The Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, Écréhous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs. Together 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 part of neither the UK nor the European Union; rather, like the Isle of Man, it is a separate possession of the Crown. Jersey belongs to the Common Travel Area.
Jersey is an island measuring 118.2 square kilometres (65,569 vergée / 46 sq mi), including reclaimed land and intertidal zone. It lies in the English Channel, approximately 12 nautical miles (22 km/14 mi) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, France, and approximately 87 nautical miles (161 km/100 mi) south of Great Britain. It is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands. |
