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The Channel Islands lie in the Channel, close to the French side. The Ile d'Ouessant marks the western end of the Channel.
The French département of Manche, which incorporates the Cotentin PeninsulaThe Cotentin Peninsula juts out into the English Channel from Normandy towards England, forming part of the north-west coast of France. Geography It is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the River Vire and Mont Saint Michel Bay. that juts out into the Channel, takes its name from the surrounding seaway.
Before the end of the last ice ageFor the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie . For the band, see Ice Age (band . An ice age is a period of long-term downturn in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers (" glaciation"). Glaci, around 10 000 years ago, the British IslesThe British Isles is a traditional term used to identify the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and the many smaller adjacent islands. These islands form an archipelago of more than 6,000 islands off th were part of mainland Europe.
As the ice sheet melted, a large fresh-water lake formed in the southern part of what is now the North Sea. The outlow channel from the lake entered the Atlantic Ocean in the region of Dover and Calais.
At some point around 6500 BC8th millennium BC 7th millennium BC 6th millennium BC other millennia) Events Agriculture appears in Europe ( Greece, Italy) Pastoralism and cultivation of cereals (East Sahara) First pottery in Mesopotamia Gold and native copper begin to be used circa 70, catastrophic erosionErosion is the displacement of solids ( soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. Although the processes may be simultaneous, erosion is to be distinguished from weathering, which is the decompos swept away the chalkChalk is a soft, white, porous form of limestone composed of the mineral calcium carbonate. It is relatively resistant to erosion and slumping compared to the clays that it is usually associated with, and so forms tall steep cliffs where chalk ridges meet to create the English Channel, which has since been further widened by wave action on the soft, chalk cliffs. The same mechanism continues to widen the English Channel today.
The Channel has been a key natural defence for Britain, a fact that is referred to in William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 ( O. May 3, 1616 ( N. has a reputation as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Indeed, the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespe's play Richard IIRichard II is a play by William Shakespeare, based on the life of King Richard II of England, written in 1595. Richard II is not a stand-alone work, but the first part of a tetralogy; the other plays which belong to this series are Henry IV, part 1 Henry:
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands
It has allowed Britain to intervene but rarely be dangerously threatened in European conflicts. Without the gap Napoleon and Hitler would have been able to overcome the powerful enemy that the British state represented.
Nevertheless, the Channel has been the scene of many invasions (or attempted invasions) including the Norman Conquest, the Spanish Armada, and the WWII Normandy landings.
The Channel has been the scene of many naval battles, including the Battle of Portland, the Battle of La Hougue and the engagement between USS Kearsarge and CSS Alabama.
However, at times the Channel has served as a link joining shared cultures and political structures, from pre-Roman Celtic society, the Roman imperial culture, the foundation of Brittany by settlers from Great Britain, to the Anglo-Norman state.
Cross-Channel trade has been a significant factor for societies on both sides of the Channel from prehistoric times, and a number of important ports have developed in England and in France:
Important ferry routes are
Adding to the high level of cross-Channel traffic is the very significant traffic passing through the Channel, linking the economies of northern Europe with the rest of the world. Combined, this maritime traffic makes the Channel one of the busiest seaways in the world, accounting for a large share of global maritime trade (some sources place this at up to one quarter).
The coastal resorts of the Channel, such as Brighton and Deauville, inaugurated an era of aristocratic tourism in the early 19th century which developed into the democratic seaside tourism that has shaped resorts around the world.