Malta Map with Local Councils

Malta has 68 local councils: 54 on the island of Malta and 14 covering Gozo and Comino. They make up the country's basic tier of local government and are classified as LAU (formerly LAU 2) localities in European statistics, which means most population and economic data for Malta is reported against these 68 units. The Ultimaps map shows all 68 shapes. The system was set up on 30 June 1993. A 2019 reform of Chapter 363, now the Local Government Act, reorganized the regional tier above the councils; the 68 councils themselves were retained.

Malta's local councils were established on 30 June 1993, when the country introduced an elected tier of local government for the first time in its modern history. Before that, administration ran centrally from Valletta. The 1993 framework set out the 68 localities across Malta, Gozo and Comino. In 2019, Act No. XIV amended Chapter 363, renaming it the Local Government Act and reorganizing the councils' regional tier into six regional councils; the 68 councils themselves carried on unchanged.

The 2019 reform of Chapter 363 of the Laws of Malta, enacted as Act No. XIV of 2019, renamed the law the Local Government Act and restructured the tier above the councils, replacing the five regional committees with six regional councils, a change phased in from late 2021. The 68 local councils and their boundaries carried over intact, so the shapes on this map were not redrawn by the reform. The practical effect for mapping is on regional groupings: figures aggregated by region before and after the reform cover different sets of councils. If your dataset is grouped by region rather than by locality, check whether it predates the six-region arrangement before joining it to a current map.

Rabat is the largest local council in Malta by area, at about 26.6 km² (10.3 sq mi), covering the countryside around the fortified former capital Mdina on the island's western side. Mellieħa in the far north is next at roughly 22.6 km² (8.7 sq mi). At the other extreme, Senglea (L-Isla), one of the Three Cities on Grand Harbour, occupies only about 0.2 km² (0.08 sq mi), the smallest locality in the country — the entire council fits on one fortified peninsula. Area and population rank differently in Malta: St. Paul's Bay, at 14.47 km² (5.59 sq mi), holds the largest population with 32,042 residents (2021 census).

St. Paul's Bay is the most populated local council in Malta, with 32,042 residents recorded in the 2021 census. Birkirkara, an inland urban locality in the central conurbation, comes next at 25,807 (2021 census). Both far exceed the smaller harbor councils: Birgu recorded 2,261 residents in the same census, and the least populous of all 68 is Mdina at 193 (2021 census). St. Paul's Bay grew heavily through coastal and tourism development in the north of the island, while Birkirkara's population sits within the continuous built-up area that stretches from Valletta outwards through Msida, Qormi and Mosta.

Yes. Valletta is Malta's capital city and also one of the 68 local councils, with the same legal status as any other locality on the map. It holds no administrative rank above its neighbors. Floriana, just outside Valletta's landward fortifications, is a separate council, as are Birgu, Bormla and the other harbor localities across the water. On Gozo, Victoria serves as the island's main urban center and is likewise a single local council among the 14 counted for Gozo and Comino.

Yes. Of Malta's 68 local councils, 14 fall under Gozo and Comino, with the remaining 54 on the island of Malta. Gozo's councils include Victoria, the island's main town and commercial center. Comino, the small island between Malta and Gozo, has no council of its own and is administered within the Gozo grouping, so it appears on the map without a separate label of its own. Any dataset built on Malta's LAU2 localities therefore covers the whole archipelago, not just the main island.

Ultimaps builds Malta council maps inside a browser window, and the free tier does not ask you to register. Data does the coloring fastest: upload a sheet listing localities with one number each and the 68 shapes are shaded in proportion. Individual councils — Mosta, say, or Sliema — can also be recolored one by one. From there you can switch the palette, change the background, retype any label, pick a different font, and make council outlines thinner or heavier. Markers go wherever needed — Valletta, Victoria in Gozo, or any coordinate pair — with captions included when you want them. When the design is finished, it saves out as a PNG, PDF or SVG file.