Bailiwick of Jersey

The Bailiwick of Jersey is an autonomous, self-governing British Crown Dependency about 14 miles off the Cotentin Peninsula of north-west France; its main island, at 45 square miles, is the largest of the Channel Islands. Historically part of the Duchy of Normandy, Jersey remained loyal to the English Crown when the English kings lost mainland Normandy in 1204, but it never became part of the Kingdom of England. Around 1290 the Channel Islands were divided into two bailiwicks, with Jersey forming its own. From then until the end of the Napoleonic Wars the island stood on the frontline of the Anglo-French wars: it was invaded a number of times, which led to the construction of fortifications such as Mont Orgueil Castle and fostered a thriving smuggling industry. Through the 1500–1945 period shown on the map this frontier position defined the bailiwick, and in the Second World War it was invaded and occupied by Nazi German forces until 9 May 1945, now celebrated as the island's national day. Jersey is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own legal, fiscal and governmental systems; it is not part of the United Kingdom, whose government manages its defence, international representation and nationality law. Alongside English, the island keeps a strong Norman-French culture reflected in its historic language, Jèrriais.