Island Facts

Quick Facts

• Capital: Douglas
• Population: 84,497 (2011 Census)
• Land Area: 572 sq. km/ 221 square miles
• Population Density: 133 people per sq. kilometre or 336 people per sq. mile
• Location: The centre of the Irish Sea - 50 km (31 miles) from Ireland and 50 km (31 miles) from the U.K.
• Longest River: Sulby (17 km/ 10.5 miles)
• Highest Peak: Snaefell (621 m/ 2036 feet)

• Head of State: Her Majesty the Queen
• Lieutenant Governor: Mr Adam Wood
• Chief Minister: Hon Allan Bell MHK
• President of Tynwald: Clare Christian MLC
• Speaker of the House of Keys: The Hon Steve Rodan SHK

• Status: An internally self-governing dependent territory of the Crown which is not part of the United Kingdom
• Parliament: Tynwald
• Currency: Manx pounds and pence (equivalent to GB pounds)
• Bank holidays: As in the UK with additional bank holidays for TT Senior Race Day and Tynwald Day.
• Languages: English and Manx Gaelic
• Religion: predominantly Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian
• Entrance requirements:
  1. If you are a British citizen or a Citizen of the Irish Republic you do not require any clearance from the Immigration Office to live in the Isle of Man, but you may require a work permit issued under the Isle of Man Control of Employment Acts if you want to work on the Island (or take up self-employment).
  2. European Economic Area (EEA) national citizens are expected to be able to support themselves without assistance from public funds and are able to live and work on the Island as long as they are not excluded on grounds of public policy, public health or public security. But may require a work permit issued under the Control of Employment Acts if wanting to work or take up self employment.
  3. Foreign National are regulated by the Isle of Man Immigration Rules. The Rules lay down the requirements for the entry and stay of foreign nationals in the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man Rules, whilst not identical to the United Kingdom (UK) Rules, are based on the UK Rules and are very similar.

Coat of Arms

The Coat of Arms of the Isle of Man (more correctly referred to as the Arms of Her Majesty in right of the Isle of Man) were granted by Her Majesty by Royal Warrant dated 12th July 1996. The Arms are an augmented version of the traditional arms which comprise the Three Legs conjoined on a red shield surmounted by a Crown and with the motto Quocunque Jeceris Stabit underneath. In heraldic terms the Arms are described: For the Arms: Gules a Triskele Argent garnished and spurred Or And for the Crest ensigning the Shield of Arms An Imperial Crown proper and for the Supporters Dexter a Peregrine Falcon and sinister a Raven both proper together with this Motto Quocunque Jeceris Stabit.

In 1405, King Henry IV gave the Isle of Man with all its rights to Sir John Stanley on condition that he paid homage and gave two Peregrine falcons to him and to every future King of England on his Coronation Day. Sir John's descendants ruled as Kings or Lords of Mann for 360 years until George III assumed the Lordship, while the presentation of two falcons continued up to the Coronation of George IV in 1822.

The Raven is a bird of legend and superstition and there are a number of places on the Island which include Raven in their names. The Island has a strong Viking element in its history and Odin, the Norse God, was, according to mythology, accompanied by two Ravens. During the Millennium Year of 1979, a replica of a Viking longship was sailed from Norway to the Isle of Man by a mixed Norwegian and Manx crew. The longship, which is now preserved on the Island, is called 'Odin's Raven'.

The Peregrine Falcon

The Supporters assigned to the Arms were chosen because of their historic significance. In 1405, King Henry IV gave the Isle of Man with all its rights to Sir John Stanley on condition that he paid homage and gave two falcons to him and to every future King of England on his Coronation Day. Sir John's descendants ruled as Kings or Lords of Mann for 360 years until George III assumed the Lordship, while the presentation of two falcons continued up to the Coronation of George IV in 1822.

The Raven

The Supporters assigned to the Arms were chosen because of their historic significance. The Raven is a bird of legend and superstition and there are a number of places on the Island which include Raven in their names. The Island has a strong Viking element in its history and Odin, the Norse God, was, according to mythology, accompanied by two Ravens. During the Millennium Year of 1979, a replica of a Viking longship was sailed from Norway to the Isle of Man by a mixed Norwegian and Manx crew. The longship, which is now preserved on the Island, is called 'Odin's Raven'.

Motto

The motto 'Quocunque Jeceris Stabit', which translates literally as whithersoever you throw it, it will stand, continues to feature on the Coat of Arms. This motto has been associated with the Isle of Man since about 1300. It was, reportedly, in use before this date by the MacLeods of Lewis as ancient Lords of the Isles of Scotland which, after 1266, included the Isle of Man.

Flag

The Three Legs of Man:

The three legs symbol seems to have been adopted in the Thirteenth Century as the armorial bearings of the native kings of the Isle of Man, whose dominion also included the Hebrides - the Western Isles of Scotland. After 1266, when the native dynasty ended and control of the Island passed briefly to the Crown of Scotland and then permanently to the English Crown, the emblem was retained, and among the earliest surviving representations are those of the Manx Sword of State, thought to have been made in the year 1300 AD. The Three Legs also appeared on the Manx coinage of the seventeenth-nineteenth centuries, and are still in everyday use in the Manx Flag.

Why the Three Legs were adopted as the royal arms of the Manx kingdom is unknown. It was originally a symbol of the Sun, the seat of Power and Life. In ancient times the emblem was particularly connected with the island of Sicily (probably because of its triangular outline) but the Sicilian 'Legs' were always naked and generally displayed Medusa's head at the central point.

A rather similar device was popular amongst the Celts and Norsemen in NW Europe, and in view of this it has been suggested that the Manx Three Legs were a heraldic modification of a native badge or emblem. Support for this theory may be seen in the appearance of the 'triskele', or simplified 'Three Legs' emblem, on coins of the tenth century Norse King, Anlaf Cuaran, whose dominion included Dublin and the Isle of Man; and it is probable that the later Manx Kings were a branch of the same dynasty.

All the early examples of the Manx 'Legs' show them as if running sunwise (i.e. clockwise) and to that extent the heraldic symbol of the Island still retained an essential feature of the ancient pagan sun-symbol. Although sometimes drawn anti-clockwise, that is singularly inappropriate.

Manx National Anthem (Arrane Ashoonagh dy Vannin.)

National Flower

The Cushag Now, the cushag, we know, must never grow Where the farmer's work is done; But along the rills in the heart of the hills The Cushag may shine like the sun, Where the golden flowers Have fairy powers To gladden our hearts with their grace, And in Vannin Veg Veen, In the valleys green, The Cushags have still a place.

Written by Josephine Kermode (b.1852-1937) using the nom-de-plume 'Cushag'.