Forgotten World (105): Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy, but dependent on the British Crown. They comprise two separate Bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, and have a total population of only about 160,000.
The inhabited islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm (the main islands); Jethou, Brecqhou, and Lihou. All of these except Jersey are in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, but the Minquiers, Écréhous, Les Dirouilles and Les Pierres de Lecq, uninhabited groups of islets, are part of the Bailiwick of Jersey.
The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union and govern themselves on models which are historic and far from wholly democratic. The main business of the two largest islands is financial services, while the other islands depend particularly on tourism.
The islands were the only ‘British’ territory to be occupied by the Germans in World War Two.