Saint Peter Port Saint-Pierre-Port |
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Parish | |
View of St Peter Port from the South
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Location of Saint Peter Port in Guernsey |
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Coordinates: 49°27′20″N 2°32′12″W / 49.4555°N 2.5368°WCoordinates: 49°27′20″N 2°32′12″W / 49.4555°N 2.5368°W | |
Crown Dependency | Guernsey, Channel Islands |
Government | |
• Electoral district | Divided into St Peter Port North and St Peter Port South |
Area | |
• Total | 6.5 km2 (2.5 sq mi) |
Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Population (2014) | |
• Total | 18,207 |
• Density | 2,800/km2 (7,300/sq mi) |
Time zone | GMT |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+01 (UTC) |
Postal code | GY1-GY9 |
Website | www |
Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from Saint Pierre Du Bois.
As well as being a parish, St. Peter Port is a small town consisting mostly of steep narrow streets and steps on the overlooking slopes. It is known that a trading post/town has existed here since before Roman times, the pre-Christian name of which has not survived into the modern era.
The postal code for addresses in this parish starts with GY1.
People from St. Peter Port, were nicknamed "les Villais" (the townspeople) or "cllichards" in Guernésiais.
St. Peter Port is located on the east coast of Guernsey. It borders St. Sampson in the north, The Vale in the north-west, St. Andrew in the west and St. Martin in the south.
On the seaward side it faces Herm to the east, across the Little Russel, and Sark and Brecqhou even further east across the Big Russel between them and Herm. The Bréhon Tower sits in the Little Russel between St. Peter Port and Herm.
Relief The land in the north and by the harbour is low lying but in the south, the land gets much higher (but not as high as St Martin's or the Forest). This means that there are quite a few cliffs on the coast between Havelet and Fermain.