153-805: In Europe (dark grey) Jersey ( / ˈ dʒ ɜːr z i / JUR -zee ; Jèrriais : Jèrri [ʒɛri] ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey , is an island country in Northwestern Europe and a self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the largest of the Channel Islands and is 14 miles (23 km) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Bailiwick consists of
306-626: A chief minister and nine ministers, makes up the leading body of the government of Jersey . Each minister may appoint up to two assistant ministers. A chief executive is head of the civil service. Some governmental functions are carried out in the island's parishes . Jersey is a distinct jurisdiction for the purposes of conflict of laws , separate from the other Channel Islands, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Jersey law has been influenced by several different legal traditions, in particular Norman customary law , English common law and modern French civil law . Jersey's legal system
459-571: A customs union . A large bloc of countries, the Schengen Area , have also abolished internal border and immigration controls. Regular popular elections take place every five years within the EU; they are considered to be the second-largest democratic elections in the world after India's . The EU is the third-largest economy in the world. The place name Evros was first used by the ancient Greeks to refer to their northernmost province, which bears
612-706: A "self-governing, democratic country with the power of self-determination ". Because Jersey is a dependency of the British Crown , King Charles III reigns in Jersey. " The Crown " is defined by the Law Officers of the Crown as the "Crown in right of Jersey". The King's representative and adviser in the island is the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey – Vice-Admiral Jerry Kyd since 8 October 2022. He
765-871: A German naturalist, Peter Simon Pallas , as a valley that once connected the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and subsequently was proposed as a natural boundary between continents. By the mid-19th century, there were three main conventions, one following the Don, the Volga–Don Canal and the Volga, the other following the Kuma–Manych Depression to the Caspian and then the Ural River, and the third abandoning
918-643: A Semitic term for west , this being either Akkadian erebu meaning 'to go down, set' (said of the sun) or Phoenician 'ereb 'evening, west', which is at the origin of Arabic maghreb and Hebrew ma'arav . Martin Litchfield West stated that "phonologically, the match between Europa's name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor", while Beekes considers a connection to Semitic languages improbable. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to
1071-659: A blocking mechanism for depressions that originate in the North Atlantic and that produce stratiform clouds and rain; these are deflected northwards towards the UK mainland. Furthermore, the Azores High further reduces the type of convective cloud formations (particularly Cumulus and Stratocumulus ) that are common over more northern and inland areas of the UK during summer through subsidence . In 2011, Jersey generated controversy for calling itself "the warmest place in
1224-818: A boundary along the Terek and Kuban rivers, so southwards from the Kuma and the Manych, but still with the Caucasus entirely in Asia. However, most geographers in the Soviet Union favoured the boundary along the Caucasus crest, and this became the common convention in the later 20th century, although the Kuma–Manych boundary remained in use in some 20th-century maps. Some view the separation of Eurasia into Asia and Europe as
1377-610: A history of fishing in the Bailiwick's waters. The management of this permit system has caused tension between the French and Jersey authorities, with the French threatening to cut off Jersey's electricity supply in May 2021. Before the end of the transition period after the UK withdrew from the EU in 2020, Jersey had a special relationship with the EU. It was part of the EU customs union and there
1530-442: A judge appointed, with similar judicial powers to a bailiff, but on 1 January 1949, the island adopted a new constitution, giving up some independence, moving closer to Guernsey, and confirming that it is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The island of Guernsey has a population of around 63,000 in 62 km (24 square miles) and forms the legal and administrative centre of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The parliament of Guernsey and
1683-406: A large land mass completely or almost completely surrounded by water at its borders. Prior to the adoption of the current convention that includes mountain divides, the border between Europe and Asia had been redefined several times since its first conception in classical antiquity , but always as a series of rivers, seas and straits that were believed to extend an unknown distance east and north from
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#17327646799691836-496: A large proportion of the island's retail and employment, such as the finance industry. Outside of the town, many islanders live in suburban and rural settlements, especially along main roads leading out of town, and even the more rural areas of the island have considerable amounts of development (St Ouen, the least densely populated parish, still has 270 persons per square kilometre). The south and east coasts from St Aubin to Gorey are largely urbanised. The second smaller urban area
1989-580: A parish church dating from the 11th century, with strong religious control exercised initially by the French Catholic church and for the last 500 years by the English church. Over the years, the religious aspect of the administration of each parish has been reduced in favour of democratically elected douzeniers. Each jurisdiction has inhabited and uninhabited islands and its own elected government. All three legal jurisdictions need royal assent from
2142-763: A precise eastern boundary of Europe arises in the Early Modern period, as the eastern extension of Muscovy began to include North Asia . Throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century, the traditional division of the landmass of Eurasia into two continents, Europe and Asia, followed Ptolemy, with the boundary following the Turkish Straits , the Black Sea , the Kerch Strait , the Sea of Azov and
2295-543: A range of national and regional cultures, which form the central roots of the wider Western civilisation , and together commonly reference ancient Greece and ancient Rome , particularly through their Christian successors , as crucial and shared roots. Beginning with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, Christian consolidation of Europe in the wake of the Migration Period marked
2448-711: A residue of Eurocentrism : "In physical, cultural and historical diversity, China and India are comparable to the entire European landmass, not to a single European country. [...]." During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene , numerous cold phases called glacials ( Quaternary ice age ), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in Europe and North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of
2601-685: A result, the Reconquista took the greater part of eight hundred years, in which period a long list of Alfonsos, Sanchos, Ordoños, Ramiros, Fernandos, and Bermudos would be fighting their Christian rivals as much as the Muslim invaders. During the Dark Ages, the Western Roman Empire fell under the control of various tribes. The Germanic and Slav tribes established their domains over Western and Eastern Europe, respectively. Eventually
2754-565: Is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising three separate jurisdictions: Alderney , Guernsey (incorporating Herm ), and Sark . The Lieutenant Governor is the representative of the British monarch , who remains the head of state . The States of Guernsey is the parliament and government of the whole Bailiwick, though several matters are decided locally by the States of Alderney and by Sark's Chief Pleas. The Bailiff of Guernsey
