Guernsey in the context of "Channel Islands"

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, referred to as simply "Great Britain", has been represented at every modern Olympic Games. As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by overall number of medals, and fourth in number of gold medals won. London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

Athletes from the United Kingdom compete as part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, branded "Team GB". The team is organised by the British Olympic Association, the National Olympic Committee for the UK. Team GB also represents the United Kingdom's Overseas Territories (with the exceptions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands), and the three Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man. Athletes from Northern Ireland can choose to compete for either Great Britain or Ireland, with most choosing Ireland. The use of "Great Britain" over "United Kingdom" has faced criticism in Northern Ireland.

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.

Francis George Fowler (1871–1918) was an English writer on English language, grammar and usage.

Born in Tunbridge Wells, Fowler was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He lived on Guernsey in the Channel Islands. He and his older brother, Henry Watson Fowler, wrote The King's English together, an influential book published in 1906. Later they worked on what became Fowler's Modern English Usage, but before it was finished, Francis died of tuberculosis, picked up during his service with the British Expeditionary Force in World War I. He was 47 years old.

A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union territory) in India; a territory of Australia; a province of Sri Lanka or Pakistan; a federal province in Nepal; an autonomous region of Philippines; or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-governance. It is also used as the English version of the title given to the heads of governments of the Malay states without a monarchy.

The title is also used in the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man (since 1986), in Guernsey (since 2004), and in Jersey (since 2005).

Jèrriais (French: Jersiais [ʒɛʁzjɛ]; also known as the Jersey language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an island in the Channel Islands archipelago off the coast of France. Its closest relatives are the other Norman languages, such as Guernésiais, spoken in neighbouring Guernsey, and the other langues d'oïl.

Use of Jèrriais has been in decline over the past century, as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration on Jersey. There are very few people who speak Jèrriais as a mother tongue and, owing to the age of the remaining speakers, their numbers decrease annually. Despite this, efforts are being made to keep the language alive.

Guernésiais (French pronunciation: [ɡɛʁnezjɛ]), also known as Guerneseyese, Dgèrnésiais, Guernsey French, and Guernsey Norman French, is the variety of the Norman language spoken in Guernsey. It is sometimes known on the island simply as "patois". As one of the langues d'oïl, it has its roots in Latin, but has had strong influence from both Old Norse and English at different points in its history.

There is mutual intelligibility (with some difficulty) with Jèrriais speakers from Jersey and Continental Norman speakers from Normandy. Guernésiais most closely resembles the Norman dialect of Cotentinais spoken in La Hague in the Cotentin Peninsula of France.

The British Olympic Association (BOA; Welsh: Cymdeithas Olympaidd Prydain; IOC Code: GBR) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also represents the athletes of the three Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man and eight of the eleven inhabited British Overseas Territories. The British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Cayman Islands each have their own national Olympic associations, founded before the modern rules restricting the recognition of national Olympic committees to recognised states.

Athletes from Northern Ireland are also entitled, as of right, to represent Ireland (the team organised by the Olympic Federation of Ireland) and routinely do so in certain sports due to all-island governing bodies existing in those sports such as rugby, tennis and field hockey.

The primary legislation governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Its provisions apply to the British Islands (comprising the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), and the Crown dependencies, of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and the 14 British Overseas Territories.

The six classes of British nationality provide differing levels of civil and political rights, reflecting the United Kingdom's historical legacy as a colonial power. The primary form is British citizenship, which is linked to the British Islands and confers full rights. Those connected with a current overseas territory are classified as British Overseas Territories citizens (BOTCs), and since 2002, nearly all BOTCs, except those associated solely with Akrotiri and Dhekelia, have also held British citizenship. Other residual forms of British nationality generally linked to former colonies and now largely closed to new acquisition include the statuses of British Overseas citizen, British subject, British National (Overseas) and British protected person. These categories do not confer automatic right of abode in the United Kingdom and offer limited entitlements.