Bailiwick of Guernsey in the context of "Channel Islands"

The British Islands is a term within the law of the United Kingdom which refers collectively to the following four polities:

• the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland);
• the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including the jurisdictions of Alderney, Guernsey and Sark);
• the Bailiwick of Jersey;
• the Isle of Man.

These polities constitute the principal geopolitical and territorial nucleus of British sovereignty. Distinguished from the British Overseas Territories, which are remnants of the former British Empire, the British Islands represent the core legal and constitutional realm under the direct jurisdiction of The Crown and Parliament of the United Kingdom (i.e. United Kingdom proper), albeit with varying degrees of self-governance among the Crown Dependencies. A statutory definition of the term British Islands can be found in Schedule 1 of the Interpretation Act 1978.

The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Isles that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey (together known as the Channel Islands), and the Isle of Man.

They are closely related to the United Kingdom (UK), although they are not part of it. They have the status of "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible", rather than sovereign states. As a result, they are not member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, they do have relationships with the Commonwealth and other international organisations, and are members of the British–Irish Council. They have their own teams in the Commonwealth Games.

Guernsey (/ˈɡɜːrnzi/ GURN-zee; Guernésiais: Guernési) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located 27 miles (43 km) west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited islands – Alderney, Herm, Jethou, Lihou and Sark – and many small islets and rocks. The bailiwick has a population of 63,950, the vast majority of whom live on Guernsey, and the island has a land area of 24 square miles (62 km).

Guernsey was part of the Duchy of Normandy until 1204, when the Channel Islands remained loyal to the English crown, splitting from mainland Normandy. In 1290, the Channel Islands were divided administratively and Guernsey became part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. During the Second World War, Guernsey was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany. After five years of occupation, the island was liberated on 9 May 1945, that date being celebrated annually as Liberation Day.

Alderney (/ˈɔːldərni/ AWL-dər-nee; French: Aurigny [oʁiɲi]; Auregnais: Aoeur'gny) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is 3 miles (5 km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide.

The island's area is 3 square miles (8 km), making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second in the Bailiwick only to its namesake. It is around 10 miles (16 km) to the west of the Cap de la Hague on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, in France, 20 miles (32 km) to the northeast of Guernsey and 60 miles (100 km) from the south coast of Great Britain. It is the closest of the Channel Islands both to France and to the United Kingdom. It is separated from the Cap de la Hague by the dangerous Alderney Race (French: Raz Blanchard).

Sark (Sercquiais: Sèr or Cerq, French: Sercq) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a self-governing British Crown Dependency, with its own set of laws based on Norman law, and its own parliament. It was a royal fiefdom until 2008, when the Constitution of Sark went into effect.

Sark has a population of about 500. Including the nearby island of Brecqhou, it has an area of 2.10 square miles (5.44 km). Little Sark is a peninsula joined by a natural but high and very narrow isthmus to the rest of Sark Island.

Herm (Guernésiais: Haerme, ultimately from Old Norse armr 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French eremite 'hermit') is one of the Channel Islands and part of the Parish of St Peter Port in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is located in the English Channel, north-west of France and south of England. It is 2,183 m (7,162 ft) long and under 873 metres (2,864 ft) wide; oriented north–south, with several stretches of sand along its northern coast. The much larger island of Guernsey lies to the west, Jersey lies to the south-east, and the smaller island of Jethou is just off the south-west coast.

Herm was first discovered in the Mesolithic period, and the first settlers arrived in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Many tombs from that period remain today, the majority in the north of the island. The island was annexed to the Duchy of Normandy in 933, but was transferred to the English Crown with the division of Normandy in 1204. It was occupied by Germany in the Second World War and the scene of Operation Huckaback, but was largely bypassed. Herm is currently managed by Herm Island Ltd, formed by Starboard Settlement, who acquired Herm in 2008, following fears during the sale of the island that the 'identity' of the island was at threat.

St. Peter Port (French: Saint-Pierre Port) is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2021 was 19,295.

St. Peter Port is a small town (commonly referred to by locals as just "town") consisting mostly of steep, narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town existed here before Roman times with a pre-Christian name which has not survived.