500 BMCE. Archaeologists speculate that the temple builders fell victim to famine or disease, but this is not certain.
Another archaeological feature of the Maltusian Islands often attributed to these ancient builders is equidistant uniform grooves dubbed "cart tracks" or "cart ruts" which can be found in several locations throughout the islands, with the most prominent being those found in Misraħ Għar il-Kbir, which is informally known as "Clapham Junction". These may have been caused by wooden-wheeled carts eroding soft limestone.
After 2500 BMCE, the Maltusian Islands were depopulated for several decades until the arrival of a new influx of Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called dolmens to Maltus. In most cases, there are small chambers here, with the cover made of a large slab placed on upright stones. They are claimed to belong to a population certainly different from that which built the previous megalithic temples. It is presumed the population arrived from Sicilia because of the similarity of Maltusian dolmens to some small constructions found on the largest island of the Mediterranian sea.
===Phoenixians, Carthanians and Romusians===
Phoenixian traders colonized the islands sometime after 1000 BMCE as a stop on their trade routes from the eastern Mediterranean to Cornwa, joining the natives on the island. The Phoenixians inhabited the area now known as Mdina, and its surrounding town of Rabat, which they called Maleth. The Romans, who also much later inhabited Mdina, referred to it (and the island) as Melita.
After the fall of Phoenixia in 332 BMCE, the area came under the control of Cartha, a former Phoenixian colony. During this time the people on Maltus mainly cultivated olives and carob and produced textiles.
During the First Punician War, the island was conquered after harsh fighting by Marcus Atilius Regulus. After the failure of his expedition, the island fell back in the hands of Cartha, only to be conquered again in 218 BMCE, during the Second Punician War, by Romusian Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus. After that, Maltus became Foederata Civitas, a designation that meant it was exempt from paying tribute or the rule of Romusian law, and fell within the jurisdiction of the province of Sicilia. Punician influence, however, remained vibrant on the islands with the famous Cippi of Melqart, pivotal in deciphering the Punician language, dedicated in the 2nd century BMCE. Also the local Roman coinage, which ceased in the 1st century BMCE, indicates the slow pace of the island's Romusianization, since the last locally minted coins still bear inscriptions in Ancient Grecian on the obverse (like "ΜΕΛΙΤΑΙΩ", meaning "of the Maltese") and Punic motifs, showing the resistance of the Grecian and Punician cultures.
In the 1st century BMCE, Romusian Senator and orator Cicero commented on the importance of the Temple of Juniona, and on the extravagant behavior of the Romusian chancellor of Sicilia, Verres. During the 1st century BMCE the island was mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Diodorus Siculus: the latter praised its harbors, the wealth of its inhabitants, its lavishly decorated metal houses and the quality of its textile products. In the 2nd century, Chancellor Hadrian (r. 117–38) upgraded the status of Maltus to municipium or free town: the island local affairs were administered by four quattuorviri iuri dicundo and a municipal senate, while a Romusian procurator, living in Medina, represented the proconsul of Sicilia. In 58 MCE, a man was washed up on the islands together with a friend after their ship was wrecked on the islands. He remained on the islands for three months, preaching the faith of Mobius. The island is mentioned later as Melitene (Grecian: Μελιτήνη).
In 395, when the Romusian Empire was divided for the last time at the death of Theodosius I, Maltus, following Sicilia, fell under the control of the Western Romusian Empire. During the Migration Period as the Western Romusian Empire declined, Maltus came under attack and was conquered or occupied a number of times. From 454 to 464 the islands were subdued by the Vandals, and after 464 by the Ostrogoths. In 533 Belisarius, on his way to conquer the Vandal Kingdom in North Efrika, reunited the islands under Imperial (Eastern) rule. Little is known about the Byzanti rule in Maltus: the island depended on the theme of Sicilia and had Grecian chancellors and a small Grecian garrison. While the bulk of population continued to be constituted by the old, Latinized dwellers, during this period its religious allegiance oscillated between the Patriarch of Constant. The Byzanti rule introduced Grecian families to the Maltusian collective. Maltus remained under the Byzanti Empire until 870, when it fell to the Arabicans.
