Malta Trivia
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57 free Malta trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Malta is a speck in the central Mediterranean, 80 km south of Sicily, that has been fought over by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, the Knights of St John, Napoleon and the British. It now has the EU's smallest capital, its own Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet, and a flag carrying a British medal. This quiz covers all of it: the three inhabited islands, Valletta and Mdina, the Ġgantija temples that predate the pyramids, St Paul's shipwreck, the Great Siege of 1565, the George Cross of 1942, independence in 1964, the republic of 1974 and the euro in 2008. Culture gets equal weight: the Maltese language and its Siculo-Arabic roots, pastizzi and stuffat tal-fenek, Cisk beer and Kinnie, Caravaggio's Beheading of St John, the village festa and Carnival, driving on the left, and why the Knights paid rent in falcons. Easy questions ask which sea Malta sits in; hard ones want the highest point, the year the Arabs conquered the islands and the name of the national poet. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Malta, Valletta, the Great Siege, the flag and Maltese cuisine, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 57 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Malta lies in which sea?
The Mediterranean
The Mediterranean surrounds Malta, which sits near the centre of that sea, south of Sicily and north of Libya, on the old shipping lane between Gibraltar and Suez.
Q 02What is the capital of Malta?
Valletta
Valletta, built by the Knights on the Sciberras peninsula after the siege of 1565, is the European Union's smallest capital, under a square kilometre with about 6,000 residents.
Q 03Besides Malta itself, which two islands of the archipelago are inhabited?
Gozo and Comino
Gozo and Comino are the inhabited islands besides Malta: Gozo is the rural second island with tens of thousands of people, while Comino, between the two, has only a handful of permanent residents.
Q 04What are Malta's two official languages?
Maltese and English
Maltese and English are both official under the constitution, with Maltese the national language; if the Maltese and English texts of a law conflict, the Maltese version prevails.
Q 05The Maltese language descends from which extinct dialect?
Siculo-Arabic
Siculo-Arabic, the Arabic spoken in Sicily from the ninth century, gave Maltese its grammar and core vocabulary; later Sicilian, Italian and English borrowings layered on top, making it the only Semitic language with official EU status.
Q 06Malta is roughly how far from Italy?
80 km
80 km is the distance from Malta to the Sicilian coast, making Italy the nearest neighbour; Tunisia lies 284 km west and Libya 333 km south.
Q 07The Ġgantija temples on Gozo, built around 3500 BC, are notable as what?
Some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world
Some of the oldest free-standing structures in the world, the Ġgantija temples predate Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids by about a millennium, their coralline limestone walls surviving to over six metres.
Q 08Which biblical figure was shipwrecked on Malta around AD 60, according to the Acts of the Apostles?
St Paul
St Paul, being shipped to Rome for trial, was wrecked on Malta in Acts 27-28, where he healed the father of Publius, the island's chief man, who by tradition became its first bishop.
Q 09The Arabs conquered Malta from the Byzantines in which year?
870
870 was the year the Aghlabids of Ifriqiya took Malta from the Byzantines and sacked its town; the geographer al-Himyari wrote that it lay nearly deserted until Muslims from Sicily resettled it in 1048-49.
Q 10Which Norman leader attacked Malta in 1091 and is credited by legend with the colours of its flag?
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I of Sicily raided Malta in 1091 and took tribute from its Muslim rulers; the tale that he tore a strip from his red-and-white banner for the islanders is a myth, but it shaped the modern flag.
Q 11In 1530, Charles V handed Malta to the Knights Hospitaller in exchange for what annual tribute?
A Maltese falcon
A Maltese falcon, sent each All Saints' Day to the Viceroy of Sicily, was the only rent Charles V asked; the Knights, driven from Rhodes by the Ottomans in 1522, accepted and landed in October 1530.
Q 12Which Grand Master led the Knights through the Great Siege of 1565?
Jean de Valette
Jean de Valette, Grand Master from 1557, held Birgu and Senglea against the Ottomans through the summer of 1565 and laid the foundation stone of the fortified new city on 28 March 1566.
Q 13Which Ottoman sultan sent the fleet that besieged Malta in 1565?
Suleiman the Magnificent
Q 21Which two leaders held a 1989 summit in Malta that heralded the end of the Cold War?
