Birżebbuġa
city in Malta

Birżebbuġa (Maltese pronunciation: [biːrzɛˈbːuːd͡ʒɐ]; sometimes shortened to B'Buġa) is a seaside town in the Southern Region of Malta, close to Marsaxlokk. It is approximately 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the capital Valletta. The population of Birżebbuġa was 12,467 in July 2024. This included 7,170 males and 5,297 females; 8,468 Maltese nationals and 3,999 foreign nationals.
The town is popular among Maltese holidaymakers, and is known for its sandy beach, Pretty Bay. The town is also notable for its important archaeological sites, especially Għar Dalam, Ta' Kaċċatura and Borġ in-Nadur.
Etymology
"Birżebbuġa" means "well of olives" in the Maltese language.
History
Prehistory
Għar Dalam is a natural cave and important archaeological site in Birżebbuġa. Għar Dalam was where the earliest evidence for human presence on Malta was discovered until excavations in Latnija Cave in 2025. Artefacts from Għar Dalam date back to the Neolithic Period some 7,400 years ago.
The public source identifies “Birżebbuġa” as city in Malta. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Birżebbuġa, city and Malta.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q258028. Authority coordinates are 35.827, 14.528. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024 and 2025.
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This entry incorporates text from “Birżebbuġa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.