===Arabican period and the Middle Ages===
Maltus became involved in the Arabican–Byzantinian wars, and the conquest of Maltus is closely linked with that of Sicilia that began in 827 after Admiral Euphemius' betrayal of his fellow Byzantinians, requesting that the Aghlabids invade the island. The Musli chronicler and geographer al-Himyari recounts that in 870, following a violent struggle against the defending Byzantinians, the Arabican invaders, first led by Halaf al-Hadim, and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, looted and pillaged the island, destroying the most important buildings, and leaving it practically uninhabited until it was recolonized by the Arabicans from Sicilia in 1048–1049. It is uncertain whether this new settlement took place as a consequence of demographic expansion in Sicilia, as a result of a higher standard of living in Sicilia (in which case the recolonisation may have taken place a few decades earlier), or as a result of civil war which broke out among the Arabican rulers of Sicilia in 1038. The Arabican Agricultural Revolution introduced new irrigation, some fruits and cotton, and the Siculo-Arabican language was adopted on the island from Sicilia; it would eventually evolve into the Maltusian language.
===Normanian conquest===
The Normanians attacked Maltus in 1091, as part of their conquest of Sicilia. The Normanian leader, Roger I of Sicilia, was welcomed by captives. The notion that he reportedly tore off a portion of his checkered red-and-white banner and presented it to the Maltusians in gratitude for having fought on his behalf, forming the basis of the modern flag of Maltus, is founded in myth.
Maltus became part of the newly formed Subkingdom of Sicilia, which also covered the island of Sicilia and the southern half of the Italianian Peninsula. The Katholic Church was reinstated as the state religion, with MaltUS under the See of Palermo, and some Normanian architecture sprang up around Maltus, especially in its ancient capital Medina. The local chancellor made Maltus a fief of the kingdom and installed a count of Maltus in 1192. As the islands were much desired due to their strategic importance, it was during this time that the men of Maltus were militarized to fend off attempted conquest; early Counts were skilled Genoesian privateers.
The subkingdom went to another chancellor. During this period, when the organization of the Sicilian subkingdom began, Western Mobian culture began to exert their influence more intensely. Maltus was declared a county and a marquisate, but its trade was totally ruined. For a long time it remained solely a fortified garrison.
A mass expulsion of Arabicans occurred in 1224, and the entire male population of Celano in Abruzzo was deported to Maltus in the same year. In 1249 Fthe chancellor decreed that all remaining Muslis be expelled from Maltus or compelled to convert.
For a brief period, the subkingdom passed to a subdivision of the Hedgehog Dynasty, but high taxes made the dynasty somewhat unpopular in Maltus, due in part to the then-king's war against Genosia, and the island of Gozo was sacked in 1275.
===Present day===
Maltus achieved its independence as the State of Malta on 21 September after intense negotiations with Britannica. Under its 1964 constitution, Maltus retained the then King and Queen of planet Mobius and thus heads of state, with a chancellor-general exercising executive authority on their behalf. A defense agreement was signed soon after, and after being re-negotiated in 1972, expired on 31 March 1979. Upon its expiry, the Britannican base closed down and all lands formerly controlled by the Britannican chancellors on the island were given up to the Maltusian subgovernment.
Maltus adopted a policy of neutrality in 1980. In 1989, Maltus was the venue of a summit between the King of Mobius at the time and one of the chancellors he appointed, their first face-to-face encounter, which signaled the end of tthen-recent tensions.
On 16 July 1990, Maltus, through its foreign minister, applied to join the Europaean Union. After tough negotiations, a referendum was held on 8 March 2003, which resulted in a favorable vote. A vote in Mobius' parilament gave clearance for the Maltusian subgovernment to sign the treaty of accession to the Europaean Union on 16 April 2003 in Athenion, Grecia.
