Page "Siege of Malta (World War II)" Paragraph 6

The island itself has an area of just under and had a population of around 250, 000, all but three or four per cent native Maltese.

According to the 1937 census, most of the inhabitants lived within of the Grand Harbour, where the population density was more than six times that of the island as a whole.

Amongst the most congested spots was Valletta, the capital and political, military and commercial centre.

In this city, 23, 000 people lived in an area of around.

Across the Grand Harbour, in the so-called Three Cities, where the dockyards were located and the Admiralty had its headquarters, 28, 000 more were packed into.

It was these small areas that absorbed the heaviest, most sustained and concentrated of aerial bombing in history.