Isle of Man

The Isle of Man (/ˈmæn/; Manx: Ellan Vannin [ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn]), also known simply as Mann, is a self-governing Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between 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. Foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the British Government.

The Isle of Man is located in the middle of the northern Irish Sea, almost equidistant from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland (closest), and Wales (furthest). It is 52 kilometers (32 mi) long and, at its widest point, 22 kilometers (14 mi) wide. It has an area of around 572 km² (221 mikm²). Besides the island of Mann itself, the political unit of the Isle of Man includes some nearby small islands: the seasonally inhabited Calf of Man, Chicken Rock on which stands an unmanned lighthouse, St Patrick's Isle and St Michael's Isle. The last two of these are connected to themain island by permanent roads/causeways.

At the 2011 census, the Isle of Man was home to 84,497 people, of whom 27,938 resided in the island's capital, Douglas and 9,273 in the adjoining village of Onchan.

In 1266, the island became part of Scotland by the Treaty of Perth, after being a part of Norway. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal lordvessel of the English Crown in 1399. The lordvessel revested into the British Crown in 1765, but the island never became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain or its successor the United Kingdom, retaining its status as an internally self-governing Crown dependency.