About the Isle of Man

For most people, the Isle of Man is an enigma. Most often heard, sadly, is the comment ‘I’ve always wanted to go, but never got round to it’.

Few would think of the island as a walker’s or a geocacher's paradise – yet it is, as our geocaching festival hopes to demonstrate. 

Fewer still know anything about the island, save that it has an annual motorcycle race of some severity, that it is something of a tax haven, that Manx cats have no tails, and (I’m pushing it now) the island’s bishop has the title ‘Bishop of Sodor and Man’. 

Very few could explain the way the island is governed: is it part of Britain? (No); the United Kingdom? (No); the Commonwealth, then? (Yes). Yet, the Isle of Man is at the very centre (give or take) of the British Isles, roughly equidistant from the other countries. Indeed, they say that on a clear day it is possible to see seven kingdoms: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Man, and the kingdoms of Heaven and the Sea.

The Isle of Man is island in the Irish Sea, situated mid-way between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, the Isle of Man has a land mass of some 572 sq km (221 sq miles) and measures, at its extremities, 52km (32½ miles) by 22km (13¾ miles). Geographically it is part of the British Isles, a dependency of the British crown, but not part of the United Kingdom. The capital is Douglas, and other towns of size are Ramsey, Peel and Castletown. Government of the island is through the 24 representatives of the House of Keys and a nine-member legislative council, which together make up the Court of Tynwald (the oldest surviving parliamentary body in continuous existence in the world), passing laws subject to the royal assent. Laws passed at Westminster only affect the island if adopted by Tynwald.