Malta and Gozo are part of the Maltese archipelago of the Mediterranean, which includes an area of 320 square km, including several uninhabited islets. The islands are 250 km (155 miles) from mainland Europe, 290 km (180 miles) from North Africa, and 96 km (60 miles) from Sicily. Malta and Gozo have a hot, dry climate, and consist of physically gently sloping limestone plateaus, with thin soils. The islands lack useful resources such as high quality cherts, obsidian, ochre, metals and any hard stones for axes. The Maltese temple builders either traded with their neighbors for these materials, or made do without.
The islands were originally forested when people arrived ~6000 BC, but with few large land animals. They were probably rapidly deforested after colonization, with agricultural fields, building events, and the browsing of domestic goats the main culprits. Malta measures 95 square miles (245.7 sq km), and Gozo 27 square miles (67.1 sq km), with a channel of 5 miles between them. Two tiny islands (Comino and Cominotto) lie in the channel and a third, Filfla, lies off the coast of Malta. Maltese sailors say they can sail across from Sicily to Malta in an oar-propelled craft in less than 24 hours, by keeping Mount Etna on Sicily in sight the whole way.
Note: I am told that a recent PhD analysis of sediment cores on Malta by Katrin Fenech recovered pollen suggesting that the islands had never been forested. I haven't seen it yet, but in the meantime, the reference is listed in the sources.
Sources
Robb J. 2001. Island Identities: Ritual, Travel and The Creation of Difference in Neolithic Malta. European Journal of Archaeology 4(2):175-202.
See the Malta Temples bibliography for more information.
