Destination Guide To Jersey

GEOGRAPHY & BACKGROUND

The Bailiwick of Jersey (Jèrriais: Jèrri) is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, it also includes the uninhabited islands of the Minquiers and Ecréhous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs. Along with the Bailiwick of Guernsey it forms the grouping known as the Channel Islands. The defence of all these islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. However, Jersey is not part of the UK, nor the European Union, but is rather a separate possession of the Crown, comparable to the Isle of Man.

Jersey is an island measuring 118.2 square kilometres (65,569 vergee / 46 sq. mi.), including reclaimed land and intertidal zone. It lies in the English Channel, approximately 22.5 kilometres (12 mi) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, France, and approximately 161 kilometres (100 mi) south of Great Britain. It is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands.

The climate is temperate with mild winters and cool summers, it also averages the most sunshine per year in the British Isles. The terrain consists of a plateau sloping from long sandy bays in the south to rugged cliffs in the north. The plateau is cut by valleys running generally north-south.

The Island plays host to large amount of people born outside Jersey; roughly 50% of the population are not originally from the island.

30% of the population is concentrated in Saint Helier, site of the only town. Of the roughly 87,000 people in Jersey, around two fifths are of Jersey/Norman descent and two fifths of British (English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish) descent. The largest minority groups in the island, after the British, are Portuguese (around 6% - especially Madeiran), Irish and Polish. The French community is also always present. The people of Jersey are often called Islanders, or in individual terms Jerseyman or Jerseywoman. Most Jersey-born people consider themselves British and value the special relationship between the British Crown and the Island.

The Church of England is the established church, but Methodism is traditionally strong in the countryside and there is a large Roman Catholic minority. See Religion in Jersey.

Jersey, like most places in the western world, has an ageing population. Reasons for this change particular to Jersey are the emigration of young people seeking opportunities the Island cannot provide.

For immigration and nationality purposes the United Kingdom generally treats Jersey as though it were part of the UK. However, Jersey is constitutionally entitled to restrict immigration by non-Jersey residents and maintains its own immigration and border controls. Population is currently controlled by restrictions on those without residential status purchasing or renting property in the Island. Although Jersey's citizens are full British citizens, an endorsement restricting the right of establishment in European Union states other than the UK is placed in the Jersey passport of British citizens connected solely with the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Those who have a parent or grandparent born in the United Kingdom, or who have lived in the United Kingdom for five years, are not subject to this restriction.

For more information please visit http://www.fco.gov.uk/

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