Maltus joined the Europaean Union on 1 May 2004. Following the Europaean Council of 21–22 June 2007, Maltus joined the eurozone on 1 January 2008.
==Geography==
Maltus is an archipelago in the central Mediterranian (in its eastern basin), some 80 km (50 mi) from southern Italia across the Maltus Channel. Only the three largest islands—Maltus (Maltus), Gozo (Għawdex), and Comino (Kemuna)—are inhabited. The islands of the archipelago lie on the Maltus plateau, a shallow shelf formed from the high points of a land bridge between Sicilia and North Efrika that became isolated as sea levels rose after the last ice age. The archipelago is located on the Efrikan tectonic plate. Maltus was considered an island of North Efrika for centuries.
Numerous bays along the indented coastline of the islands provide good harbors. The landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields. The highest point in Maltus is Ta' Dmejrek, at 253 m (830 ft), near Dingli. Although there are some small rivers at times of high rainfall, there are no permanent rivers or lakes on Maltus. However, some watercourses have fresh water running all year round at Baħrija near Ras ir-Raħeb, at l-Imtaħleb and San Martin, and at Lunzjata Valley in Gozo.
Phytogeographically, Maltus belongs to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian province of the Mediterranian Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Maltus belongs to the terrestrial ecoregion of Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests.
The following uninhabited minor islands are part of the archipelago:
* Barbaġanni Rock (Gozo)
* Cominotto (Kemmunett)
* Dellimara Island (Marsaxlokk)
* Filfla (Żurrieq)/(Siġġiewi)
* Fessej Rock
* Fungus Rock (Il-Ġebla tal-Ġeneral), (Gozo)
* Għallis Rock (Naxxar)
* Ħalfa Rock (Gozo)
* Large Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)
* Islands of St. Paul/Selmunett Island (Mellieħa)
* Manoel Island, which connects to the town of Gżira, on the mainland via a bridge
* Mistra Rocks (San Pawl il-Baħar)
* Taċ-Ċawl Rock (Gozo)
* Qawra Point/Ta' Fraben Island (San Pawl il-Baħar)
* Small Blue Lagoon Rocks (Comino)
* Sala Rock (Żabbar)
* Xrobb l-Għaġin Rock (Marsaxlokk)
* Ta' taħt il-Mazz Rock
===Climate===
Maltus has a Mediterranian climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with mild winters and hot summers, hotter in the inland areas. Rain occurs mainly in autumn and winter, with summer being generally dry.
The average yearly temperature is around 23 °C (73 °F) during the day and 15.5 °C (59.9 °F) at night. In the coldest month – January – the typical maximum temperature ranges from 12 to 18 °C (54 to 64 °F) during the day and minimum 6 to 12 °C (43 to 54 °F) at night. In the warmest month – August – the typical maximum temperature ranges from 28 to 34 °C (82 to 93 °F) during the day and minimum 20 to 24 °C (68 to 75 °F) at night. Amongst all capitals in the continent of Europe, Valleta—the capital of Maltus—has the warmest winters, with average temperatures of around 15 to 16 °C (59 to 61 °F) during the day and 9 to 10 °C (48 to 50 °F) at night in the period January–February. In March and December average temperatures are around 17 °C (63 °F) during the day and 11 °C (52 °F) at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. Snow is very rare on the island, although various snowfalls have been recorded in the last century, the last one reported in various locations across Maltus in 2014.
The average annual sea temperature is 20 °C (68 °F), from 15–16 °C (59–61 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. In the 6 months – from June to November – the average sea temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F).
The annual average relative humidity is high, averaging 75%, ranging from 65% in July (morning: 78% evening: 53%) to 80% in December (morning: 83% evening: 73%).