George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev
George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev met aboard ships in storm-tossed Marsaxlokk Bay on 2-3 December 1989, weeks after the Berlin Wall opened, and declared the era of confrontation over.
Q 22Malta joined the European Union in which year?
2004
2004 was the year: Malta joined on 1 May 2004 with nine other states in the EU's largest enlargement, after approving membership in a 2003 referendum, and adopted the euro on 1 January 2008.
Q 23What was Malta's currency before the euro?
The Maltese lira
Suleiman the Magnificent, who had taken Rhodes from the Knights in 1522, sent tens of thousands of men under Lala Mustafa Pasha and admiral Piyale Pasha against Malta in 1565; the siege failed.
Q 14How long did the Great Siege of Malta last?
Nearly four months
Nearly four months: the Ottomans landed on 18 May 1565 and withdrew after the relief force arrived in early September; 8 September is kept as Victory Day, a public holiday.
Q 15Which French general captured Malta from the Knights in 1798 on his way to Egypt?
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte took Malta without a real fight in June 1798 when the Knights surrendered; in six days he abolished slavery and feudal privileges and sailed on to Egypt, leaving a garrison the Maltese rose against within months.
Q 16Malta formally became part of the British Empire under which 1814 treaty?
Paris
Paris was where the 1814 treaty ending the war with France was signed, confirming British sovereignty over Malta, whose people had sought British protection in 1800 after ejecting the French garrison.
Q 17Which award did the British king give to the whole island of Malta in April 1942?
The George Cross
The George Cross was awarded to Malta by George VI on 15 April 1942 'to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history'; it has been on the flag since 1943.
Q 18The Maltese flag is unique among national flags for featuring what?
English-language text
English-language text is what no other national flag carries: the medal in the canton, awarded to the island for its wartime endurance, bears the words 'For Gallantry'.
Q 19Malta gained independence from Britain on which date?
21 September 1964
21 September 1964 was Independence Day: Malta became a sovereign state within the Commonwealth under Prime Minister George Borg Olivier, keeping Elizabeth II as Queen of Malta until the republic of 1974.
Q 20Which Labour prime minister led Malta to declare itself a republic in 1974?
Dom Mintoff
Dom Mintoff, Labour prime minister from 1971 to 1984, pushed through the constitutional change that made Malta a republic on 13 December 1974 and negotiated the British forces' departure, completed on 31 March 1979.
The Maltese lira, known in English as the Maltese pound until 1983, gave way to the euro on 1 January 2008 at a fixed 0.4293 lira per euro; before 1825 the islands had used the scudo.
Q 24What symbol appears on Malta's €1 and €2 coins?
The Maltese cross
The Maltese cross, the eight-pointed emblem of the Knights of St John, is on the €1 and €2 coins; the coat of arms fills the 10, 20 and 50 cent pieces and the Mnajdra Temples the three smallest copper coins.
Q 25What is the highest point in Malta?
Ta' Dmejrek at 253 m
Ta' Dmejrek at 253 m, on the Dingli Cliffs plateau in the west of the main island, is the archipelago's summit; the islands have no permanent rivers or lakes.
Q 26How much land do Malta's islands cover in total?
316 sq km
316 sq km is the combined area of the three inhabited islands, making Malta the world's tenth-smallest country and, with well over half a million people, one of the most densely populated.
Q 27Which hilltop city served as Malta's capital from antiquity until the Knights arrived?
Mdina
Mdina, on a hill in the centre of the main island, was the Phoenician settlement of Maleth and the Roman town of Melite; it stayed the capital until the Knights settled at Birgu in 1530.
Q 28On which tectonic plate does Malta sit?
African
African is the plate: Malta is the exposed top of the Pelagian Platform, a shelf of the African plate that formed a land bridge between Sicily and North Africa before sea levels rose.
Q 29Which side of the road do Maltese drivers use?
The left
The left is the Maltese side, a legacy of a century and a half of British rule; Malta, Cyprus and Ireland are the only EU states that drive on the left.
Q 30The traditional Maltese fenkata is a meal centred on which meat?
Rabbit
Rabbit is the centrepiece: a fenkata runs from spaghetti in rabbit sauce to stuffat tal-fenek, rabbit stewed in wine and garlic; tradition says the dish began as defiance of the Knights' hunting bans.