The term European Island Country is represented by the crossword solution Malta, which is a 5 letter word. Malta is an archipelago located in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily and east of Tunisia. It is the smallest country in the European Union, with a population of just over 450, 000 people. Malta has a rich history, having been ruled by the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, Knights of St. John, French, and British. It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974.