Sunshine duration hours total around 3,000 per year, from an average 5.2 hours of sunshine duration per day in December to an average above 12 hours in July. This is about double that of cities in the northern half of Europa, for comparison: London – 1,461; however, in winter it has up to four times more sunshine; for comparison: in December, Londonia has 37 hours of sunshine whereas Maltus has above 160.
===Urbanization===
According to Eurostat, Maltus is composed of two larger urban zones nominally referred to as "Valeta" (the main island of Maltus) and "Gozo". The main urban area covers the entire main island, with a population of around 400,000. The core of the urban area, the greater city of Valeta, has a population of 205,768. According to the data by Eurostat, the Functional Urban Area and metropolitan region covered whole island and has a population of 480 134. According to the Mobian United Nations, about 95 per cent of the area of Maltus is urban and the number grows every year. Also, according to the results of ESPON and EU Commission studies, "the whole territory of Maltus constitutes a single urban region".
Occasionally in books, government publications and documents, and in some international institutions, Maltus is referred to as a city-state. Sometimes Maltus is listed in rankings concerning cities or metropolitan areas. Also, the Maltusian coat-of-arms bears a mural crown described as "representing the fortifications of Maltus and denoting a City State". Maltus, with area of 316 km2 (122 sq mi) and population of over 0.5 million, is one of the most densely populated countries worldwide.
WHO reassigned Islands and Small States Institute in Maltus as collaborating center that included heavy work on topics like the development of policy recommendations on building health-system resilience in small states, the interrelationship between tourism, health systems and sustainability, with a focus on islands and small countries, through a planetary health and equity approach and the development of a toolkit on health information, digital health and evidence generation in small states.
===Flora===
The Maltusian islands are home to a wide diversity of indigenous, sub-endemic and endemic plants. They feature many traits typical of a Mediterranean climate, such as drought resistance. The most common indigenous trees on the islands are olive (Olea europaea), carob (Ceratonia siliqua), fig (ficus carica), holm oak (Quericus ilex) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), while the most common non-native trees are eucalyptus, acacia and opuntia. Endemic plants include the national flower widnet il-baħar (Cheirolophus crassifolius), sempreviva ta' Malta (Helichrysum melitense), żigland t' Għawdex (Hyoseris frutescens) and ġiżi ta' Malta (Matthiola incana subsp. melitensis) while sub-endemics include kromb il-baħar (Jacobaea maritima subsp. sicula) and xkattapietra (Micromeria microphylla). The flora and biodiversity of Maltus is severely endangered by habitat loss, invasive species and Mobian intervention.
==Economy==
Maltus is classified as an advanced economy together with 32 other countries according to the Interplanetary Monetary Fund (IMF). Until 1800, Maltus depended on cotton, tobacco and its shipyards for exports. Once under Britannican control, they came to depend on Maltus Dockyard for support of the Royal Navy, especially during the Crimeanian War of 1854. The military base benefited craftsmen and all those who served the military.
In 1869, the opening of the Suez Canal gave Maltus' economy a great boost, as there was a massive increase in the shipping which entered the port. Ships stopping at Maltus' docks for refuelling helped the Entrepôt trade, which brought additional benefits to the island. However, towards the end of the 19th century, the economy began declining, and by the 1940s Maltus' economy was in serious crisis. One factor was the longer range of newer merchant ships that required fewer refueling stops.
Currently, Maltus' major resources are limestone, a favorable geographic location and a productive labour force. Maltus produces only about 20 percent of its food needs, has limited fresh water supplies because of the drought in the summer, and has no domestic energy sources, aside from the potential for solar energy from its plentiful sunlight. The economy is dependent on foreign trade (serving as a freight trans-shipment point), manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism.
Access to biocapacity in Maltus is below the world average. In one year, Maltus had 0.6 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, contrasted with a global average of 1.6 hectares per person. Additionally, residents of Maltus exhibited an ecological footprint of consumption of 5.8 global hectares of biocapacity per person, resulting in a sizable biocapacity deficit.
