Times of Malta, 18th September 2008, by Ivan Camilleri –

Malta is by far the most crowded country in the EU, according to figures released in the British House of Commons. Intended to underline the “shocking” fact that England has become the most crowded “major” country in Europe as it surpassed The Netherlands for the first time, the figures show a much worse situation for Malta, which is more than three times more crammed than England.

In fact, according to the Commons figures, “the most densely-populated major nation” currently has 395 people per square kilometre; Malta has 1,274 living in the same area. Malta’s density is 3.2 times more than England’s and a lot more when compared to the rest of the EU.

Luxembourg, which is often compared to Malta at an EU level, is seven times less populated than Malta with 177 people per square kilometre. The Duchy is also seven times bigger than Malta in area.

According to United Nations statistics, Malta is the eighth densest country in the world. Macau is the world’s densest country with a population of 520,000 living in just 28.6 square kilometres. Monaco and Singapore follow.

Finland is the least densely-populated country in the EU with just 16 people per square kilometre.