Guernsey

Guernsey
/gerrn"zee/, n., pl. Guernseys for 2, 3.
1. Isle of, one of the Channel Islands, in the English Channel. With adjacent islands: 51,138; 241/2 sq. mi. (63 sq. km).
2. one of a breed of dairy cattle, raised originally on the Isle of Guernsey, producing rich, golden-tinted milk.
3. (l.c.) a close-fitting knitted woolen shirt worn by sailors and soccer or Rugby players.
[1825-35, for def. 2]

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Guernsey

Introduction Guernsey -
Background: The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. Geography Guernsey
Location: Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France
Geographic coordinates: 49 28 N, 2 35 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 78 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands water: 0 sq km land: 78 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 50 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 12 NM territorial sea: 3 NM
Climate: temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast
Terrain: mostly level with low hills in southwest
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m
Natural resources: cropland
Land use: arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% other: NA% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: NA Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port People Guernsey -
Population: 64,587 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16% (male 5,250; female 5,101) 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 21,356; female 21,728) 65 years and over: 17.3% (male 4,622; female 6,530) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.37% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 9.69 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 9.86 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/ female total population: 0.94 male(s)/ female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 4.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.9 years female: 83.01 years (2002 est.) male: 76.91 years
Total fertility rate: 1.36 children born/woman (2002 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA% HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Channel Islander(s) adjective: Channel Islander
Ethnic groups: UK and Norman-French descent
Religions: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist
Languages: English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts
Literacy: definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% Government Guernsey -
Country name: conventional long form: Bailiwick of Guernsey conventional short form: Guernsey
Dependency status: British crown dependency
Government type: NA
Capital: St. Peter Port Administrative divisions: none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including St. Peter Port, St. Sampson, Vale, Castel, St. Saviour, St. Pierre du Bois, Torteval, Forest, St. Martin, St. Andrew
Independence: none (British crown dependency)
National holiday: Liberation Day, 9 May (1945)
Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Legal system: English law and local statute; justice is administered by the Royal Court
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; bailiff appointed by the monarch head of government: Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Sir John FOLEY (since NA 2000) and Bailiff De Vic G. CAREY (since NA) cabinet: Advisory and Finance Committee appointed by the Assembly of the States
Legislative branch: unicameral Assembly of the States; consists of the bailiff, 10 Douzaine (parish council) representatives, 45 people's deputies elected by popular vote, 2 representatives from Alderney, Her Majesty's Procureur (Attorney General), Her Majesty's Comptroller (Solicitor General) and Her Majesty's Greffier (Court Recorder and Registrar General); note - Alderney and Sark have their own parliaments elections: last held 12 April 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - all independents
Judicial branch: Royal Court Political parties and leaders: none; all independents Political pressure groups and none
leaders: International organization none
participation: Diplomatic representation in the US: none (British crown dependency) Diplomatic representation from the none (British crown dependency)
US:
Flag description: white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross Economy Guernsey
Economy - overview: Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance, etc. - account for about 55% of total income in this tiny Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the rules of the game under which Guernsey operates.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.3 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.7% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,000 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3% industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA% Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.99% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 31,322 (2000)
Unemployment rate: 0.5% (1999 est.)
Budget: revenues: $381.3 million expenditures: $368.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: tourism, banking Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity - production: NA kWh Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% other: NA% nuclear: NA% Electricity - consumption: NA kWh
Electricity - exports: NA kWh
Electricity - imports: NA kWh
Agriculture - products: tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle
Exports: $NA
Exports - commodities: tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables
Exports - partners: UK (regarded as internal trade)
Imports: $NA
Imports - commodities: coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment
Imports - partners: UK (regarded as internal trade)
Debt - external: $NA Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency: British pound (GBP); note - there is also a Guernsey pound
Currency code: GBP
Exchange rates: Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.6944 (January 2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997); note - the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound
Fiscal year: calendar year Communications Guernsey - Telephones - main lines in use: 44,000 (1996) Telephones - mobile cellular: 12,000 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: NA Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)
Televisions: NA
Internet country code: .gg Internet Service Providers (ISPs): NA
Internet users: NA Transportation Guernsey -
Railways: 5 km
Highways: total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: St. Peter Port, Saint Sampson
Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)
Airports: 2 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2001) Military Guernsey -
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK Transnational Issues Guernsey - Disputes - international: none

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I
Breed of dairy cattle that originated on the Channel Island of Guernsey.

Like the Jersey, it is thought to have descended from French cattle. Larger than Jerseys, Guernseys are fawn-colored and marked with white. Their milk has a pronounced yellow color. First exported to the U.S. in 1830, they are found also in Australia and Canada.
II
Second largest of the Channel Islands.

