Languages of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Languages of the Bailiwick of Guernsey The linguistic situation of the Bailiwick of Guernsey is quite similar to that of Jersey, the other Bailiwick in the Channel Islands. English is the official language, French is used for administration, there are several varieties of Norman language used by a minority of the population, and Portuguese is spoken by immigrants in the workforce. English is one of the official languages and the only dominant language in the Islands. Its status is mainly a product of the last century, and some 200 years ago, very few people in the Channel Islands spoke that
History of Guernsey in Guernsey exported all over the world. It was normal for the island to deport vagrants, criminals and anyone who had fallen on hard times who were not "local". Between 1842 and 1880 10,000 people were deported. This included local born widows and local born children of "foreign" men and people who, whilst not born in Guernsey, had resided in Guernsey for over 50 years. This reduced the burden on the parish requirement to look after their poor and discouraged France, England and Ireland encouraging their poor to emigrate to Guernsey. At the end of the century, long resisted, the