Malta
The Republic of Malta is an European Union member state that occupies the eponymous island and associated archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It's a rather weird place with a rather rich history.
Some cranks have declared it to be the location of Atlantis,[1][2][3] despite not being in the Atlantic Ocean.
Linguistically, it is interesting in that Maltese is the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet. It is also Europe's only national Semitic language and is unrelated to Europe's other languages, most of which are Indo-European. (Despite this, the vocabulary of Maltese is, interestingly enough, mostly Italian and English. Some have estimated the proportion of Semitic words in Maltese at around only 30%.)
[edit] Malta and religion
Tradition has it that Paul landed on Malta in the first century CE AD and brought Christianity there. Malta is usually considered the most Catholic country in the world[4]; 94% of the population is Roman Catholic. Malta is one of the few countries in Europe retaining an established religion. It is also one of only four countries in the world where abortion is illegal without exceptions, though in practice abortions are permitted when the mother's life is in danger. In 2011 in a referendum a slim majority of the Maltese population voted to legalize divorce.[5]
[edit] External links
- From the otherworld to another world?, Philip Coppens (article about the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni; the source is a bit...)
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/atlantida_mu/esp_atlantida_17.htm
- ↑ http://atlantipedia.ie/samples/malta-echoes-of-plato%E2%80%99s-island-2/
- ↑ http://www.atlantipedia.com/index.php?id=europe&jfile=doku.php&option=com_jfusion&Itemid=53
- ↑ Well, technically Vatican City has them beat, but they cheat
- ↑ Malta votes 'Yes' in divorce referendum, BBC News