Area: 30.2 sq mi (78.1 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 63,000. Guernsey is situated in the English Channel just west of Normandy, France. With Alderney and Sark, Herm, Jethou, and other islets, it forms the bailiwick of Guernsey; its capital is St. Peter Port (pop., 2001: 16,448). The island was known as Sarnia to the Romans. It was home to Victor Hugo (1855–70). The Guernsey breed of cattle originated there.

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▪ breed of cattle
 breed of dairy cattle originating on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. Like the Jersey, this breed is thought to have descended from the cattle of nearby Normandy and Brittany. All the cattle of the Channel Islands were at one time known as Alderneys. After laws had been enacted prohibiting the importation of cattle to the islands except for slaughter, the Jersey and the Guernsey breeds came to be recognized. Guernsey cattle are fawn-coloured, marked with white, and are larger than the Jerseys. Guernseys are noted for the production of milk of a pronounced yellow colour. Like Jerseys, they are not desirable producers of beef.

      The first Guernseys were exported to the United States in 1830, but it was not until 1880 that the export business became extensive. Numbers of Guernsey cattle are to be found also in England, Australia, and Canada.

▪ island and bailiwick, Channel Islands, English Channel
Guernsey, flag of second largest of the Channel Islands. It is 30 miles (48 km) west of Normandy, Fr., and roughly triangular in shape. With Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, and associated islets, it forms the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Its capital is St. Peter Port (Saint Peter Port) (q.v.).

      In the south, Guernsey rises in a plateau to about 300 feet (90 metres), with ragged coastal cliffs. It descends in steps and is drained mainly by streams flowing northward in deeply incised valleys. Northern Guernsey is low-lying, although small outcrops of resistant rock form hills (hougues). The soil on lower ground is of blown sand, raised beach deposits, and the fills of old lagoons. The climate is maritime; snow and severe frost are rare, and the annual temperature range is only about 17 °F (9 °C). Annual rainfall varies from 30 to 35 inches (750–900 mm). The somewhat scanty water supplies are supplemented by seawater distillation.

      The island was known as Sarnia to the Romans. Early documents (11th century) show that the chief landowners were the lords of Saint-Sauveur (hereditary vicomtes of the Cotentin), the vicomtes of the Bessin, the abbey of Le Mont-Saint-Michel, and the Duke of Normandy.

      After separation from Normandy in 1204, the Channel Islands were put in charge of a warden and sometimes granted to a lord. From the end of the 15th century, however, Guernsey (with Alderney and Sark) was put under a captain, later governor, an office abolished in 1835. The duties devolved upon a lieutenant governor. Because the warden could not conduct sessions of the king's courts regularly on all four of the main Channel Islands, his judicial responsibilities on Guernsey fell to a bailiff. This bailiff came to preside over the Royal Court of Guernsey, in which judgment was given and the law declared by 12 jurats (or permanent jurors). The Royal Court has survived substantially in this medieval form, administering the law of Guernsey founded on the custom of Normandy and local usage.

      From the bailiffs' practice of referring difficult points of law to local notables, Guernsey's deliberative and legislative assembly, the States of Deliberation, ultimately grew. In the 19th century the States of Deliberation emerged as a legislative assembly administering the island through executive committees. The assembly is presided over by the bailiff of Guernsey. The lieutenant governor is the personal representative of the British sovereign. Governmental and judicial proceedings on Guernsey are conducted in English, even though many of the island's inhabitants speak Norman French as their first language.

      Guernsey was never dominated by any one great landowning family, and the early growth of commerce in St. Peter Port (Saint Peter Port), with later smuggling and privateering and 19th-century industrial development, weakened what remained of the feudal landlords' power. During World War II many of Guernsey's inhabitants were evacuated to England before the Germans occupied the island (July 1940–May 1945)

 The population is mainly of Norman descent with an admixture of Breton. St. Peter Port and St. Sampson are the main towns. Dairy farming with the famous Guernsey breed of cattle (see photograph—>) is largely confined to the high land in the south. Market gardening is concentrated chiefly in the north, where greenhouses produce tomatoes, flowers, and grapes, mostly exported to England. Tourism has become an important part of Guernsey's economy in the 20th century. The house in St. Peter Port in which the French author Victor Hugo resided from 1855 to 1870 is now a museum. The island relies increasingly on airline services and is served by an airport at La Villaize. There are shipping links with Jersey, Alderney, and Sark; London and Weymouth, Eng.; and Saint-Malo, Fr. Area Guernsey, 24 square miles (62 square km); Bailiwick of Guernsey, 30 square miles (78 square km). Pop. (2001) Guernsey, 59,710; Bailiwick of Guernsey, 62,692.
 

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