Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe, located in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago between Italy, Tunisia and Libya. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily and Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. The two official languages are Maltese, the only Semitic language in Europe and the European Union, and English. The country's capital is Valletta.

An archipelago, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.