Bailiwick of Guernsey

The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, comprising the Channel Islands other than Jersey: Guernsey itself with Herm, Alderney, and Sark. The islands were annexed from Brittany by the Duchy of Normandy in 933 and formed part of the lands of William the Conqueror. When France conquered mainland Normandy in 1204, the offshore islands remained loyal to the English Crown, and insular Normandy has been politically separate from France ever since; they are the last remnants of the medieval duchy. Around 1290 the islands' governor Otto de Grandson split the archipelago into two bailiwicks, establishing the parts other than Jersey as a single Bailiwick of Guernsey. Through the 1500–1945 period shown on the map the bailiwick stayed at the edge of Anglo-French rivalry, and like the other Channel Islands it was occupied by Germany during the Second World War until May 1945. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy in three separate jurisdictions: the States of Guernsey is the parliament of the whole bailiwick, while Alderney and Sark run their own affairs. It is not part of the United Kingdom, whose government handles its defence and international representation.