Country Profile: Malta

Country Resources


Thematic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
The World 1:30,000,000 Scale Topographic Map Series 1145 (NGA)DMA1:30,000,0002

Global Census Archive: GIS Census Data

East View Geospatial has an ongoing effort to add GIS census data to our Global Census Archive program. Please contact us for the status and availability of Malta census resources.


Global Resources

Topographic
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military City PlansVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)Varies1944 – 20033017
Soviet Military 1:100,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:100,0001947 – 199924897
Soviet Military 1:200,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:200,0001949 – 200917799
Soviet Military 1:500,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:500,0001953 – 19983093

Nautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
NGA Nautical Charts POD Certified (All Scales)National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyVaries1943 – 20134517

Aeronautical
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Joint Operations Graphic (JOG) 1:250,000 – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:250,0001958 – 20074204
Tactical Pilotage Chart (TPC) 1:500,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:500,0001967 – 2006598
Operational Navigation Chart (ONC) 1:1,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:1,000,0001969 – 2001243
Jet Navigation Chart (JNC) 1:2,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:2,000,0001971 – 1999117
Global Navigation and Planning Chart (GNC) 1:5,000,000 Scale – AeronauticalDefence Mapping Agency1:5,000,0001981 – 199927

Geoscientific
SeriesPublisherScaleYearsSheets
Soviet Military 1:1,000,000 Scale Topographic MapsVoenno-topograficheskoe upravlenie General’nogo shtaba (Soviet Union)1:1,000,0001948 – 19941089

Note: East View Geospatial is continuously sourcing new resources that may not yet be listed in Global Explorer. Please contact us if you have geodata needs beyond what is listed above and we will be happy to discuss available off-the-shelf and custom solutions.


Historical Country Mapping Information

Jump to: Topographic | Geological/Scientific | Imagery | Soil | Atlas | Tourist/Reference

Topographic

Formerly a British Crown Colony, Malta became fully independent in 1964, and in 1974 was constituted a Republic within the British Commonwealth. Modern mapping of the three islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino had previously been undertaken by the British Government in cooperation with the Office of Public Works, Valletta. Early in the present century, large-scale GSGS series at scales of 1:2,500 and 1:10,560 were published, together with a general map at 1:31,680 (GSGS 3859) which has served as a base map for soil and geological maps.

Soviet military topographic mapping of Malta exists at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (2 sheets, complete coverage, published 1983-1984); 1:500,000 (2 sheets, complete coverage, published 1968-1992); 1:200,000 (2 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1988); 1:100,000 (4 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1987) and 1:50,000 (6 sheets, complete coverage, published in 1977). These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.

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Geological/Scientific

A geological survey of the Maltese islands was carried out in 1955 for BP at 1:10,560, and published at 1:31,680 scale by Ordnance Survey. Resurvey was undertaken in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. A new map in two sheets at 1:25,000 scale, was published by the Oil Exploration Directorate, Valletta in 1993.

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Imagery

In the late 1950s, a new survey was initiated by the British Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS) (now Ordnance Survey International (OSI)). Air photography was flown from which provisional 1:2,500 scale mapping was compiled, while a 1:25,000 scale map in three sheets (DOS 352) was issued in 1962-63. 1:2,500 scale sheets of Gozo and Comino (DOS 152) with 10 ft interval contours were published between 1962-65. New aerial photography was flown in 1970 by the RAF and between 1970-1975, DOS issued a contoured series at 1:2,500 scale covering the island of Malta itself in 154 sheets. The last DOS edition of the 1:25,000 scale map, from 1972, was subsequently further revised by the Department of Works, Malta, in cooperation with the Italian Mission and published in 1984. A new revision is expected soon. The current map is on the UTM projection, International (Hayford) ellipsoid and has 25 ft interval contours.

In 1988, a new Mapping Unit was established within the Planning Services Division of the Department of Works, and now operates within the Planning Authority, Floriana. The Institut Géographique National, Paris, was contracted to provide new digital mapping of the country, and digital base maps now cover all the islands at 1:2,500 scale and partially at 1:1,000, based on photography flown in 1988. The data is used in the Planning Authority as a basis for a GIS system based mainly on MapInfo.

In 1993, a new geodetic network was observed using GPS and recorded in WGS 84 coordinates. New aerial photography was also flown in 1993─94.

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Soil

A 1:31,680 scale soils map of Malta and Gozo was published in 1960 by the DOS.

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Atlas

The Department of Geography, University of Keele, UK produced an atlas of the 1985 census for the Central Office of Statistics. A social and economic atlas produced subsequently in their Occasional Paper series was also published. In 1995 a new census was conducted, but no atlas has so far been produced.

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Tourist/Reference

RMF Publishing and Surveys Ltd publishes road maps and gazetteers of Malta. Good quality tourist maps of Malta are also published by several foreign commercial companies, including Kümmerly and Frey (K+F), AA/ Macmillan, HarperCollins, Cartographia, Karto+Grafik and Ravenstein.

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