Isle of Man
The Isle of Man's Tynwald claims to be the world's oldest parliament in continuous existence, dating back to 979. (However, it does not claim to be the oldest parliament, as Iceland's Althing dates back to 930.) It consists of a popularly elected House of Keys and an indirectly elected Legislative Council, which may sit separately or jointly to consider pieces of legislation, which, when passed into law, are known as "Acts of Tynwald". Candidates often stand for election as independents, rather than being selected by political parties. There is a Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister.
The Isle of Man issues its own coins and banknotes:
- Manx banknotes
- Coins of the Manx pound
These circulate freely alongside UK coinage and English, Northern Irish and Scottish banknotes.
The Isle of Man, unlike the other Crown dependencies, has a Common Purse Agreement with the United Kingdom.
Isle of Man Post issues its own stamps and makes significant revenue from the sale of special issues to collectors.
The Isle of Man has its own separate international vehicle registration (GBM – Isle of Man), internet domain (.im – Isle of Man), and ISO 3166-2 codes, first reserved on behalf of the Universal Postal Union (IMN – Isle of Man) and then added officially by the International Organization for Standardization on 29 March 2006. In addition, since 2008 the Isle of Man has used the aircraft registration M-.
Read more about this topic: Crown Dependencies
Famous quotes containing the words isle and/or man:
“She carries in the dishes,
And lays them in a row.
To an isle in the water
With her would I go.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The wheels and springs of man are all set to the hypothesis of the permanence of nature. We are not built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to stand.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)