Editing Channel Islands (section)

== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture of Jersey|Culture of Guernsey}}
{{See also|Music of the Channel Islands}}
[[File:Fête d'la Maïr Guernesy.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.35|A sea festival<!--regatta?--> advertised using [[Guernésiais|Dgèrnésiais]]]]

The [[Norman language]] predominated in the islands until the nineteenth century, when increasing influence from English-speaking settlers and easier transport links led to Anglicisation.<ref>''The Triumph of the Country'', Kelleher, Jersey 1994, {{ISBN|0-9518162-4-1}}</ref> There are four main dialects/languages of Norman in the islands, [[Auregnais]] (Alderney, extinct in late twentieth century), [[Guernésiais|Dgèrnésiais]] (Guernsey), [[Jèrriais]] (Jersey) and [[Sercquiais]] (Sark, an offshoot of Jèrriais).<ref>''La Grève de Lecq'', Roger Jean Lebarbenchon, 1988 {{ISBN|2-905385-13-8}}</ref>

[[Victor Hugo]] spent many years in exile, first in Jersey and then in Guernsey, where he finished ''[[Les Misérables]]''. Guernsey is the setting of Hugo's later novel ''Les Travailleurs de la Mer'' (''[[Toilers of the Sea]]'').<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/trail-of-the-unexpected-victor-hugorsquos-guernsey-2016740.html "Trail of the unexpected: Victor Hugo's Guernsey"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010213035/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/trail-of-the-unexpected-victor-hugorsquos-guernsey-2016740.html |date=10 October 2017 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', 3 July 2010.</ref> A "Guernsey-man" also makes an appearance in chapter 91 of [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby-Dick]]''.<ref>[[Herman Melville]], ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' (St Botoph Society edition, 1892) pp. 381–384. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_XV8XAAAAYAAJ <!-- quote=guernsey. --> Excerpts available] at [[Google Books]].</ref>

The annual "[[Muratti]]", the inter-island [[association football|football]] match, is considered the sporting event of the year, although, due to broadcast coverage, it no longer attracts the crowds of spectators, travelling between the islands, that it did during the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisjersey.com/2009/05/08/passion-plays-a-part-%E2%80%93-right-across-the-board/ |title=Thisisjersey.com |publisher=Thisisjersey.com |access-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510011955/http://www.thisisjersey.com/2009/05/08/passion-plays-a-part-%E2%80%93-right-across-the-board/ |archive-date=10 May 2011 }}</ref>

[[Cricket]] is popular in the Channel Islands. The [[Jersey cricket team]] and the [[Guernsey cricket team]] are both associate members of the [[International Cricket Council]]. The teams have played each other in the [[inter-insular match]] since 1957. In 2001 and 2002, the Channel Islands entered a team into the [[MCCA Knockout Trophy]], the one-day tournament of the [[minor counties of English and Welsh cricket]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/0/67/Minor_Counties_Trophy_Matches.html |title=Minor Counties Trophy Matches played by Channel Islands |publisher=Cricketarchive.com |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-date=7 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107223528/http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/0/67/Minor_Counties_Trophy_Matches.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Channel Island sportsmen and women compete in the [[Commonwealth Games]] for their respective islands and the islands have also been enthusiastic supporters of the [[Island Games]]. Shooting is a popular sport, in which islanders have won Commonwealth medals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thecgf.com/countries/tally_sports.asp |title=Thecgf.com |publisher=Thecgf.com |access-date=4 October 2012}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Guernsey's traditional colour for sporting and other purposes is green and Jersey's is red.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/colours/nonfifateams.html |title=Non-FIFA National Teams Colours |publisher=Rsssf.com |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=21 August 2010 |archive-date=10 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310081901/http://www.rsssf.com/colours/nonfifateams.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Crapaud St Helier Jersey.jpg|thumb|This statue of a ''[[True toad|crapaud]]'' (toad) in St Helier represents the traditional nickname for Jersey people]]

The main islanders have traditional animal nicknames:<ref>''Dictionnaire Jersiais-Français'', 1966</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisguernsey.com/lifestyle/hanging-on-to-our-heritage/guernsey-donkeys/ |title=Thisisjersey.com |publisher=Thisisguernsey.com |access-date=4 October 2012 |archive-date=12 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612230455/http://www.thisisguernsey.com/lifestyle/hanging-on-to-our-heritage/guernsey-donkeys/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

*Guernsey: ''les ânes'' ("[[donkey]]s" in French and Norman): the steepness of St Peter Port streets required beasts of burden, but Guernsey people also claim it is a symbol of their strength of character{{spaced ndash}}which Jersey people traditionally interpret as stubbornness.
*Jersey: ''les crapauds'' ("[[toad]]s" in French and Jèrriais): Jersey has toads and snakes, which Guernsey lacks.
*Sark: ''les corbins'' ("[[crow]]s" in [[Sercquiais]], [[Dgèrnésiais]] and [[Jèrriais]], ''les corbeaux'' in French): crows could be seen from the sea on the island's coast.
*Alderney: ''les lapins'' ("[[rabbit]]s" in French and [[Auregnais]]): the island is noted for its [[warren (domestic)|warren]]s.

=== Religion ===
{{main|List of churches, chapels and meeting halls in the Channel Islands}}
[[Christianity]] was brought to the islands around the sixth century; according to tradition, Jersey was evangelised by St [[Helier]], Guernsey by St [[Samson of Dol]], and the smaller islands were occupied at various times by monastic communities representing strands of [[Celtic Christianity]]. At the [[Reformation]], the previously [[Catholic]] islands converted to [[Calvinism]] under the influence of an influx of French-language pamphlets published in [[Geneva]]. [[Anglicanism]] was imposed in the seventeenth century, but the [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] local tendency returned with a strong adoption of [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodism]]. In the late twentieth century, a strong Catholic presence re-emerged with the arrival of numerous Portuguese workers (both from mainland [[Portugal]] and the island of [[Madeira]]). Their numbers have been reinforced by recent migrants from Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Today, [[evangelical Christianity|Evangelical]] churches have been established. Services are held in a number of languages.

According to 2015 statistics, 39% of the population was non-religious.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://humanism.org.uk/2015/12/02/first-ever-jersey-official-religion-statistics-show-39-of-islanders-are-non-religious/ |title=First ever Jersey official religion statistics show 39% of islanders are non-religious |date=2 December 2015 |website=humanism.org.uk |publisher=British Humanist Association |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010213039/https://humanism.org.uk/2015/12/02/first-ever-jersey-official-religion-statistics-show-39-of-islanders-are-non-religious/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/R%20JASS%202015%2020151202%20SU.pdf |title=Jersey Annual Social Survey 2015 |date=2 December 2015 |website=www.gov.je |publisher=States of Jersey |page=8 |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010201303/https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/R%20JASS%202015%2020151202%20SU.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>