Isle of Man

Isle of Man pictures. The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin in the native Celtic language) has a special status: it's not part of any country (and yet it has the oldest continuous parliament in the world, which is over 1000 years old). It is a crown dependency of the United Kingdom, which means that the head of state is the Queen of England and the UK is responsible for defending it, but it is not part of the country and is allowed to have different laws (and it does have very different tax laws, indeed). Though it was originally inhabited by a Celtic people (the Manx), the fact that many of its towns became popular seaside resorts during the Victorian era changed much on the island and now you could easily mistake it for England, except perhaps for the subtle differences, for example the ubiquitous Manx symbol (three legs joined at the thigh), the slightly more dramatic coastlines, or the lack of speed limit on many of the roads.
This gallery contains pictures from the capital, Douglas, a few seaside towns like Castletown, Port Erin and Laxey, the countryside and Snaefell, the highest mountain on the island.