2907-704: Is a member of the British-Irish Council , the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie . Jersey independence has in the past been discussed in the States Assembly. Former external relations minister Sir Philip Bailhache has at various times warned that the island may need to become independent. It is not Jersey government policy to seek independence, but
3060-765: Is a point of contact between Jersey ministers and the UK Government and carries out some functions in relation to immigration control, deportation , naturalisation and the issue of passports. In 1973, the Royal Commission on the Constitution set out the duties of the Crown as including: ultimate responsibility for the 'good government' of the Crown Dependencies; ratification of island legislation by Order-in-Council ( royal assent ); international representation, subject to consultation with
3213-401: Is also evidence that Homo sapiens arrived in Europe around 54,000 years ago, some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. The earliest sites in Europe dated 48,000 years ago are Riparo Mochi (Italy), Geissenklösterle (Germany) and Isturitz (France). The European Neolithic period—marked by the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock, increased numbers of settlements and
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#17327646799693366-547: Is an island measuring 46.2 square miles (119.6 km) (or 66,436 vergées ), including reclaimed land and intertidal zone . It lies in the English Channel , about 12 nautical miles (22 km ; 14 mi ) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, France, and about 87 nautical miles (161 km; 100 mi) south of Great Britain. It is the largest and southernmost of the Channel Islands and part of
3519-846: Is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Asia and Africa . Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian Sea , the Greater Caucasus ,
3672-488: Is closest to Anatolia (or Asia Minor), but is considered part of Europe politically and it is a member state of the EU. Malta was considered an island of North-western Africa for centuries, but now it is considered to be part of Europe as well. "Europe", as used specifically in British English , may also refer to Continental Europe exclusively. The term "continent" usually implies the physical geography of
3825-399: Is divided into twelve parishes (which have civil and religious functions), the largest being Saint Ouen and the smallest St. Clement. They are all named after their parish church. The connétable is the head of the parish. They are elected at island general elections and sit ex oficio in the States Assembly. The parishes have various civil administrative functions, such as roads (managed by
3978-562: Is generally considered a transcontinental country divided entirely by water, while Russia and Kazakhstan are only partly divided by waterways. France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain are also transcontinental (or more properly, intercontinental, when oceans or large seas are involved) in that their main land areas are in Europe while pockets of their territories are located on other continents separated from Europe by large bodies of water. Spain, for example, has territories south of
4131-513: Is now celebrated as the island's national day. Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy , with its own financial , legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination . Jersey's constitutional relationship is with the Crown ; it is not part of the United Kingdom . The Bailiff is the civil head, president of the states and head of
4284-455: Is reserved to the Crown, Jersey has been developing its own international identity over recent years. It negotiates directly with foreign governments on various matters: for example, tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) have been signed directly by the island with several countries. The government maintains offices (some in partnership with Guernsey) in Caen , London and Brussels . Jersey
4437-466: Is said that Jersey's self-governance originates from the Constitutions of King John , however this is disputed. Nevertheless, the island continued to follow Norman customs and laws. The King also appointed a Bailiff and a Warden (now Lieutenant-Governor ). The period of English rule was marked by wars between England and France, as such a military fortress was built at Mont Orgueil . During
4590-478: Is sometimes considered to mark the end of antiquity; alternatively antiquity is considered to end with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE; the closure of the pagan Platonic Academy of Athens in 529 CE; or the rise of Islam in the early 7th century CE. During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe. During
4743-422: Is somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent compared to any clear-cut definition of the term "continent". The current division of Eurasia into two continents now reflects East-West cultural, linguistic and ethnic differences which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The geographic border between Europe and Asia does not follow any state boundaries and now only follows a few bodies of water. Turkey
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4896-557: Is the Les Quennevais area in St Brelade, which is home to a small precinct of shops, a school , a park, and a leisure centre. Most people across Jersey regularly travel from the rural settlements to St Helier and from the town to the rural areas for work and leisure purposes. Housing costs in Jersey are very high. The Jersey House Price Index has at least doubled between 2002 and 2020. The mix-adjusted house price for Jersey
5049-498: Is the civil head of the Bailiwick, and is also president of the States of Guernsey and head of the Bailiwick's judiciary . The Bailiwick is self-governing and not part of the United Kingdom . Its defence and international representation — as well as certain policy areas, such as nationality law — are the responsibility of the UK Government , but the Bailiwick still has a separate international identity. The history of
5202-711: Is therefore described as 'mixed' or ' pluralistic ', and sources of law are in French and English languages, although since the 1950s the main working language of the legal system is English. The principal court is the Royal Court , with appeals to the Jersey Court of Appeal and, ultimately, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . The Bailiff is head of the judiciary; the Bailiff and
5355-400: Is £567,000, higher than any UK region (UK average: £249,000) including London (average: £497,000; highest of any UK region). The island has an oceanic climate , with cool to mild winters and lukewarm to warm summers. The highest temperature recorded was 37.9 °C (100.2 °F), on 18 July 2022 , and the lowest temperature recorded was −10.3 °C (13.5 °F), on 5 January 1894. 2022
5508-793: The Americas , almost all of Africa and Oceania , and the majority of Asia. The Age of Enlightenment , the French Revolution , and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally, politically, and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution , which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe and eventually
5661-470: The Bailiwick of Guernsey , and they share a good-natured rivalry. Jersey and its people have been described as a nation. The Channel Islands are mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary as the following: Sarnia , Caesarea , Barsa , Silia and Andium , but Jersey cannot be identified specifically because none corresponds directly to the present names. The name Caesarea has been used as
5814-474: The Black Sea , and the waterway of the Bosporus Strait . Europe covers about 10.18 million km (3.93 million sq mi), or 2% of Earth's surface (6.8% of land area), making it the second-smallest continent (using the seven-continent model ). Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states , of which Russia is the largest and most populous , spanning 39% of
5967-845: The Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. From that time, the term designated the sphere of influence of the Western Church , as opposed to both the Eastern Orthodox churches and to the Islamic world . A cultural definition of Europe as the lands of Latin Christendom coalesced in the 8th century, signifying the new cultural condominium created through the confluence of Germanic traditions and Christian-Latin culture, defined partly in contrast with Byzantium and Islam , and limited to northern Iberia ,
