The Maltese islands have a long and complex history. The people who inhabited the islands have left deep imprints as shown in archaeological findings.
Chronological list of human colonization in the Maltese Islands;
5000-4000 BC
First known human settlement (agricultural life-style)
c. 2000 BC
First invasion by bronze-using people (warrior-farmers)
c. 1400 BC
Second invasion bronze-using people (warrior-farmers)
800-480 BC
Phoenician colonization
480-218 BC
Carthaginian colonization
218 BC
Islands formally part of the Roman Empire
AD 395-870
Byzantine domination
AD 870
Aghlabite Arab occupation
AD 1091
Norman occupation
AD 1194-1266
Swaban rule (from present-day Germany)
AD 1266-1283
Angevin rule (from present-day France)
AD 1283-1412
Aragonese rule (from present-day Spain)
AD 1412-1518
Castillan rule (from present-day Spain)
AD 1518-1530
Holy Roman Empire rule
AD 1530-1798
Knights of the Order of St. John rule
AD 1798-1800
French occupation
AD 1800-1964
British rule
AD 1964
Indipendence
