Sark

Sark Sèr / Cerq Sercq
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: God Save the Queen  (official) Sarnia Cherie a
A map of Sark with Brecqhou to the west.
September 2005 aerial view of Sark. North is to the lower left, Little Sark toward the upper right and Brecqhou at bottom right.
Status	Jurisdiction
Official languages	English French
Recognised regional languages	Sercquiais
Part of	Bailiwick of Guernsey
Leaders
• Seigneur of Sark	Christopher Beaumont
Establishment
• Fief granted to Hellier de Carteret by Elizabeth I	1565
Area
• Total	5.45 km2 (2.10 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	600
• Density	110.09/km2 (285.1/sq mi)
Currency	Pound sterlingb (GBP)
Time zone	GMT
• Summer (DST)	(UTC+1)
Calling code	+44 1481
Internet TLD	nonec
Official for occasions when distinguishing anthem required. Guernsey pound notes and coins not legal tender outside Guernsey. Sark currently has no official top-level domain.

Sark (French: Sercq; Sercquiais: Sèr or Cerq) is an island in the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population of about 600. Sark (including the nearby island of Brecqhou) has an area of 2.10 square miles (5.44 km²).

Sark is one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only tractors and horse-drawn vehicles are allowed. In 2011, Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world.

Sark consists of two main parts, Greater Sark, located at about 49°25′N 2°22′W / 49.417°N 2.367°W / 49.417; -2.367, and Little Sark to the south. They are connected by a narrow isthmus called La Coupée which is 300 feet (91 m) long and has a drop of 330 feet (100 m) on each side. Protective railings were erected in 1900; before then, children would crawl across on their hands and knees to avoid being blown over the edge. There is a narrow concrete road covering the entirety of the isthmus that was built in 1945 by German prisoners of war under the direction of the Royal Engineers. Due to its isolation, the inhabitants of Little Sark had their own distinct form of Sercquiais, the native Norman dialect of the island.