6120-878: The Channel Islands . The islanders have never had formal representation in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, nor the European Parliament. Those islanders who were not somehow qualified and eligible in their own right to register to vote and to vote in the United Kingdom under the Representation of the People Acts as "overseas voters", were excluded from the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum . Guernsey has an unwritten constitution arising from
6273-414: The Don (ancient Tanais ). But maps produced during the 16th to 18th centuries tended to differ in how to continue the boundary beyond the Don bend at Kalach-na-Donu (where it is closest to the Volga, now joined with it by the Volga–Don Canal ), into territory not described in any detail by the ancient geographers. Around 1715, Herman Moll produced a map showing the northern part of the Ob River and
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6426-442: The Duchy of Normandy , whose dukes became kings of England from 1066. In 1204, as a consequence of the Treaty of Le Goulet , insular Normandy alone remained loyal to the English Crown, leading to a political split from the mainland. Around 1290, the Channel Islands' Governor, Otto de Grandson , split the archipelago into two bailiwicks , establishing those parts other than Jersey as a single Bailiwick of Guernsey. The Bailiwick
6579-407: The East . This divide ended with the Revolutions of 1989 , the fall of the Berlin Wall , and the dissolution of the Soviet Union , which allowed European integration to advance significantly. European integration is being advanced institutionally since 1948 with the founding of the Council of Europe , and significantly through the realisation of the European Union (EU), which represents today
6732-419: The English Channel (red) The Bailiwick of Guernsey ( French : Bailliage de Guernesey ; Guernésiais : Bailliage dé Guernési ) is a self-governing British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy , France, comprising several of the Channel Islands . It has a total land area of 78 square kilometres (30 sq mi) and an estimated total population of 67,334. The Channel Islands were part of
6885-439: The European population at the time. The plague had a devastating effect on Europe's social structure; it induced people to live for the moment as illustrated by Giovanni Boccaccio in The Decameron (1353). It was a serious blow to the Roman Catholic Church and led to increased persecution of Jews , beggars and lepers . The plague is thought to have returned every generation with varying virulence and mortalities until
7038-460: The Greeks and Phoenicians gave rise to early Mediterranean cities. Early Iron Age Italy and Greece from around the 8th century BCE gradually gave rise to historical Classical antiquity, whose beginning is sometimes dated to 776 BCE, the year of the first Olympic Games . Ancient Greece was the founding culture of Western civilisation. Western democratic and rationalist culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece. The Greek city-state,
7191-400: The Inquisition against heretics. In the Iberian Peninsula , the Reconquista concluded with the fall of Granada in 1492 , ending over seven centuries of Islamic rule in the south-western peninsula. In the east, a resurgent Byzantine Empire recaptured Crete and Cyprus from the Muslims, and reconquered the Balkans. Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th to
7344-442: The Irtysh River , a major tributary of the Ob, as components of a series of partly-joined waterways taking the boundary between Europe and Asia from the Turkish Straits, and the Don River all the way to the Arctic Ocean. In 1721, he produced a more up to date map that was easier to read. However, his proposal to adhere to major rivers as the line of demarcation was never taken up by other geographers who were beginning to move away from
7497-410: The Kingdom of England . At the end of the Napoleonic Wars , Jersey was at the frontline of Anglo-French Wars and was invaded a number of times, leading to the construction of fortifications such as Mont Orgueil Castle and a thriving smuggling industry. During the Second World War , the island was invaded and occupied for five years by Nazi Germany . The island was liberated on 9 May 1945, which
7650-463: The Latin name for Jersey (also in its French version Césarée ) since William Camden 's Britannia , and is used in titles of associations and institutions today. The Latin name Caesarea was also applied to the colony of New Jersey as Nova Caesarea . Andium , Agna and Augia were used in antiquity. Scholars variously surmise that Jersey and Jèrri derive from jǫrð ( Old Norse for 'earth') or jarl ('earl'), or perhaps
7803-419: The Mediterranean Sea —namely, Ceuta and Melilla —which are parts of Africa and share a border with Morocco. According to the current convention, Georgia and Azerbaijan are transcontinental countries where waterways have been completely replaced by mountains as the divide between continents. The first recorded usage of Eurṓpē as a geographic term is in the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo , in reference to
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#17327646799697956-490: The Megalithic Temples of Malta and Stonehenge , were constructed throughout Western and Southern Europe. The modern native populations of Europe largely descend from three distinct lineages: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers , descended from populations associated with the Paleolithic Epigravettian culture; Neolithic Early European Farmers who migrated from Anatolia during the Neolithic Revolution 9,000 years ago; and Yamnaya Steppe herders who expanded into Europe from
8109-471: The Monarch on its primary legislation, but as of February 29, 2024, certain domestic primary legislation need only the Lieutenant-Governor's assent. Each jurisdiction raises its own taxation, although in 1949 Alderney transferred its rights to Guernsey. With a population of around 2,200 in 7.8 km (3 square miles), Alderney has its own parliament, the States of Alderney , which has ten elected members and an elected president. From 1612, Alderney had
8262-427: The Neandertal valley in Germany ) appeared in Europe 150,000 years ago (115,000 years ago it is found already in the territory of present-day Poland ) and disappeared from the fossil record about 40,000 years ago, with their final refuge being the Iberian Peninsula. The Neanderthals were supplanted by modern humans ( Cro-Magnons ), who seem to have appeared in Europe around 43,000 to 40,000 years ago. However, there
8415-451: The Norman language, Jèrriais , being one of only two places in Normandy with government status for the language (the other being Guernsey ), as well as the use of standard French in legal matters and officially in use as a government language, strong cultural ties to mainland Normandy as a part of the Normandy region , and place names with French or Norman origins. The island has very close cultural links with its neighbouring islands in
8568-468: The October 2011 elections . Jersey has one of the lowest voter turnouts internationally, with just 33% of the electorate voting in 2005 , putting it well below the 77% European average for that year. From the 2022 elections , the role of senators was abolished and the eight senators were replaced with an increased number of deputies. The 37 deputies are now elected from nine super constituencies, rather than in individual parishes. Although efforts were made
8721-432: The Pechenegs and the Cuman-Kipchaks , caused a massive migration of Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north, and temporarily halted the expansion of the Rus' state to the south and east. Like many other parts of Eurasia , these territories were overrun by the Mongols . The invaders, who became known as Tatars , were mostly Turkic-speaking peoples under Mongol suzerainty. They established
