Place:Gozo Island, Malta

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Gozo, Maltese: Għawdex and in antiquity known as Gaulos, is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago.

As of 2021, the island has a population of around 31,232 (out of Malta's total 443,227), and its inhabitants are known as Gozitans. It is rich in historic locations such as the Ġgantija temples, which, along with the other Megalithic Temples of Malta, are amongst the world's oldest free-standing structures.

The island is rural in character and less developed than the island of Malta. Gozo is known for its scenic hills, which are featured on its coat of arms. The Azure Window, a natural limestone arch, was a remarkable geological feature until its collapse on March 8, 2017. The island has other notable natural features, including the Inland Sea and Wied il-Mielaħ Window. There are few sandy beaches on the island, all small, as well as seaside resorts that are popular with both locals and tourists, the most popular being Marsalforn and Xlendi. Gozo is considered one of the top diving destinations in the Mediterranean and a centre for water sports.

History

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Gozo has been inhabited since 5000 BC, when farmers from nearby Sicily crossed the sea to the island. Due to the discovery of similar pottery found in both places from the Għar Dalam phase, it has been suggested that the first colonists were specifically from the area of Agrigento; however, it is currently unknown exactly where in Sicily the farmers came from. They are thought to have first lived in caves on the outskirts of what is now San Lawrenz.^[1]

Gozo was an important place for cultural evolution, and during the Neolithic period the Ġgantija temples were built; they are amongst the world's oldest free-standing structures, as well as the world's oldest religious structures. The temple's name is Maltese for "belonging to the giants", because legend in Maltese and Gozitan folklore says the temples were built by giants.^[2] Another important Maltese archaeological site in Gozo, which dates back to the Neolithic period, is the Xagħra Stone Circle. Also, native tradition and certain ancient Greek historians (notably Euhemerus and Callimachus) maintain that Gozo is the island Homer described as Ogygia, home of the nymph Calypso. Diodorus Siculus writes that the island had many well harbours.

Gozo was occupied by the Carthaginians, who built a temple to Astarte on the islands. It was probably annexed by Rome around 218BC and minted its own bronze coins in the 1st centuryBC. These feature Astarte's head with a crescent obverse and a warrior, a star, and the legend Gaulitōn reverse.

In July 1551, the Ottomans under Sinan Pasha and Dragut invaded and ravaged Gozo, enslaving most of its 5,000 inhabitants, bringing them to Tarhuna Wa Msalata in Libya, their departure port in Gozo was Mġarr ix-Xini. The island of Gozo was repopulated between 1565 and 1580 by mainland Maltese, undertaken by the Knights of Malta.

The history of Gozo is strongly coupled with the history of Malta, since Gozo has been governed by Malta throughout history. The brief exception was following the French garrisons surrender to the British under Captain Alexander Ball on 28 October 1798 during the uprising against French forces after Napoleon's conquest of Malta. Gozo then enjoyed a short period of autonomy until the French garrison in Valletta surrendered on 4 September 1800. On that day both Malta and Gozo became a British Protectorate before becoming a Crown colony in 1813.^[3]

The Gozo Civic Council was set up as a statutory local government in the island of Gozo on 14 April 1961, the first experiment in civil local government in Malta since Gozo's short period of autonomy between 1798–1800. The law authorised the Council to raise taxes, although it never actually made use of this power. In 1971, the Malta Labour Party was voted into office. As its support in Gozo was weak and it favoured a more centralised administration, it proposed a referendum on the abolition of the Council, putting emphasis on the unpopular possibility of its raising taxes. In the Gozo Civic Council referendum, 1973, 76.97% voters voted for the abolition of the Gozo Civic Council.

In the mid-1980s, attempts were made to set up a Gozo committee, chaired by the prime minister and with the Gozitan members of Parliament as members. However, it was only in 1987 that the Ministry of Gozo was set up (demoted to a parliamentary secretariat between 1996 and 1998). Local government in the Gozitan localities was restored with the introduction of local councils in 1993 with Gozo having 14 councils.

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