Jersey has only been an island for around 8,000 years. Before that it was a grassy hillock in the middle of a great flat plain that stretched between what is now England and France. As sea levels rose, Jersey was cut off and since then its landscape and identity has been determined by the sea.
Over the centuries, the wars between the French and the English played a major part in Jersey’s history and it has been subject to numerous invasions and attacks. More recently, it was occupied by German forces between 1940 and 1945 and if you look along Jersey's coastline you will see evidence of many wartime bunkers and gun emplacements.
In May 1945, the island was liberated and in the intervening years both the population and the economy have flourished. A stable government and respected regulatory system also encouraged the development of the banking and finance sector, bringing wealth and prosperity.