Guernsey

aerial view of Guernsey

Guernsey is an island in the English Channel, off the coast of Normandy.

Politically Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark, and some uninhabited islands, are all that remains of the original Duchy of Normandy, ruled by William the Conqueror, prior to his conquest of England in 1066. His successors lost the rest of his French territories through wars in subsequent centuries.

Francophone inhabitants of Guernsey speak an archaic dialect of French, Guernesiais, distinct from the French language spoken in Metropolitan France. The other islands each have similar but distinct dialects of French.