The island came under both English and French rule several times during its long history and the French influence on the island is apparent to this day, especially in family and place names. Guernsey also has its own regional dialect, closely related to French, but this is practically redundant. The island's principle language is English.

Economy:
According to the 2001 Economic and Statistics Review produced by the Economics and Statistics Unit of Guernsey's States Advisory and Finance Committee, Guernsey's GDP is estimated to be approximately £1.25 billion.

Guernsey's financial services industry can be divided into four main areas: banks, insurance, investment and fiduciaries and has grown to dominate the island's economy in the last 20 years. Figures published by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, which is the body responsible for the regulation of the finance sector in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, show that at the end of 2000 total deposits held in Guernsey banks were worth just under £68.5 billion. According to the 2001 Bailiwick of Guernsey Census, the finance sector is the island's largest employer and has shown the biggest increase in employment since 1996. The number of males employed in the finance sector is lower than the number of females at 44 per cent.

Other sectors important to Guernsey's economy are the light industrial sector, including boat building, computing and data-processing, crafts and textiles, electronics, engineering, the film industry, plastics and pharmaceuticals and sales and distribution operations, horticulture, mainly of grapes, tomatoes and cut flowers, tourism and agriculture.

Local Infrastructure:
Guernsey Airport is situated three miles outside the island's capital of St. Peter Port and handles in the region of 900,000 passengers a year. It has flights to and from most major destinations within the UK as well as some in continental Europe. Flights to London take just 40 minutes.

Guernsey's two main ports are St. Peter Port, Saint Sampson Port. They offer commercial port facilities for sea passengers and freight, berthing and handling facilities for the local fishing fleet and berthing and marina facilities for local and visiting yachtsmen. Regular ferry services connect the island to the UK and France.

Local Workforce:
The 2001 Bailiwick of Guernsey Census, shows that some 54 per cent of the islands population are economically active and, of these, 12.8 per cent are self-employed. The number of unemployed people looking for work fell from 642 in 1996 to 338 in 2001. School leavers are one of the islands main sources of new labour, and nearly a third of them find employment in the finance sector. However, this supply has decreased since 1989 as more have chosen to continue in their education.

Figures from the 2001 census show that around 33 per cent of Guernsey's population has a qualification at NVQ level 2 (e.g. GCSE), around 25 per cent has a qualification at NVQ level 3, 8 per cent at level 4 and 10 per cent at level 5.

Business Costs:
The island has a low tax regime and since the 1960s companies and individuals have paid income tax at a flat rate of 20 per cent. There is no seperate corporation tax and the island has no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, capital transfer tax, or general withholding tax. In addition, Guernsey has no VAT because the island is the subject of a special protocol attached to the UK's Treaty of Accession to the EC.