The ''Malta Government Gazette'' (, ) is a

government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...

published by the Department of Information of the

Government of Malta The Government of Malta () is the executive branch of the Republic of Malta. It is made up of the Cabinet and the Parliamentary Secretaries. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Malta The president of Malta () is the cons ...

. It was first published in 1813 when the islands were a

British colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

and it continued to be published after Malta became independent in 1964. Since then, the newspaper has been published in

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

and English; previous editions were in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

or a combination of some or all of the three languages. Since 2015 the gazette has been published in a digital-only format, and only a limited number of copies are printed for archival purposes.

Publication history

The ''

Journal de Malte A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

'', a newspaper which was published during the

French occupation of Malta The island of Malta was occupied by France from 1798 to 1800. The Knights Hospitaller surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798. In Malta, the French established a constitutional tradition in Maltese history (as ...

in 1798, is regarded as the predecessor of the ''Malta Government Gazette''. After

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

was established in Malta in 1800, a number of newspapers were published by the government under different titles: '' Foglio d'Avvisi'' (1803–1804), '' L'Argo'' (1804), '' Il Cartaginese'' (1804–1805) and the '' Giornale di Malta'' (1812–1813). The first edition of the ''Gazzetta del Governo di Malta'' was published on 27 October 1813. The first edition entitled ''Malta Government Gazette'' in English was published on 7 August 1816. Before

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

was established in 1839, the gazette was the only newspaper published in the islands. From 1930, the gazette began to be published in three languages: English,

and

. Since Malta's independence in 1964, the gazette has been published in Maltese and English, with its Maltese title being ''Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta' Malta''. Printed editions of the gazette were discontinued in favour of digital versions in 2015, and the latter are available on the website of the Department of Information. Since then, only 25 physical copies of each edition of the gazette have been printed, and they are kept at the Department of Information and at the

National Library of Malta The National Library of Malta (), often known as the Bibliotheca (), is a reference library in Republic Square, Valletta, Republic Square, Valletta, Malta. It was founded by Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc in 1776 out of the collections ...

. The Department of Information holds an archive of gazettes published since 1813.

References

External links

Malta Government Gazette Repository (latest issues in PDF format)Malta Government Gazette Indexes 2003–2018Guze Gatt (1935-1940) Il-gazzetta tal-gvern 1813-1840
{{Authority control 1813 establishments in Malta English-language newspapers published in Malta Government gazettes Government of Malta Italian-language newspapers Maltese-language newspapers Newspapers published in Malta Publications established in 1813 Law of Malta British colonial gazettes