Editing Filfla

{{Short description|Uninhabited island in Malta}}
{{About|island in Malta|the commune in Algeria|Filfla, Algeria}}

{{Infobox islands
| name             = Filfla
| image_name       = Filfla 1.jpg
| image_caption    = Filfla and neighboring Filfoletta seen from [[Dingli Cliffs]] (from northwest)
| image_size       = 
| map_image        = Filfla map.jpg
| map_caption      = Map of Filfla
| native_name      =Filfa 
| native_name_link = 
| nickname         = 
| location         = South of [[Malta (island)|Malta]], [[Mediterranean Sea]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|35|47|15|N|14|24|37|E|region:MT_type:isle|display=it}}
| archipelago      = [[Malta#Islands|Maltese islands]]
| total_islands    =2 
| major_islands    = 
| area_km2         = 0.06
| coastline_m      = 
| highest_mount    = 
| elevation_m      = 60
| country          = Malta
| population       = 0
| population_as_of = 
| density_km2      = 
| ethnic_groups    = 
| additional_info  =
| pushpin_map            =Malta
| pushpin_map_caption    =Location within Malta
}}

'''Filfla''' is a mostly barren, uninhabited [[islet]] {{convert|4.5|km|mi|abbr=off}} south of [[Malta (island)|Malta]], and is the most southerly point of the [[Maltese Islands|Maltese Archipelago]]. Filflu (or Filfluu), a rocky islet some {{convert|101|m|0|abbr=off}} southwest of Filfla,<ref name="S&S">[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arnold_Sciberras2/publication/260294462_SCIBERRAS_J.__SCIBERRAS_A_%282010%29_Topography_and_Flora_of_the_Satellite_islets_surrounding_the_Maltese_Archipelago._The_Central_Mediterranean_Naturalist_5%282%2931-42._Nature_Trust_Malta_publications/links/00b49530ad3f6c4e5f000000.pdf "Topography and Flora of the Satellite islets surrounding the Maltese Archipelago"] - Arnold Sciberras, Jeffrey Sciberras, 2010</ref> has the southernmost point of Malta. The name is believed to come from  ''felfel'', the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] for a [[black pepper|peppercorn]].<ref name="morana">{{cite book|last1=Morana|first1=Martin|title=Bejn Kliem u Storja|date=2011|publisher=Books Distributors Limited|location=[[Malta]]|isbn=978-99957-0137-6|url=https://sites.google.com/site/kliemustorja/home/titlu/introduzzjoni/dwar-l-awtur/a/b/c/c/d/e/f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020104814/https://sites.google.com/site/kliemustorja/home/titlu/introduzzjoni/dwar-l-awtur/a/b/c/c/d/e/f|archive-date=20 October 2016|language=mt}}</ref> Prior to the 17th century, nautical maps of Malta typically referred to the island as simply 'Pepper' island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ganado |first1=Albert |title=The Pre-Siege Maps of Malta |date=2016 |publisher=BDL Books |location=Malta |isbn=978-99957-46-88-9}}</ref>

==Environment==
Filfla has an area of {{convert|3.7282|ha|acre|abbr=}} with a {{Convert|988|m|adj= on}} long coastline. It is a crumbling flat-topped [[limestone]] plateau surrounded by {{convert|60|m|adj=on}} high cliffs. Three species of [[seabird]]s breed on the islet: the [[European storm petrel]] (with an estimated 5000 – 8000 pairs), [[Cory's shearwater]] (c.&nbsp;200 pairs) and [[yellow-legged gull]] (c.&nbsp;130 pairs). The island has been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]], principally because of the storm petrel colony.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org |title=Filfla Islet |access-date=2013-08-07 |work=Important Bird Areas factsheet |publisher=BirdLife International |year=2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630122358/http://www.birdlife.org/ |archive-date=June 30, 2007 }}</ref> A type of [[Podarcis|wall lizard]] (''[[Podarcis filfolensis]]'' ssp. ''filfolensis'') and [[Clausiliidae|door snail]] (''[[Lampedusa imitatrix]] gattoi'') are endemic to Filfla. A large wild leek, growing up to {{convert|2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} high, also occurs. Access to Filfla is only possible for educational or scientific purposes, subject to prior permission from the [[Environment and Resources Authority]].<ref name=tvm2016-01-08/>

