one of the islands in the English Channel, belonging to Britain, and lying between N. Lat. 49. 24. and 49. 33., W. Long. 2. 32. and 2. 48. It is situated in the Bay of St Michael, 30 miles W. of the coast of Normandy, 52 miles S. of Portland, the nearest point of land to England, and 15 miles W.N.W. of Jersey. It is of a triangular form, is 9 miles in length, by from 3 to 4 in extreme breadth, and has an area of about 16,000 acres. The northern part of the island is a low level tract, but towards the S. the land becomes more elevated and hilly, with deep and narrow valleys and glens intervening. It has about 30 miles of coast deeply indented with commodious bays and harbours; on the N. side low and flat, on the S. bold and precipitous. Off the coast are numerous sunken rocks and Guernsey, crags, which, together with the rapid currents among them, causing the tides frequently to rise to the height of 32 feet, render the approach extremely hazardous to strangers. The geological formation of the island is almost entirely granite, the prevailing rocks being gneiss, granite, and schist. These are extensively quarried in several parts, and are sent in large quantities to Portsmouth, London, and other places. Some trap-rocks and micaceous schist occur on the western side of the island. It is tolerably well watered with springs and clear gravelly streams. The climate, though moist and subject to sudden changes, is not unhealthy. The winters are mild; and the summers, though hot, are less oppressive than on the neighbouring coast of France, or even than in the S.W. of England. Snow is rare, and the frosts are neither severe nor continuous. The mean winter temperature is about $41^\circ$ $62'$, that of summer $60^\circ$ $7'$. The thermometer seldom rises above $80'$, or falls below $37'$. Easterly winds prevail during spring, and westerly during the rest of the year. Guernsey is not equal in fertility to Jersey, neither is it so well wooded; but fruit-trees are numerous, especially the fig and apple. From the fruit of the latter much cider is made. Agricultural improvement is much retarded by the very small size of the farms, arising from the custom of each son sharing equally in his father's landed property. Few of them are exclusively devoted to agriculture, but generally carry on also some other profession or trade. Farms most generally vary in size from 5 to 12 acres, and very few of them exceed 50. The chief of the agricultural productions are wheat, barley, potatoes, and parsnips. Sea-weed is the principal manure in use. Oranges, melons, and other fruits, which in England require shelter, grow here in the open air. Flowers are also extensively cultivated, among which is the Guernsey lily. The people devote their attention greatly to the rearing of cattle and the dairy. The cows are much esteemed, and the butter is excellent. The native breed of horses is poor, but it has been much improved of late years. Hogs are numerous, and of great size, but few sheep are reared or fattened.

Guernsey is divided into ten parishes, and its chief town is St Peter Port. The trade of Guernsey is very inferior to that of Jersey, and has greatly decreased since 1807, when it was made subject to our revenue laws, previous to which time its trade had chiefly consisted in smuggling. Steamers ply between Guernsey and London, Southampton, Plymouth, and Weymouth. The imports are British manufactures, wheat, flour, wines, sugar, coffee, &c.; exports—cider, apples, potatoes, cattle, granite, and wine. Guernsey and the rest of the Channel Islands came to England with the duchy of Normandy, and are now all that remain to the English Crown of that possession. The inhabitants are simple and thrifty in their habits, and still retain many of their ancient customs. Their language is the Norman French of some centuries ago, though English is very generally understood among the upper classes. The government of the island is vested in the hands of the states, composed of the bailiff, the procureur or attorney of the royal court, twelve jurats, eight rectors of parishes, and the constables of parishes, one from each of the country parishes, and six from the town parish—in all thirty-seven. The bailiff and procureur are nominated by the crown, the rectors by the governor, while the constables are chosen by the inhabitants. The "Royal Court," the supreme court of justice, consists of a bailiff appointed by the crown, and twelve jurats elected by the people. Guernsey, with Alderney and its other dependencies, in 1851 had 64 places of worship, of which 16 belonged to the Church of England, 7 to Independents, 6 to Baptists, 26 to various classes of Methodists, 2 to Roman Catholics, and the rest to minor bodies. The total number of sittings was 23,827. There were 115 day schools, of which 28, with 2477 scholars, were public, and 87, with 1994 scholars, private; and 33 Sunday schools, with 4315 scholars. Pop. (1851) of Guernsey, 29,757; of adjacent islands, 3962.