Talk:Malta/GA2

GA review

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Nominator: Wikipedian12512 (talk · contribs) 22:01, 21 September 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Generalissima (talk · contribs) 00:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Ooh, another country article! I'll try to give this one a look over the coming days. Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 00:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! I’m glad for a familiar face. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:24, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Lead

• It consists of an archipelago which is 80 km (50 mi) south of Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya The distances clutter up the lede a bit, and I don't think they're needed right here. Restating that it is an archipelago is a bit unnecessary when we already say its an island country. Perhaps the first sentence could be something like "Malta [...] is an island country located in the central Mediterranean Sea between Italy, Tunis, and Libya."? And instead of "it consists of an archipelago", we could say "It consists of two main islands, Malta and Gozo."?

• Good point. I’ll go with that. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:24, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• "which is the smallest capital city in the European Union by both area and population this would be a good line in the article on Valletta, but I don't think this information is due weight in the lead for the country itself.

• Another good point; plus isn’t mentioned anywhere else. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:24, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• and the 166th most populated Not needed for the lede.

• I disagree. The paragraph is talking about Malta’s place in the world, which does need some overall indicator of relative population. I could also change it to [some number]th/rd/nd least populated. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:24, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Various sources consider the country to consist of a single urban region, for which it is often described as a city-state. Why does this need to be attributed? We can just say "It is often described as a city-state", much simpler.

• Good point; I’ve made it work without “various sources consider”, though I prefer the reasoning as to why it is considered a city state. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:24, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Paragraph on history is good.
  • Wikilink Allies. Also, I don't think you need to specify it was a base "for North Africa and the Mediterranean"; its location makes that somewhat obvious.

• Yeah, good point. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:41, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• You can wikilink Music of Malta, Maltese cuisine, and Architecture of Malta.

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:41, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• freedom of conscience and religious worship can simplify to "freedom of religion".

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:41, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Nowadays unneeded

• Done, though a “now” needs to be somewhere. I’ve added it elsewhere. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:41, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Wikilink Tourism in Malta

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 11:41, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Etymology

• Unsure if the mini-paragraph about the use of "Malta" in English is needed.

• Weak disagree, but done. Cheers, _{In solidarity}User:Wikipedian12512(alt) (Talking is fine | contribs) 12:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

History

• 6500-8000 BC - should be 8000-6500 BC, no?

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity}User:Wikipedian12512(alt) (Talking is fine | contribs) 14:19, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• The claim for an occupation of the island by Neanderthals is widely rejected If it's widely-rejected, it probably shouldn't be mentioned here.

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 18:55, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Give rough dates for the Neolithic

• Can you clarify? The farmers, the period itself, or the Neolithic culture that was exhibited? Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 18:55, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• A common occupation of megalithic temple-building came later This sentence reads a little weird to me, like that people's jobs were to build megalithic temples.

• Done. Also realized that my book (A Brief History of Malta, by J. S. Abela) worked for everything save the pyramid part, which I got from the Cultures of the World series at my library, so I’ve gone lighter on citations for that paragraph. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 19:12, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Also, either arising from or supplanting the previous culture is a bit meaningless, because it’s not like there are other options beyond these two.

• Done. (There are other options, like coexisting with, but the readers are unlikely to think that given the wording.) Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 19:12, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• These temples are the oldest standing stone structures in the world This can't be right; see Barnenez, the Knap of Howar, the Tumulus of Bougon, Çatalhöyük, Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, etc.

• Oops. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 19:12, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Actually, wait. I’m going to self revert; we should figure this out. There are a bunch of important words here. It must be standing, so this rules out things that have collapsed, are underwater, etc.. It must be free-standing, so anything that relies on non-stone for support on anything other than a relatively flat ground doesn’t count. It also must be a structure, so it has to consist of multiple stones reliant on each other. Çatalhöyük doesn’t count, it is mudbrick. The last two you said are debatable in these criteria; one could give an argument that they aren’t free standing because some of the pillars are slotted into the ground.

In the timeline part of megalith, I can’t see anything satisfying all of those before Malta. Am I missing something? Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 19:20, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Sorry, when adding to Wikipedia, in order to avoid copyright troubles, I changed the words there a bit, adding partial ambiguity. I’ve changed the wording to something more clear. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 22:30, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

To be more clear, the requirements are that it is megalithic, standing, free-standing, and a structure. Sorry that my entire reasoning is a mess. Cheers, _{In solidarity}User:Wikipedian12512(alt) (Talking is fine | contribs) 15:43, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

• The link to Carthage should probably go to Ancient Carthage

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 20:03, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• the island fell back into the hands of Carthage This reads too flowery. "returned to Carthaginian control" maybe?

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 22:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• the Roman consul named Tiberius Sempronius Longus I know you wanna avoid sea of blue, but you can instead say "Tiberius Sempronius Longus, a Roman consul".

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 20:03, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• During the Migration Period as the Western Roman Empire declined I think "As the Western Roman Empire declined during the Migration Period," would read better

• Good point, done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 22:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Briefly introduce the Vandals and Ostrogoths as Germanic tribes

• Done. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 22:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Introduce Belisarius

• Done, good point. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 22:27, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

• Malta's religious allegiance oscillated between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople this predates the East–West Schism, no? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to be a relatively minor issue of church hierarchy rather than proper religious affiliation prior to the schism

• Sorry, I don’t quite understand. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 01:52, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

• Malta became involved in the Arab–Byzantine wars, and the conquest of Malta is linked with the Muslim conquest of Sicily that began in 827 after Admiral Euphemius' betrayal of his fellow Byzantines, requesting that the Aghlabids invade the island Weirdly passive tone here, while "betrayal of his fellow Byzantines" is very opinionated and non-neutral. Rewrite this section.

• Reworded the betrayal bit and removed misleading bit (it was a different island). Is the passive tone in the “linked with”? Sicily has historically been linked with Malta and this is no exception. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 01:52, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

• Specify the Banu Matkud were Berber

• Done, though it flows poorly. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 02:32, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

• Christian captives also not neutral language

• Disagree, they were in captivity as an alternative to conversion, but I’ll change to “the Christians”. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 02:32, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

• but its trade destroyed this is gramatically incorrect; it's also unclear what it means, give context on it.

• Fixed; though I don’t understand what’s unclear. It was a shell of its former self after the Arabs and the freeing from them, and so, although it was a country, it did not have the people or materials to give it any economic sway, and thus remained a glorified fortress. Cheers, _{In solidarity} Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 02:32, 23 September 2026 (UTC)