Filfla is a small, mostly barren, uninhabited

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

south of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and is the most southerly point of the

Maltese Archipelago Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. ''filflu'' (or ''filfluu''), a small rocky islet some southwest of Filfla,"Topography and Flora of the Satellite islets surrounding the Maltese Archipelago"
- Arnold Sciberras, Jeffrey Sciberras, 2010 has the southernmost point of Malta. The name is believed to come from ''felfel'', the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

for a peppercorn.

Environment

Filfla has an area of just with a long coastline. It is a crumbling flat-topped

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

plateau surrounded by high cliffs. Three species of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s breed on the islet: the

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

(with an estimated 5000 – 8000 pairs),

Cory's shearwater Cory's shearwater (''Calonectris borealis'') is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially of rocky islands in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. It was formerl ...

(c. 200 pairs) and yellow-legged gull (c. 130 pairs). The island has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

, principally because of the storm petrel colony. A type of wall lizard ('' Podarcis filfolensis'' ssp. ''filfolensis'') and door snail (''

Lampedusa imitatrix ''Lampedusa imitatrix'' (common name: Maltese door-snail) is a species of small, very elongate, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails, all of which have a clausilium ...

gattoi'') are endemic to Filfla. A large wild leek, growing up to high, also occurs. Access to Filfla is only possible for educational or scientific purposes and visitors must get prior permission from the Environment and Resources Authority.

History

The island of Filfla was possibly sacred to the neolithic inhabitants of Malta, who built the temples of Ħaġar Qim and

Mnajdra Mnajdra ( mt, L-Imnajdra) is a megalithic temple complex found on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island of Malta. Mnajdra is approximately from the Ħaġar Qim megalithic complex. Mnajdra was built around the fourth millennium BCE; th ...

on the Maltese coast opposite the islet. The only known permanent structure on the island was a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

built inside a cave in 1343, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1856 that also sank part of the island. A map of Malta dating back to 1798 shows a fort, a lighthouse and a monastery with a chapel on Filfla. Until 1971 the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

and

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

used the island for target practice, and spent cartridges from these bombardments can still be found on Filfla today. It became a bird reserve in 1980. The ''Filfla Natural Reserve Act'', enacted in 1988, provided for further restrictions on access and use, including a prohibition on fishing within one

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Tod ...

(1.9 km) around the island due to the possibility of encountering unexploded

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense * Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Uni ...

. Maltese Government notice 173 of 1990 once again permitted fishing within the one-mile zone. Filfla was invoked in a territorial dispute over the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

between

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and Malta. The case was adjudicated by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordan ...

in 1985 essentially by ignoring the islet from the calculations.

Legends

The creation story of Filfla is linked to the legends surrounding the formation of Il-Maqluba. Maltese legend recounts that the area that now forms Il-Maqluba was inhabited by people who lived such dissolute lives that a neighbour warned them against their sinful ways, without them taking notice. God therefore wished to punish the sinners by engulfing the hamlet, saving only the wise neighbour. Angels are then said to have thrown a fragment of the hamlet into the sea, creating the isle of Filfla.

In films

Filfla served as the location of Scab Island in the 1980 film ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Endemic Maltese wildlife The Maltese Islands, although small in area (316 km2), host many endemic species. This may make the organism endangered. These endemic species are important to the Maltese Islands because they form part of Maltese national heritage and are topi ...

Libya–Malta relations Libyan-Maltese relations are foreign relations between Libya and Malta. Both countries established diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence. Both countries had very close ties and cooperation during Dom Mintoff's governments. Libya h ...

References

{{Authority control Islands of Malta Uninhabited islands of Malta Important Bird Areas of Malta Seabird colonies Natura 2000 in Malta