8874-409: The Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia in the context of Indo-European migrations 5,000 years ago. The European Bronze Age began c. 3200 BCE in Greece with the Minoan civilisation on Crete , the first advanced civilisation in Europe. The Minoans were followed by the Myceneans , who collapsed suddenly around 1200 BCE, ushering the European Iron Age . Iron Age colonisation by
9027-406: The Serbian Principality (later Kingdom and Empire ), and the Duchy of Croatia (later Kingdom of Croatia ). To the east, Kievan Rus' expanded from its capital in Kiev to become the largest state in Europe by the 10th century. In 988, Vladimir the Great adopted Orthodox Christianity as the religion of state. Further east, Volga Bulgaria became an Islamic state in the 10th century, but
9180-401: The Treaty of Paris (1259) . When Henry III and the King of France came to terms over the Duchy of Normandy, the Norman mainland fell under the suzerainty of the king of France. The Channel Islands, however, remained loyal to the English crown due to the loyalties of its Seigneurs . However, they were never absorbed into the Kingdom of England by any Act of Union, but exist as "peculiars of
9333-455: The Tudor period , the split between the Church of England and the Vatican led to islanders adopting the Protestant religion. During the reign of Elizabeth , French refugees brought strict Calvinism to the island, which remained the common religion until 1617. In the late 16th century, islanders travelled across the North Atlantic to participate in the Newfoundland fisheries . In recognition for help given to him during his exile in Jersey in
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#17327646799699486-426: The decline of the Roman Empire , Europe entered a long period of change arising from what historians call the " Age of Migrations ". There were numerous invasions and migrations amongst the Ostrogoths , Visigoths , Goths , Vandals , Huns , Franks , Angles , Saxons , Slavs , Avars , Bulgars , Vikings , Pechenegs , Cumans , and Magyars . Renaissance thinkers such as Petrarch would later refer to this as
9639-432: The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. Earth is currently in an interglacial period of the Quaternary, called the Holocene . Homo erectus georgicus , which lived roughly 1.8 million years ago in Georgia , is the earliest hominin to have been discovered in Europe. Other hominin remains, dating back roughly 1 million years, have been discovered in Atapuerca , Spain . Neanderthal man (named after
9792-517: The polis , was the fundamental political unit of classical Greece. In 508 BCE, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government in Athens . The Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers and idealists. Greece also generated many cultural contributions: in philosophy , humanism and rationalism under Aristotle , Socrates and Plato ; in history with Herodotus and Thucydides ; in dramatic and narrative verse, starting with
9945-402: The "Dark Ages". Isolated monastic communities were the only places to safeguard and compile written knowledge accumulated previously; apart from this, very few written records survive. Much literature, philosophy, mathematics, and other thinking from the classical period disappeared from Western Europe, though they were preserved in the east, in the Byzantine Empire. While the Roman empire in
10098-461: The 12th centuries, with a population of approximately 400,000. The Empire was weakened following the defeat at Manzikert , and was weakened considerably by the sack of Constantinople in 1204 , during the Fourth Crusade . Although it would recover Constantinople in 1261, Byzantium fell in 1453 when Constantinople was taken by the Ottoman Empire . In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as
10251-401: The 12th to the 15th centuries, the Grand Duchy of Moscow grew from a small principality under Mongol rule to the largest state in Europe, overthrowing the Mongols in 1480, and eventually becoming the Tsardom of Russia . The state was consolidated under Ivan III the Great and Ivan the Terrible , steadily expanding to the east and south over the next centuries. The Great Famine of 1315–1317
10404-471: The 14th and 16th centuries: it saw the flowering of art , philosophy , music , and the sciences , under the joint patronage of royalty , the nobility, the Roman Catholic Church and an emerging merchant class. Patrons in Italy, including the Medici family of Florentine bankers and the Popes in Rome , funded prolific quattrocento and cinquecento artists such as Raphael , Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci . Bailiwick of Guernsey in
10557-467: The 1640s, King Charles II of England gave Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret , bailiff and governor, a large grant of land in the American colonies in between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, which he promptly named New Jersey . It is now a state in the United States. In 1769, the island suffered food supply shortages, leading to an insurrection on 28 September known as the Corn Riots . The States met at Elizabeth Castle and decided to request help from
10710-444: The 18th century. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. The Renaissance was a period of cultural change originating in Florence , and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The rise of a new humanism was accompanied by the recovery of forgotten classical Greek and Arabic knowledge from monastic libraries, often translated from Arabic into Latin . The Renaissance spread across Europe between
10863-400: The 50 years of peace that followed are known as Golden Age of Athens , the seminal period of ancient Greece that laid many of the foundations of Western civilisation. Greece was followed by Rome , which left its mark on law , politics , language , engineering , architecture , government , and many more key aspects in western civilisation. By 200 BCE, Rome had conquered Italy and over
11016-632: The Bailiwick established in 2010 an office in Brussels to develop the Channel Islands' influence with the EU, to advise the Channel Islands' governments on European matters, and to promote economic links with the EU. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is in the Commonwealth (Commonwealth of Nations) , although not as a member , in its own right . The Bailiwick is also a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation and competes in
11169-517: The Bailiwick of Guernsey goes back to 933, when the islands came under the control of William Longsword , having been annexed from the Duchy of Brittany by the Duchy of Normandy . The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands formed part of the lands of William the Conqueror . In 1204, France conquered mainland Normandy – but not the offshore islands of the bailiwick . The islands represent
11322-423: The Bailiwick of Jersey, such as Les Minquiers and Les Écrehous, however unlike the smaller islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, none of these are permanently inhabited. The largest settlement is the town of St Helier, including the built-up area of southern St Helier and neighbouring areas such as Georgetown, which also plays host to the island's seat of government. The town is the central business district, hosting
11475-459: The Bailiwick. Combined with a tidal range of 10 m (33 ft) and fast currents of up to 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h), sailing in local waters is dangerous. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a separate jurisdiction in itself and is, in turn, also three separate sub-jurisdictions. It does not form part of, and is separate from (but is not independent of, or from) the United Kingdom . The two Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey together make up
11628-644: The British Isles" during an advertising campaign, as Jersey is neither the place with the highest maximum temperature in the British Isles (40.3°C was recorded in Coningsby , Lincolnshire in July 2022) or the highest winter temperatures in the British Isles (which would be the Isles of Scilly ). Typical wind speeds vary between 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) and 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph). During
