Malta (Listeni/?m?lt?/; Maltese: [?m?lt?]), officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta’ Malta), is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea.[9] It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia,[10] and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. The country covers just over 316 km2 (122 sq mi),[3] with a population of just under 450,000,[4] making it one of the world’s smallest[11][12][13] and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union.[14] Malta has two official languages: Maltese and English.