Sark Island

Sark Island, one of the smaller Channel Islands, in the English Channel, off the coast of Normandy (Normandie). Sark has an area of 5 sq km (2 sq mi). A narrow strip of land called the Coupée connects its two divisions, Great Sark and Little Sark. Sheer cliffs bound the island’s bays, but many of the bays are still accessible from the land. On the east coast are the harbors of La Maseline and Creux, where cliff tunnels lead to the inland plateau.

Sark is a dependency of the British crown. In 1565 Queen Elizabeth I granted Sark to Helier de Carteret as a fief, with the condition that at least 40 men would live on the island. There is still a hereditary Seigneur or Dame of Sark, and the successors of the original 40 tenants still hold the land under a system of tenure peculiar to the island. Saint Magloire Monastery was built on Sark in the 6th century. Population (1996) 550 (see Channel Islands).