11781-474: The British Isles, France, Christianised western Germany, the Alpine regions and northern and central Italy. The concept is one of the lasting legacies of the Carolingian Renaissance : Europa often figures in the letters of Charlemagne's court scholar, Alcuin . The transition of Europe to being a cultural term as well as a geographic one led to the borders of Europe being affected by cultural considerations in
11934-494: The British Isles, with a maximum land elevation of 143 m (469 ft) above sea level. About 24% of the island is built-up. 52% of the land area is dedicated to cultivation and around 18% is the natural environment. It lies within longitude -2° W and latitude 49° N . It has a coastline that is 43 miles (70 km) long and a total area of 46.2 square miles (119.6 km). It measures roughly 9 miles (14 km) from west to east and 5 miles (8 km) north to south, which gives it
12087-473: The Channel Islands. In 1304, separate seals were provided to Jersey and Guernsey. The provision of different seals is one of the earliest indications of the individual identity and personality of the two Bailiwicks. The seal comprised three leopards (or lions), a symbol taken from the original arms of the Duchy of Normandy. The United Kingdom and His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are responsible for
12240-513: The Crown". A unique constitutional position has arisen as successive British monarchs have confirmed the liberties and privileges of the Bailiwick, often referring to the so-called Constitutions of King John , a legendary document supposed to have been granted by King John in the aftermath of 1204. Governments of the Bailiwick have generally tried to avoid testing the limits of the unwritten constitution by avoiding conflict with British governments. This peculiar political position has often been to
12393-713: The Deputy Bailiff are appointed by the Crown. Other members of the island's judiciary are appointed by the Bailiff. The external relations of Jersey are overseen by the External Relations Minister of the Government of Jersey. In 2007, the chief minister and the UK Lord Chancellor signed an agreement that established a framework for the development of the international identity of Jersey. Although diplomatic representation
12546-508: The Don altogether, following the Greater Caucasus watershed to the Caspian. The question was still treated as a "controversy" in geographical literature of the 1860s, with Douglas Freshfield advocating the Caucasus crest boundary as the "best possible", citing support from various "modern geographers". In Russia and the Soviet Union , the boundary along the Kuma–Manych Depression was the most commonly used as early as 1906. In 1958,
12699-675: The Early Middle Ages, and soon spread throughout Europe. A struggle for influence between the nobility and the monarchy in England led to the writing of Magna Carta and the establishment of a parliament . The primary source of culture in this period came from the Roman Catholic Church . Through monasteries and cathedral schools , the Church was responsible for education in much of Europe. The Papacy reached
12852-559: The East, especially relating to areas under Byzantine, Ottoman, and Russian influence. Such questions were affected by the positive connotations associated with the term Europe by its users. Such cultural considerations were not applied to the Americas, despite their conquest and settlement by European states. Instead, the concept of "Western civilization" emerged as a way of grouping together Europe and these colonies. The question of defining
13005-531: The European post-classical Middle Ages . The Italian Renaissance spread in the continent a new humanist interest in art and science which led to the modern era . Since the Age of Discovery , led by Spain and Portugal , Europe played a predominant role in global affairs with multiple explorations and conquests around the world. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers colonised at various times
13158-478: The European mainland occasionally occur, but are usually not severe. Thunderstorms advecting north from the Bay of Biscay tend to occur during the summer if the influence of the Azores High temporarily weakens and a cut-off low develops in the region. Cool season thunderstorms are more common compared with other parts of Europe, as the relatively warm sea surface temperatures drive moderate surface based convection into
13311-707: The Frankish tribes were united under Clovis I . Charlemagne , a Frankish king of the Carolingian dynasty who had conquered most of Western Europe, was anointed " Holy Roman Emperor " by the Pope in 800. This led in 962 to the founding of the Holy Roman Empire , which eventually became centred in the German principalities of central Europe. East Central Europe saw the creation of the first Slavic states and
13464-520: The Great 's efforts to make Russia more European, ignored the whole boundary question with his claim that neither Russia, Scandinavia, northern Germany, nor Poland were fully part of Europe. Since then, many modern analytical geographers like Halford Mackinder have declared that they see little validity in the Ural Mountains as a boundary between continents. The mapmakers continued to differ on
13617-710: The King. However, in 1771 the Crown demanded reforms to the island's governance, leading to the Code of 1771 and removed the powers of the Royal Court to make laws without the States . In 1781, during the American Revolutionary War , the island was invaded by a French force which captured St Helier , but was defeated by Major Peirson 's army at the Battle of Jersey . The 19th century saw the improvement of
13770-655: The Levant and North Africa and making inroads into Asia Minor . In the mid-7th century, following the Muslim conquest of Persia , Islam penetrated into the Caucasus region. Over the next centuries Muslim forces took Cyprus , Malta , Crete , Sicily , and parts of southern Italy . Between 711 and 720, most of the lands of the Visigothic Kingdom of Iberia were brought under Muslim rule—save for small areas in
13923-703: The Mediterranean Sea without the inclusion of any mountain ranges. Cartographer Herman Moll suggested in 1715 Europe was bounded by a series of partly-joined waterways directed towards the Turkish straits, and the Irtysh River draining into the upper part of the Ob River and the Arctic Ocean . In contrast, the present eastern boundary of Europe partially adheres to the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, which
14076-606: The Norse personal name Geirr (thus Geirrsey , 'Geirr's Island'). The ending -ey denotes an island (as in Guernsey or Surtsey ). Humans have lived on the island since at least 12,000 BCE , with evidence of habitation in the Palaeolithic period ( La Cotte de St Brelade ) and Neolithic dolmens, such as La Hougue Bie . Evidence of Bronze Age and early Iron Age settlements can be found in many locations around
14229-575: The Road Committee) and policing (through the Honorary Police ). Each parish is governed through direct democracy at parish assemblies, consisting of all eligible voters resident in the parish. The Procureurs du Bien Public are the legal and financial representatives of these parishes. The parishes of Jersey are further divided into vingtaines (or, in St. Ouen, cueillettes ). Jersey
14382-743: The Soviet Geographical Society formally recommended that the boundary between the Europe and Asia be drawn in textbooks from Baydaratskaya Bay , on the Kara Sea , along the eastern foot of Ural Mountains, then following the Ural River until the Mugodzhar Hills , and then the Emba River ; and Kuma–Manych Depression, thus placing the Caucasus entirely in Asia and the Urals entirely in Europe. The Flora Europaea adopted
14535-645: The States was reformed, becoming wholly democratically elected, and universal franchise was implemented. Since liberation, the island has grown in population and adopted new industries, especially the finance industry. Jersey is a Crown Dependency , and is not part of the United Kingdom, being officially part of the British Islands . As one of the Crown Dependencies, Jersey is autonomous and self-governing, with its own independent legal, administrative and fiscal systems. Jersey's government has described Jersey as