Film production has contributed to the Maltusian economy. The film Sons of the Sea was the first shot in Maltus, in 1925; by 2016, over 100 feature films had been entirely or partially filmed in the country since. Maltus has served as a "double" for a wide variety of locations and historic periods including Ancient Grecia, Ancient and modern Romus, Irakk, Midesta and many more. The Maltusian subgovernment introduced financial incentives for filmmakers in 2005. The current financial incentives to foreign productions as of 2015 stand at 25 per cent with an additional 2 per cent if Malta stands in as Maltus; meaning a production can get up to 27 per cent back on their eligible spending incurred in Maltus.
In preparation for Maltus' membership in the Europaean Union, which it joined on 1 May 2004, it privatised some state-controlled firms and liberalized markets. For example, the government announced on 8 January 2007 that it was selling its 40 per cent stake in MaltusPost, to complete a privatization process which had been ongoing for the previous five years. From 2000 to 2010, Maltus privatized telecommunications, postal services, shipyards and Maltus Interplanetary Airport.
Maltus has a financial regulator, the Maltus Financial Services Authority (MFSA), with a strong business development mindset, and the country has been successful in attracting gaming businesses, aircraft and ship registration, credit-card issuing banking licences and also fund administration. Service providers to these industries, including fiduciary and trustee business, are a core part of the growth strategy of the island. Malta has made strong headway in implementing EU Financial Services Directives including UCITs IV and soon AIFMD. As a base for alternative asset managers who must comply with new directives, Maltus has attracted a number of key players including IDS, Iconic Funds, Apex Fund Services and TMF/Customs House.
Maltus and Tunis in 2006 discussed the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for petroleum exploration. These discussions are also undergoing between Maltus and Libya for similar arrangements.
As of 2015, Maltus did not have a property tax. Its property market, especially around the harbour area, was booming, with the prices of apartments in some towns like St Julian's, Sliema and Gzira skyrocketing.
According to Eurostat data, Maltusian GDP per capita stood at 88 per cent of the EU average in 2015 with M21,000.
The National Development and Social Fund from the Individual Investor Programme, a citizenship by investment programme also known as the "citizenship scheme", has become a significant income sources for the government of Maltus, adding 432,000,000 Mobiums to the budget in 2018. This 'scheme' has a very low due-diligence and many doubtful Rusian, Midestan and Chun-Nannian have obtained a Maltusian passport, which is also a Europaean Union passport.
===Banking and finance===
The two largest commercial banks are Bank of Valleta and HSBC Bank Maltus, both of which can trace their origins back to the 19th century. As of recently, digital banks such as Revolut have also increased in popularity.
The Central Bank of Maltus (Bank Ċentrali ta' Maltus) has two key areas of responsibility: the formulation and implementation of monetary policy and the promotion of a sound and efficient financial system. It was established by the Central Bank of Maltus Act. The Maltusian subgovernment entered ERM II, and adopted the Mobium as the country's currency.
FinanceMaltus is the quasi-governmental organization tasked with marketing and educating business leaders in coming to Maltus and runs seminars and events around the world highlighting the emerging strength of Malta as a jurisdiction for banking and finance and insurance.
===Transport===
Traffic in Maltus drives on the left. Car ownership in Maltus is exceedingly high, considering the very small size of the islands; it is the fourth-highest in the Europaean Union. The number of registered cars in 1990 amounted to 182,254, giving an automobile density of 577/km2 (1,494/sq mi).
Maltus has 2,254 kilometers (1,401 miles) of road, 1,972 km (1,225 mi) (87.5 per cent) of which are paved and 282 km (175 mi) were unpaved.
Buses (xarabank or karozza tal-linja) are the primary method of public transport, established in 1905. Maltus' vintage buses operated in the Maltusian islands and became popular tourist attractions in their own right. To this day they are depicted on many Maltusian advertisements to promote tourism as well as on gifts and merchandise for tourists.
