Jersey

Jersey (English pronunciation [ˈdʒɜːzɪ], French pronunciation [ʒɛʁˈzɛ], Norman Jèrri [dʒɛrɪ]) is the largest and, with a good 100,000 inhabitants, also the most populous Channel Island. It lies in the English Channel in the Bay of Saint-Malo, about 150 km off the United Kingdom and about 25 km off the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula in northern France. To the other Channel Islands the (air-line) distances are 28 km to Guernsey, 20 km to Sark and 50 km to Alderney. Jersey is the sunniest of all the British islands and has extensive beaches. The capital is Saint Helier.

Jersey, like the other Channel Islands, is neither part of the United Kingdom nor a crown colony, but is a crown dependency directly under the British Crown.

Together with the smaller islands of Minquiers and Ecréhous, the island belongs to the self-government of Bailiwick of Jersey. The Bailiwick of Jersey also includes other groups of islands and rocks that are not permanently inhabited today: Pierres de Lecq and Les Dirouilles in particular, as well as other islands to the south and south-east. Other Channel Islands in the vicinity belong to the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Size

Jersey is 119.6 km² in size - 8 km wide from north to south and 14.5 km long from east to west. The island has a 570 km road network. Around 80 km alone is taken up by the "Green Lanes" road system. These are small, traffic-calmed roads and paths on which a maximum speed of 24 km/h applies. Hikers, cyclists and horse riders have priority here.

Population

The island had 97,857 inhabitants at the last census (2011). By the end of 2014, the population had risen to an estimated 100,800. Of the residents, about 50% were born in Jersey and another 33% in the other British Isles. The island's capital, St Helier, has a population of around 33,500 (2011 census). Every fifth resident works in the financial sector.