14688-509: The Tanais (the modern Don River) as the boundary. The Roman Empire did not attach a strong identity to the concept of continental divisions. However, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the culture that developed in its place , linked to Latin and the Catholic church, began to associate itself with the concept of "Europe". The term "Europe" is first used for a cultural sphere in
14841-551: The adoption of Christianity ( c. 1000 CE) . The powerful West Slavic state of Great Moravia spread its territory all the way south to the Balkans, reaching its largest territorial extent under Svatopluk I and causing a series of armed conflicts with East Francia . Further south, the first South Slavic states emerged in the late 7th and 8th century and adopted Christianity : the First Bulgarian Empire ,
14994-399: The affectionate name among locals of "nine-by-five". The island is characterised by a number of valleys which generally run north-to-south, such as Waterworks Valley, Grands Vaux, Mont les Vaux, although a few run in other directions, such as Le Mourier Valley. The highest point on the island is Les Platons at 136 m (446 ft). There are several smaller island groups that are part of
15147-648: The basis of many modern legal systems, funded the construction of the Hagia Sophia and brought the Christian church under state control. From the 7th century onwards, as the Byzantines and neighbouring Sasanid Persians were severely weakened due to the protracted, centuries-lasting and frequent Byzantine–Sasanian wars , the Muslim Arabs began to make inroads into historically Roman territory, taking
15300-547: The benefit of islanders. Until the 19th century, the Bailiwick was generally exempt from the harsher parts of Westminster legislation while being included in favourable policies, such as protectionist economic policies. England, and later the United Kingdom, passively exploited the strategic benefits of the Channel Islands. For example, the islands were a convenient stop-off point for trade to Gascony . The bailiwick comprises twelve parishes : Alderney, Sark, and ten on mainland Guernsey (one of which includes Herm). Each parish has
15453-563: The boundary between the lower Don and Samara well into the 19th century. The 1745 atlas published by the Russian Academy of Sciences has the boundary follow the Don beyond Kalach as far as Serafimovich before cutting north towards Arkhangelsk , while other 18th- to 19th-century mapmakers such as John Cary followed Strahlenberg's prescription. To the south, the Kuma–Manych Depression was identified c. 1773 by
15606-512: The cold, dry air aloft. This tends to result in small hail and weak waterspouts driven by convection and frequent shear brought on by cold fronts . In November 2023, Jersey was hit by extratropical Storm Ciarán , causing heavy rainfall, extremely high winds with gusts of up to 104mph. A supercell thunderstorm associated with the cold front of this system hit Jersey at around midnight on 2 November 2023. With severe wind shear , exceptional storm-relative helicity and temperature contrast of
15759-531: The conservative Laurel party and the progressive Rose party, as the lie of power shifted increasingly to the States from the Crown. In the 1850s, the French author Victor Hugo lived in Jersey, but was expelled for insulting the Queen, so he moved on to Guernsey . During the Second World War , 6,500 Jersey residents were evacuated by their own choice to the UK out of a total population of 50,000. Jersey
15912-468: The continent The prevalent definition of Europe as a geographical term has been in use since the mid-19th century. Europe is taken to be bounded by large bodies of water to the north, west and south; Europe's limits to the east and north-east are usually taken to be the Ural Mountains , the Ural River , and the Caspian Sea ; to the south-east, the Caucasus Mountains , the Black Sea , and
16065-573: The continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 745 million (about 10% of the world population ) in 2021; the third-largest after Asia and Africa. The European climate is affected by warm Atlantic currents, such as the Gulf Stream , which produce a temperate climate , tempering winters and summers, on much of the continent. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable producing more continental climates . European culture consists of
16218-573: The continent. Chinese, for example, uses the word Ōuzhōu ( 歐洲 / 欧洲 ), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name Ōuluóbā zhōu ( 歐羅巴洲 ) ( zhōu means "continent"); a similar Chinese-derived term Ōshū ( 欧州 ) is also sometimes used in Japanese such as in the Japanese name of the European Union, Ōshū Rengō ( 欧州連合 ) , despite the katakana Yōroppa ( ヨーロッパ ) being more commonly used. In some Turkic languages,
16371-640: The continents as the lands given by Noah to his three sons; Europe was defined as stretching from the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar , separating it from Northwest Africa , to the Don, separating it from Asia. The convention received by the Middle Ages and surviving into modern usage is that of the Roman era used by Roman-era authors such as Posidonius , Strabo , and Ptolemy , who took
16524-515: The cooler months, extratropical cyclones can produce gales somewhat regularly. Snow is very rare in Jersey. The last significant snowfall event occurred in March 2013, when 5.5 inches (14cm) of snow fell. However, the most recent measurable snowfall event occurred on 8-9 January 2024, when 3-5cm of snow fell, significantly more than forecasted. Extreme weather is rare due to the island's mild climate. Spring and summer thunderstorms originating from
16677-472: The defence and also for formal international, intergovernmental, and consular representation of, and the foreign affairs generally, of the Bailiwick. While never a member of the European Union or its predecessors, before Brexit the Bailiwick had a special relationship with the EU under Protocol 3 of the UK's Treaty of Accession 1972 to the European Community. Pooling resources with Jersey,
16830-584: The development of major commercial routes along the coast of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas . The growing wealth and independence acquired by some coastal cities gave the Maritime Republics a leading role in the European scene. The Middle Ages on the mainland were dominated by the two upper echelons of the social structure: the nobility and the clergy. Feudalism developed in France in
16983-590: The epic poems of Homer ; in drama with Sophocles and Euripides ; in medicine with Hippocrates and Galen ; and in science with Pythagoras , Euclid , and Archimedes . In the course of the 5th century BCE, several of the Greek city states would ultimately check the Achaemenid Persian advance in Europe through the Greco-Persian Wars , considered a pivotal moment in world history, as
17136-636: The five years of the German occupation of the Channel Islands . The Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey is the Lieutenant Governor of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and, being the personal representative of the British monarch, has usually had a distinguished military service. Originally, the local courts in Guernsey were " fiefs " with the lord of the manor presiding. Before 1066, a superior court
17289-584: The following two centuries it conquered Greece , Hispania ( Spain and Portugal ), the North African coast, much of the Middle East , Gaul ( France and Belgium ), and Britannia ( England and Wales ). Expanding from their base in central Italy beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans gradually expanded to eventually rule the entire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe by the turn of
17442-671: The height of its power during the High Middle Ages. An East-West Schism in 1054 split the former Roman Empire religiously, with the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Catholic Church in the former Western Roman Empire. In 1095 Pope Urban II called for a crusade against Muslims occupying Jerusalem and the Holy Land . In Europe itself, the Church organised
17595-509: The idea of water boundaries as the only legitimate divides between Europe and Asia. Four years later, in 1725, Philip Johan von Strahlenberg was the first to depart from the classical Don boundary. He drew a new line along the Volga , following the Volga north until the Samara Bend , along Obshchy Syrt (the drainage divide between the Volga and Ural Rivers ), then north and east along