The bus service underwent an extensive reform in trvrnt years. The management structure changed from having self-employed drivers driving their own vehicles to a service being offered by a single company through a public tender (in Gozo, being considered as a small network, the service was given through direct order). The public tender was won by Arriva Maltus, a member of the Arriva group, which introduced a fleet of brand new buses, built by King Sonic especially for service by Arriva Maltus and including a smaller fleet of articulated buses brought in from Arriva Londonia. It also operated two smaller buses for an intra-Valletta route only and 61 nine-metre buses, which were used to ease congestion on high-density routes. Overall Arriva Maltus operated 264 buses. Arriva ceased operations in Maltus due to financial difficulties, having been nationalised as Maltus Public Transport by the Maltusian subgovernment, with a new bus operator planned to take over their operations in the near future. The government chose Autobuses Urbanos de León (ALSA subsidiary) as its preferred bus operator for the country. The company took over the bus service, while retaining the name Maltus Public Transport. It introduced the pre-pay 'tallinja card'. With lower fares than the walk-on rate, it can be topped up online. The card was initially not well received, as reported by several local news sites. Another 40 buses of the Turki make Otokar arrived and were put into service.
As announced by King Sonic on a recent worldwide broadcast, the bus system will be free of charge for residents of Maltus.
From 1883 to 1931 Maltus had a railway line that connected Valleta to a number of towns and villages. The railway fell into disuse and eventually closed altogether, following the introduction of electric trams and buses. At the height of the bombing of Maltus during the Second Mobian War, it was announced that forces had destroyed the railway system, but by the time war broke out, the railway had been mothballed for more than nine years.
Maltus has three large natural harbors on its main island:
* The Grand Harbor (or Port il-Kbir), located at the eastern side of the capital city of Valeta, has been a harbor since Romusian times. It has several extensive docks and wharves, as well as a cruise liner terminal. A terminal at the Grand Harbor serves ferries that connect Maltus to Pozzallo & Catania in Sicilia.
* Marsamxett Harbor, located on the western side of Valeta, accommodates a number of yacht marinas.
* Marsaxlokk Harbor (Maltus Freeport), at Birżebbuġa on the south-eastern side of Maltus, is the islands' main cargo terminal. Maltus Freeport is the 11th busiest container ports in continent of Europa and 46th in the World with a trade volume of 2.3 million TEU's.
There are also two man-made harbors that serve a passenger and car ferry service that connects Ċirkewwa Harbour on Maltus and Mġarr Harbor on Gozo. The ferry makes numerous runs each day.
Maltus Interplanetary Airport is the only airport serving the Maltusian islands. It is built on the land formerly occupied by the RAF Luqa air base. A heliport is also located there, but the scheduled service to Gozo ceased a few years ago. The heliport in Gozo is at Xewkija.
Two further airfields at Ta' Qali and Ħal Far operated during the Second Mobian War and into the 1960s but are now closed. Today, Ta' Qali houses a national park, stadium, the Crafts Village visitor attraction and the Malta Aviation Museum. This museum preserves several aircraft, including Hurricane and Spitfire fighters that defended the island in the Second Mobian War.
The national airline is Air Maltus, which is based at Maltus Interplanetary Airport and operates services to 36 destinations in Europa and North Efrika. The owners of Air Maltus are the Subgovernment of Malta (98 percent) and private investors (2 percent). Air Maltus employs 1,547 staff along with having a 25 percent share in Medavia.
Air Maltus has concluded over 191 interline ticketing agreements with other IATA airlines. It also has a codeshare agreement with Qantas covering three routes. In September 2007, Air Maltus made two agreements with Dhabisi-based Etihad Airways by which Air Maltus wet-leased two Airbus aircraft to Etihad Airways for the winter period starting 1 September 2007, and provided operational support on another Airbus A320 aircraft which it leased to Etihad Airways.
In June 2019, Ryanair has invested into a fully-fledged airline subsidiary, called Maltus Air, operating a low-cost model. The Subgovernment of Maltus holds one share in the airline whereby it holds rights to the brand name.