==History==

Lone Island, also called the island of Filfla, was possibly sacred to the Neolithic inhabitants of Malta, who built the temples of [[Ħaġar Qim]] and [[Mnajdra]] on the Maltese coast opposite the islet.<ref name=tvm2016-01-08>{{cite news|title=An island cemetery for bombs on which no one can set foot|url=http://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/watch-an-island-cemetery-for-bombs-on-which-no-one-can-set-foot/|work=[[TVM (Malta)|TVM]]|date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108154044/http://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/watch-an-island-cemetery-for-bombs-on-which-no-one-can-set-foot/|archive-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

The only known permanent structure on the island was a [[chapel]] built inside a cave in 1343,<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Festa Santa Marija|last=Attard|first=Anton F|date=2012|title=Il-Castrum Terre Gaudisii u l-Origini tal-Matrici tal-Assunta f'Ghawdex|url=https://www.yumpu.com/it/document/read/51521541/gawdex-leone-philharmonic-society/9|issue=9|pages=70–77|publisher=Leone Philharmonic Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/filfla-too-had-a-chapel-dedicated-to-our-lady.103000|title=Filfla too had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady|last=Cini|first=George|date=4 January 2005|website=Times of Malta|access-date=25 February 2020}}</ref> which was destroyed by an [[Seismic risk in Malta#Earthquake of 12 October 1856|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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dalli|first1=Kim|title='Napoleon' map gives a tantalising clue to the past|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150428/local/napoleon-map-gives-a-tantalising-clue-to-the-past.565926|access-date=29 April 2015|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=28 April 2015}}</ref>

Until 1971 the [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Air Force]] used the island for target practice, and spent cartridges from these bombardments can still be found on Filfla today.<ref name=tvm2016-01-08/> 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]] (1.9&nbsp;km) around the island due to the possibility of encountering unexploded [[Ammunition#Ordnance ammunition|ordnance]].<ref name="morana"/>

Maltese Government notice 173 of 1990 once again permitted fishing within the one-mile zone.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/43845/9..Marine_Protected_Areas_in_the_Maltese_Islands_1999.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-04-18 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192834/http://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/43845/9..Marine_Protected_Areas_in_the_Maltese_Islands_1999.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Filfla was invoked in a territorial dispute over the [[continental shelf]] between [[Libya]] and Malta. The case was adjudicated by the [[International Court of Justice]] in 1985 essentially by ignoring the islet from the calculations.<ref name="Smith1991">{{cite book|author=Hance D. Smith|title=The Development of Integrated Sea Use Management|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zH5LYOBEs48C&pg=PA82|year=1991|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-03816-4|page=82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/68/068-19850603-JUD-01-00-BI.pdf |title=CASE CONCERNING THE CONTINENTAL SHELF (LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA/MALTA) Judgment of 3 June 1985 |access-date=22 February 2019 |archive-date=22 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222204624/https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/68/068-19850603-JUD-01-00-BI.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Legends==
The creation story of Filfla is linked to the legends surrounding the formation of [[Maqluba (Malta)|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.<ref name=geu>{{cite web |url=http://www.geulogy.com/malta/Il-Maqluba-malta-legends.html |title=Il-Maqluba, Qrendi, Malta, Legends, myths & folklore |website=Geulogy |access-date=9 June 2015 }}</ref><ref name=van>{{cite book |language=fr |title=La langue maltaise: études syntaxiques d'un dialecte arabe "périphérique"|last=Vanhove |first=Martine | editor1-last=Harrassowitz Verlag |editor1-first=Otto |date=1993 |access-date=9 June 2015 |pages=477–533|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=9783447033428 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HIZBgs7iQEC&q=Maqluba+qrendi&pg=PA476}}</ref>

==In films==
Filfla served as the location of Scab Island in the 1980 film ''[[Popeye (film)|Popeye]]''.

==See also==
* [[Endemic Maltese wildlife]]
* [[Libya–Malta relations]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Filfla}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Malta Islands}}
{{Important Bird Areas of Malta}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Islands of Malta]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Malta]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Malta]]
[[Category:Seabird colonies]]
[[Category:Natura 2000 in Malta]]