The Crown Dependencies

There are islands that are not actually part of the United Kingdom but are crown dependencies. People born there have British citizenship. The relationship is similar to Puerto Rico being a U.S. territory.

THE TWO IMAGES SHOWING THE LOCATIONS OF THE TERRITORIES ARE FROM GOOGLE EARTH. THE OTHER IMAGES ARE FROM GOOGLE STREET VIEW.

The Isle of Man is an island in the Irish Sea that is roughly equidistant from Scotland, to the north, England, to the east, Northern Ireland, to the west and Wales, to the south.

The Isle of Man has a medieval history of belonging to both England and Scotland. It was converted to Christianity by Irish missionary after the time of St. Patrick. The demonym of the Isle of Man is "Manx", and that is where the breed of cat gets it's name.

The following eleven images are of Douglas, which is the major town of the Isle of Man.

These four images are of Castletown, with Castle Rushen.

In the year 911 the king of West Francia, which would later become France, ceded some land on it's north coast to some Vikings. This would form the Duchy of Normandy and the Vikings would become known as Normans. A Duke of Normandy, named William, was related to the English King. William claimed to have inherited the Throne of England and led a force to consolidate his claim. This is known as the Norman Invasion of 1066.

This entangled England and France and a later English king claimed to also be King of France. This led to the intermittent Hundred Years War. Eventually it all got straightened out. France took back Normandy. England was to the north of the English Channel and France was to the south of it.

But what got left out of it was the islands that had been part of the Duchy of Normandy. These islands are still controlled by Britain today, as crown dependencies, and known as the Channel Islands. On the islands, the British monarch has the title of Duke of Normandy.

The two largest islands are Jersey and Guernsey. Jersey got a U.S. state named for it. The major town of Jersey is St. Helier and the following seven images are of it.

The major town of Guernsey is St. Peter Port and the following seven images are of it.