Guernsey

Guernsey is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the English Channel, 43 km (27 mi) west of Normandy. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands, St Peter Port is its only town, English is the main language, and the old Norman dialect Guernésiais survives.

Rising seas cut the island off from the mainland around 6000 BC, and Neolithic farmers left dolmens and menhirs that still stand. Roman traders used St Peter Port, where the wreck of a 3rd-century cargo ship named Asterix was found, and Saint Sampson is credited with bringing Christianity. The island belonged to the Duchy of Normandy, and when King John lost the rest of Normandy to Philip II of France in 1204, the Channel Islands stayed loyal to the English crown. In 1290 Guernsey became part of its own bailiwick, which also covers Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou and Brecqhou.

Guernsey marks 9 May, the end of German occupation in 1945, every year as Liberation Day, and its tomato growers thrived from the late 1940s until the 1970s.

The island is not part of the United Kingdom: the States of Guernsey make its laws, and the British monarch is head of state as successor to the Duke of Normandy. Financial services are the largest industry, followed by tourism and farming, and the island is known for its Guernsey cattle. The French writer Victor Hugo lived there for 15 years and wrote Les Misérables on the island, and his home in St Peter Port, Hauteville House, is now a museum run by the city of Paris. Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted 15 views of the bay of Moulin Huet in 1883, and Guernsey bean jar, a stew of beans and pork, and gâche, a fruit bread, are local dishes.