The
Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. They comprise two separate bailiwicks:
Tourism is the major industry in the smaller islands (with some agriculture). Jersey and Guernsey have, since the 1960s, relied on financial services. Guernsey`s horticultural and glasshouse activities have been more significant than in Jersey, and Guernsey has maintained light industry as a higher proportion of its economy than Jersey. Jersey`s economy since the 1980s has been substantially more reliant on finance.
Both Bailiwicks issue their own banknotes and coins, which circulate freely in all the islands alongside UK coinage and Bank of England and Scottish banknotes.The Channel Islands have their own country-code top-level-domains (ccTLDs) on the internet, managed by a single registry based in Alderney. The ccTLDs are .gg for the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including Alderney and Sark) and .je for the Bailiwick of Jersey. Alderney has a large and growing internet gambling industry.
