Getting to know Malta, by the numbers

New US ambassador to Malta, Molly Bordonaro's domain is full of fun facts, writes John Foyston for The Oregonian:

Molly Bordonaro, Portland public relations executive and onetime Republican candidate for Congress, had weeks of State Department briefings and ambassador school to prepare for her new gig as ambassador to Malta. For the rest of us, here's a Harper's-style index to the Archipelago of Mystery (not its real name).

0: Number of mountains and rivers in Malta.
1: Number of World War II bunkers in the backyard of the ambassador's residence
103: Rank among 226 countries in value of exports, according to the CIA's online World Factbook. Behind Iceland, ahead of Macau and Cameroon.
2: Position in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest attained by Maltese singer Chiara Siracusa
2.85: Value in U.S. dollars of one Maltese lira.
3: Number of inhabited islands in the Maltese archipelago. (Malta, Gozo, Comino.)
398,000: Number of people living on those islands.
16.77: Distance in miles of the longest dimension of the biggest island, Malta.
58: Malta's location in the Mediterranean is miles south of Sicily. On the map it looks like a golf ball just kicked by Italy's boot. Its location has made Malta of outsize strategic importance through recorded history, and it remains so today.
1530: The year Holy Roman Emperor Charles V gave Malta to the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, from whom we get the Maltese Cross and Maltese Falcon.
1: The number of countries awarded the George Cross in 1942 by King George V for withstanding intense attacks from Axis forces. Which is why Malta's red-and-white flag is adorned with a small cross.
10: Date in September 2005 when Malta Day-UK will be celebrated in London.
12: Reported number of future ambassadors who attended ambassadors school with Bordonaro.