1 The Isle of Man Treasury issues its own sterling notes and coins (Manx pound).
The Isle of Man ( Manx: Ellan Vannin), otherwise known simply as Mann (Manx: Mannin), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom but its foreign relations, defence, and ultimate good governance are the responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom.
The island has been inhabited since before 600 BC. It was influenced by Gaelic culture in the 500s BC and the Manx language, a branch of the Gaelic languages, gradually emerged. In the 800s, AD the Norse began to settle there. A Norse-Gaelic culture emerged and the island came under Norse control. In 1266 the island became part of Scotland. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal over-lordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1764 but the island never became part of the United Kingdom and retained its status as an internally self-governing jurisdiction.
Man is not a part of the European Union, but has a limited relationship concerning the free movement of goods.
History
Main article: History of the Isle of Man
Ancient times to present
The Isle of Man became separated from Britain and Ireland by about 2500 BC. It appears that colonisation took place by sea sometime before 500 BC. The first residents were Celts, they lived in small natural shelters, hunting, fishing and gathering for their food. They used small tools made of flint or bone, which have been found near the coast. Representatives of these artifacts are kept at the Manx Museum.
The Neolithic Period marked the coming of knowledge of farming, better stone tools and pottery. It was during this period that megalithic monuments began to appear around the island. Examples from this period can be found at Cashtal yn Ard near Maughold, King Orry's Grave in Laxey, Meayll Circle near Cregneash, and Ballaharra Stones in St John's. This was not the only Neolithic culture; there were also the local Ronaldsway and Bann cultures.
During the Bronze Age, the large communal tombs of the celtic builders were replaced with smaller burial mounds. Bodies were put in stone lined graves along with ornamental containers. The Bronze Age burial mounds created long lasting markers about the countryside. According to John T. Koch and others, the Isle of Man in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included the other Celtic nations, England (Scotland Ierland Wales Cornwall), France (Brittany), Spain and Portugal (Gaelic Asturias Cantabria) where Celtic languages developed with the Tartessian language the first written Celtic language so far discovered.
The Braaid, in the central Isle of Man, with remnants of a Celtic-Norse roundhouse and two longhouses, c. 650 - 950 A.D.The Iron Age marked the beginning of Celtic cultural influence. Large hill forts appeared on hill summits, and smaller promontory forts along the coastal cliffs, while large timber-framed roundhouses were built. It is likely that the first Celtic tribes to inhabit the Island were of the Gaelic variety. Around AD 700 it is assumed that 2nd immigration forced the early Manx population to flee to the islands were they are today. This is evident in the change in language used in Ogham inscriptions. Manx Gaelic remains closely related to Irish and Scots Gaelic.
Viking settlement of Mann began at the end of the 8th century. The Vikings established Tynwald and introduced many land divisions that still exist. They also left the Manx Runestones. Although the Manx language does contain Norse influences, they are few. The Norse Kingdom of Mann and the Isles was created by Godred Crovan in 1079 after the Battle of Skyhill. During Viking times, the islands of this kingdom were called the Súðreyjar or Sudreys ("southern isles") in contrast to the Norðreyjar ("northern isles") of Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides. This later became Anglicised as Sodor. The Church of England diocese is still called the Diocese of Sodor and Man although it only covers Man.
(When the Rev. W.V. Awdry wrote The Railway Series, he invented the island of Sodor as an imaginary island located between Mann and the Cumbrian coast.)
In 1266, as dictated in the Treaty of Perth, Norway's King Magnus VI ceded the isles to Scotland. Mann came under English control in the 14th century. During this period the Isle was dominated by the Stanley family, who also held the title of Earl of Derby, who had been given possession of Man by King Henry IV. In 1703 the Act of Settlement secured peasant rights and marked the beginning of a move away from feudal government. In 1765, however, the British Crown secured a greater control over the island, without incorporating it into Great Britain, laying the grounds for the island's status as a Crown dependency. In 1866 greater autonomy was restored to the island's parliament and a full transition to democracy began. The Isle quickly developed as a finance centre and tourist destination, becoming increasingly prosperous during the 20th century. During both the First and Second World Wars the island was used as a location for internment camps for Central Powers and Axis citizens and suspected sympathisers, respectively.
Tynwald
Main article: Tynwald
Tynwald, the island's parliament, was nominally founded in AD 979. It is arguably the oldest continuous parliament in the world. The annual ceremonial meeting in July on Tynwald Day, the island's national day, continues to be held at Tynwald Hill, where titles are announced and a brief description of the new laws enacted by Tynwald during the previous year is given in Manx Gaelic.
Geography
Map of the Isle of Man
The north of the island seen from the air [Triangle area of Kirk Michael (West), Point of Ayre (North) and Ramsey (east)
The Calf of Man seen from Cregneash.Main article: Geography of the Isle of Man
See also: List of islands of the Isle of Man and Biota of the Isle of Man
As well as the main island of Mann itself, the Isle of Man includes some nearby small islands: the seasonally inhabited Calf of Man; Chicken Rock on which stands an unmanned lighthouse; and St Patrick's Isle and St Michael's Isle, both connected to the mainland by permanent roads/causeways.
Mann is located in the middle of the northern Irish Sea, approximately equidistant from the islands of Britain and Ireland. In the context of Britain, the island lies closest to Scotland followed by England and then Wales.
The Isle is 52 kilometres (32 mi) long and 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at its widest point. It has an area of around 572 square kilometres (221 sq mi).
Hills in the north and south are bisected by a central valley. The extreme north is exceptionally flat, consisting mainly of deposits built up by deposition from glacial advances from western Scotland during colder times. There are more recently deposited shingle beaches at the Point of Ayre. The island has only one mountain higher than 600 metres (2,000 ft), Snaefell, with a height of 620 metres (2,034 ft). According to an old saying, from the summit one can see six kingdoms: those of Mann, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, and Heaven. Some versions add a seventh kingdom, that of Northern Ireland, the Sea, or Neptune.