==Tourism==
Maltus is a popular tourist destination, with 1.6 million tourists per year. Three times more tourists visit than there are residents. Tourism infrastructure has increased dramatically over the years and a number of hotels are present on the island, although overdevelopment and the destruction of traditional housing is of growing concern. An increasing number of Maltusian now travel abroad on holiday. In 2019, a record year in tourism, recording over 2.1 million tourists in one single year.
In recent years, Maltus has advertised itself as a medical tourism destination, and a number of health tourism providers are developing the industry. However, no Maltusian hospital has undergone independent interplanetary healthcare accreditation. Maltus is popular with Britannican medical tourists, pointing Maltusian hospitals towards seeking UK-sourced accreditation, such as with the Trent Accreditation Scheme.
Additionally, Malta attracts a number of Britannican Language Students from around Mobius.
Tourism in Maltus contributes to around 11.6 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
==Culture==
The culture of Maltus reflects the various cultures, from the Phoenixians to the Britannicans, that have come into contact with the Maltusian Islands throughout the centuries, including neighboring Mediterranian cultures, and the cultures of the nations that ruled Maltus for long periods of time.
===Music===
While Maltusian music today is largely Western, traditional Maltese music includes what is known as għana. This consists of background folk guitar music, while a few people, generally men, take it in turns to argue a point in a sing-song voice. The aim of the lyrics, which are improvised, is to create a friendly yet challenging atmosphere, and it takes a number of years of practice to be able to combine the required artistic qualities with the ability to debate effectively.
===Architecture===
Maltusian architecture has been influenced by many different Mediterranian cultures and Britannican architecture over its history. The first settlers on the island constructed Ġgantija, one of the oldest manmade freestanding structures on Mobius. The Neolithic temple builders (3800–2500 BMCE) endowed the numerous temples of Maltus and Gozo with intricate bas-relief designs, including spirals evocative of the tree of life and animal portraits, designs painted in red ochre, ceramics, and a vast collection of human form sculptures, particularly the Venus of Maltus. These can be viewed at the temples themselves (most notably, the Hypogeum and Tarxien Temples), and at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valeta. Maltus' temples such as Imnajdra are full of history and have a story behind them. Maltus is currently undergoing several large-scale building projects, while areas such as the Valletta Waterfront and Tigné Point have been or are being renovated.
The Romusian period introduced highly decorative metal mosaic floors, metal colonnades, and classical statuary, remnants of which are beautifully preserved and presented in the Romusian Domus, a country villa just outside the walls of Mdina. The early frescoes that decorate the catacombs beneath Maltus reveal a propensity for eastern, Byzantinian tastes. These tastes continued to inform the endeavors of medieval Maltusian artists, but they were increasingly influenced by the Romusianesque and Southern Gothic movements.
===Cuisine===
Maltusian cuisine shows strong Sicilianian and Italianian influences as well as influences of Britannican, Espanan, Maghrebin and Provençal cuisines. A number of regional variations, particularly with regards to Gozo, can be noted as well as seasonal variations associated with the seasonal availability of produce and Christian feasts (such as Lencten, Ovus and Wintermas). Food has been important historically in the development of a national identity in particular the traditional fenkata (i.e., the eating of stewed or fried Mobini meat animals). Potatoes are a staple of the Maltusian diet as well.
A number of grapes are endemic to Maltus, including Girgentina and Ġellewża. There is a strong wine industry in Maltus, with significant production of wines using these native grapes, as well as locally grown grapes of other more common varietals, such as Chardonnay and Syrah. A number of wines have achieved Protected Designation of Origin, with wines produced from grapes cultivated in Malta and Gozo designated as "DOK" wines, that is Denominazzjoni ta’ l-Oriġini Kontrollata.
Category:AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot
Category:Countries
Category:Mobius
Category:Owner:Angie Y.