One should keep in mind the size of the Malta when analyzing the figures. Malta has a population of 370,000 living on an area of 420 square km, making it one of the densest populations in the world.

Many of the websites of primary and secondary are the initiative of individual schools and not a concerted effort by the Ministry of Education. Internet access in public schools for the time being is available only in schools that took the initiative. The project to introduce access in all public schools, which had to be launched in October 1998, has been postponed several times. The agreement to provide access in these schools was finally signed in November 2000. All personal computers in all public schools in the Maltese Islands will be on-line by 2004. The agreement provides for support to schools to create and maintain their own website.

The website of the University of Malta (http://www.um.edu.mt) was one of the pioneering websites in Malta and remains the best website of an educational establishment in Malta.

The website of the Malta Government Network (MAGNET) provides information about all the government ministries and departments, but two ministries in particular (Foreign Affairs and Finance) have their own website outside MAGNET. The websites for the Ministry for Social Policy, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health have been launched or the previous information on the Malta Government Website revamped and re-launched as a website. Some departments, like the Environmental Protection Department have chosen to set their own website outside MAGNET. The major development expected in this field is the creation of an Internet portal, with the URL www.gov.mt that will be the

Several Local Councils took the initiative to have their own website. It is envisaged that with the networking of all 67 Local Councils into a digital value-added network, which began to be implemented in 4^th Quarter 1999, each Council will have an automatic on-line presence in the form of a website.