Malta is an archipelago of coralline limestone, located in Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea, 81 kilometres south of Sicily, Italy,[1] and nearly 300 km north (Libya) and northeast (Tunisia) of Africa.

Although Malta is situated in Southern Europe, it is located farther south than Tunis, capital of Tunisia, Algiers, capital of Algeria, Tangier in Morocco and also Aleppo in Syria, and Mosul in Iraq in the Middle East.

The landscape of the islands is characterised by high hills with terraced fields.

The lowest point is the Mediterranean Sea at 0 m and the highest point is Ta' Dmejrek at 253 m. The Geology of Malta consists of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of late Oligocene to late Miocene age cut through by a set of extensional faults of Pliocene age.

[10] 32 km2 (2007) 0.05 km3 (2011) Limited natural fresh water resources; increasing reliance on desalination.