17748-404: The island authorities before concluding any agreement which would apply to them; ensuring the islands meet their international obligations; and defence. Jersey's unicameral legislature is the States Assembly . It includes 49 elected members: 12 connétables (often called "constables", heads of parishes ) and 37 deputies (representing constituencies), all elected for four-year terms as from
17901-416: The island free of pirates and that at least forty men occupied it to defend it. Despite most families coming from Jersey, Sark remained within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. There is no flag or coat of arms for the Bailiwick of Guernsey. In historic times, the governor would have used his personal symbols before a generic flag was created for use by the governor. In 1279, Edward I granted a Seal for use in
18054-446: The island is evident in its use of English as the main language and pound sterling as its primary currency. Additional British cultural similarities include: driving on the left, access to British television, newspapers and other media, a school curriculum following that of England, and the popularity of British sports , including football and cricket . The island also has a strong Norman-French culture, such as its historic dialect of
18207-440: The island is prepared if needs to do so. Jersey is a third-party European country to the EU. Since 1 January 2021, Jersey has been part of the UK-EU Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement for the purposes of goods and fishing. Goods exported from the island into Europe are not subject to tariffs , and Jersey is solely responsible for management of its territorial waters ; however, permits may be granted to EU fishermen who have
18360-430: The island. Archaeological evidence of Roman influence has been found, in particular at Les Landes . Christianity was brought to the island by migrants from Brittany in c. fifth – sixth century CE. In the sixth century, the island's patron saint Helier lived at the Hermitage on L'Islet (now Elizabeth Castle ). Legend states that Helier was beheaded by raiders and subsequently lifted his head and walked to shore. In
18513-479: The judiciary; the lieutenant governor represents the head of state, the British monarch ; and the chief minister is the head of government . Jersey's defence and international representation – as well as certain policy areas, such as nationality law – are the responsibility of the UK government , but Jersey still has a separate international identity. The island has a large financial services industry, which generates 40% of its GVA . British cultural influence on
18666-446: The last remnants of the medieval Duchy of Normandy. Initially, there was one governor, or co-governors working together, of the islands making up the Channel Islands . The title "governor" has changed over the centuries. "Warden", "keeper", and "captain" have previously been used. The bailiff stands in for the Governor, or more recently the Lieutenant Governor, if the latter is absent, for a short term or for longer: for instance during
18819-532: The latter waterway to its source in the Ural Mountains . At this point he proposed that mountain ranges could be included as boundaries between continents as alternatives to nearby waterways. Accordingly, he drew the new boundary north along Ural Mountains rather than the nearby and parallel running Ob and Irtysh rivers. This was endorsed by the Russian Empire and introduced the convention that would eventually become commonly accepted. However, this did not come without criticism. Voltaire , writing in 1760 about Peter
18972-448: The main island of Jersey and some surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Dirouilles , Les Écréhous , Les Minquiers , and Les Pierres de Lecq . Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy , whose dukes became kings of England from 1066. After Normandy was lost by the kings of England in the 13th century, and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey remained loyal to the English Crown , though it never became part of
19125-431: The majority of Europe. The European Union is a supranational political entity that lies between a confederation and a federation and is based on a system of European treaties . The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. A majority of its members have adopted a common currency, the euro , and participate in the European single market and
19278-464: The millennium. The Roman Republic ended in 27 BCE, when Augustus proclaimed the Roman Empire . The two centuries that followed are known as the pax romana , a period of unprecedented peace, prosperity and political stability in most of Europe. The empire continued to expand under emperors such as Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius , who spent time on the Empire's northern border fighting Germanic , Pictish and Scottish tribes. Christianity
19431-510: The nearby inhabited islands of Herm , Jethou and Lihou is the States of Guernsey . Sark has a population of around 600 who live in 5.2 km (2 square miles). Its parliament (together with the inhabited island of Brecqhou ) is the Chief Pleas of Sark, with 18 elected members. In 1565, Helier de Carteret , Seigneur of St. Ouen in Jersey , was granted the fief of Sark by Queen Elizabeth I . He received letters patent granting him Sark in perpetuity on condition that he kept
19584-411: The ninth century the island was raided by Vikings and in 933 it was annexed to Normandy by William Longsword . When Duke William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066, the island remained part of the Norman possessions. However, in 1204, when Normandy was returned to the French king, the island remained a possession of the English crown, though never incorporated into England. Traditionally it
19737-441: The northwest ( Asturias ) and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees . This territory, under the Arabic name Al-Andalus , became part of the expanding Umayyad Caliphate . The unsuccessful second siege of Constantinople (717) weakened the Umayyad dynasty and reduced their prestige. The Umayyads were then defeated by the Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, which ended their northward advance. In
19890-431: The originally Persian name Frangistan ("land of the Franks ") is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa . Clickable map of Europe, showing one of the most commonly used continental boundaries Key: blue : states which straddle the border between Europe and Asia ; green : countries not geographically in Europe, but closely associated with
20043-497: The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. An alternative view is that of Robert Beekes , who has argued in favour of a pre-Indo-European origin for the name, explaining that a derivation from eurus would yield a different toponym than Europa. Beekes has located toponyms related to that of Europa in the territory of ancient Greece, and localities such as that of Europos in ancient Macedonia . There have been attempts to connect Eurṓpē to
20196-456: The remote regions of north-western Iberia and the middle Pyrenees the power of the Muslims in the south was scarcely felt. It was here that the foundations of the Christian kingdoms of Asturias , Leon , and Galicia were laid and from where the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula would start. However, no coordinated attempt would be made to drive the Moors out. The Christian kingdoms were mainly focused on their own internal power struggles. As
20349-477: The remove the connétables , they will continue their historic role as states members. There are also five non-voting members appointed by the Crown: the bailiff , the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey , the Dean of Jersey , the attorney general and solicitor general. The Bailiff is President (presiding officer) of the States Assembly, head of the judiciary and as civic head of the island carries out various ceremonial roles. The Council of Ministers , consisting of
20502-402: The road network under General Don, the construction of two railway lines, the improvement of transport links to England, and the construction of new piers and harbours in St Helier. This grew a tourism industry in the island and led to the immigration of thousands of English residents, leading to a cultural shift towards a more anglicised island culture. Island politics was divisively split between
20655-630: The same name today. The principal river there – Evros (today's Maritsa ) – flows through the fertile valleys of Thrace , which itself was also called Europe, before the term meant the continent. In classical Greek mythology , Europa ( Ancient Greek : Εὐρώπη , Eurṓpē ) was a Phoenician princess. One view is that her name derives from the Ancient Greek elements εὐρύς ( eurús ) 'wide, broad', and ὤψ ( ōps , gen. ὠπός , ōpós ) 'eye, face, countenance', hence their composite Eurṓpē would mean 'wide-gazing' or 'broad of aspect'. Broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in
20808-422: The state of the Golden Horde with headquarters in Crimea, which later adopted Islam as a religion, and ruled over modern-day southern and central Russia for more than three centuries. After the collapse of Mongol dominions, the first Romanian states (principalities) emerged in the 14th century: Moldavia and Walachia . Previously, these territories were under the successive control of Pechenegs and Cumans. From
20961-483: The success of the Allied advance in Europe. During the Nazi occupation , a resistance cell was created by communist activist Norman Le Brocq and the Jersey Communist Party , whose communist ideology of forming a 'United Front' led to the creation of the Jersey Democratic Movement. The Channel Islands had to wait for the German surrender to be liberated. 9 May is celebrated as the island's Liberation Day , where there are celebrations in Liberation Square. After Liberation,
21114-448: The two bailiwicks. Situated around 49°24′N 2°36′W / 49.4°N 2.6°W / 49.4; -2.6 , Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands together have a total area of 78 km (30 sq mi) and coastlines of about 50 km (31 mi). Elevation varies from sea level to 114 m (374 ft) at Le Moulin on Sark. There are many smaller islands, islets, rocks and reefs in
21267-404: The upper atmosphere and sea surface , the storm produced extremely large hail and a tornado, which devastated the eastern half of the Island and was subsequently rated T6/EF3 by TORRO , making it one of the most severe tornadoes ever recorded in the British Isles. Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere . It
21420-407: The waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea . Islands are generally grouped with the nearest continental landmass, hence Iceland is considered to be part of Europe, while the nearby island of Greenland is usually assigned to North America , although politically belonging to Denmark. Nevertheless, there are some exceptions based on sociopolitical and cultural differences. Cyprus
21573-445: The west and the north, transmitting newly acquired skills in producing copper artifacts. In Western Europe the Neolithic period was characterised not by large agricultural settlements but by field monuments, such as causewayed enclosures , burial mounds and megalithic tombs . The Corded Ware cultural horizon flourished at the transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic . During this period giant megalithic monuments, such as
21726-416: The west continued to decline, Roman traditions and the Roman state remained strong in the predominantly Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire , also known as the Byzantine Empire . During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Emperor Justinian I presided over Constantinople's first golden age: he established a legal code that forms
21879-399: The western shore of the Aegean Sea . As a name for a part of the known world, it is first used in the 6th century BCE by Anaximander and Hecataeus . Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis River (the modern Rioni River on the territory of Georgia ) in the Caucasus, a convention still followed by Herodotus in the 5th century BCE. Herodotus mentioned that
22032-414: The wider world. Both world wars began and were fought to a great extent in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence and competed over dominance in Europe and globally. The resulting Cold War divided Europe along the Iron Curtain , with NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in
22185-419: The widespread use of pottery—began around 7000 BCE in Greece and the Balkans , probably influenced by earlier farming practices in Anatolia and the Near East . It spread from the Balkans along the valleys of the Danube and the Rhine ( Linear Pottery culture ), and along the Mediterranean coast ( Cardial culture ). Between 4500 and 3000 BCE, these central European neolithic cultures developed further to
22338-411: The world had been divided by unknown persons into three parts—Europe, Asia, and Libya (Africa)—with the Nile and the Phasis forming their boundaries—though he also states that some considered the River Don , rather than the Phasis, as the boundary between Europe and Asia. Europe's eastern frontier was defined in the 1st century by geographer Strabo at the River Don. The Book of Jubilees described
22491-401: Was free movement of goods between Jersey and the EU, but the single market in financial services and free movement of people did not apply to Jersey. Jersey also has close relations with Portugal, including the exchangement of tax information; these relations are specifically strong with the Autonomous Region of Madeira , where St. Helier has one of its sister cities, ( Funchal ). Jersey
22644-422: Was legalised by Constantine I in 313 CE after three centuries of imperial persecution . Constantine also permanently moved the capital of the empire from Rome to the city of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul ) which was renamed Constantinople in his honour in 330 CE. Christianity became the sole official religion of the empire in 380 CE, and in 391–392 CE the emperor Theodosius outlawed pagan religions. This
22797-450: Was occupied by Germany from 1 July 1940 until 9 May 1945, when Germany surrendered. During this time the Germans constructed many fortifications using slave labour imported onto the island from many different countries occupied or at war with Germany. After 1944, supplies from France were interrupted by the D-Day landings , and food on the island became scarce. The SS Vega was sent to the island carrying Red Cross supplies and news of
22950-428: Was eventually absorbed into Russia several centuries later. The period between the year 1000 and 1250 is known as the High Middle Ages , followed by the Late Middle Ages until c. 1500. During the High Middle Ages the population of Europe experienced significant growth, culminating in the Renaissance of the 12th century . Economic growth, together with the lack of safety on the mainland trading routes, made possible
23103-416: Was introduced above the fiefs and below the Eschequier Court in Rouen and comprised the bailiff and four knights; the court heard appeals and tried criminal cases. Otton de Grandson , then the governor of the Islands, delegated the civil powers to two separate bailiffs for Guernsey and Jersey before he went on crusade to the Holy Land in 1290. This can be assessed as the date of first creation of
23256-495: Was the first crisis that would strike Europe in the late Middle Ages. The period between 1348 and 1420 witnessed the heaviest loss. The population of France was reduced by half. Medieval Britain was afflicted by 95 famines, and France suffered the effects of 75 or more in the same period. Europe was devastated in the mid-14th century by the Black Death , one of the most deadly pandemics in human history which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe alone—a third of
23409-410: Was the warmest (and sunniest) year on record; the mean daily air temperature was 13.56 °C. For tourism advertising, Jersey often claims to be "the sunniest place in the British Isles", as Jersey has over 1,900 hours of sunlight. Jersey is indeed one of the sunniest places in the British Isles, especially during the warmer months, as it is subject to more influence from the Azores High , which acts as
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