<Tr> <Th> Islands </Th> <Td> Île de Bréhat, Île de Batz, Chausey, Tatihou, Îles Saint - Marcouf, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Settlements </Th> <Td> Bournemouth, Brighton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Calais, Le Havre </Td> </Tr> <P> The English Channel (French: la Manche, "The Sleeve"; German: Ärmelkanal, "Sleeve Channel"; Breton: Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; Cornish: Mor Bretannek, "Sea of Brittany"), also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean . It is the busiest shipping area in the world . </P> <P> It is about 560 km (350 mi) long and varies in width from 240 km (150 mi) at its widest to 33.3 km (20.7 mi) in the Strait of Dover . It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km (29,000 sq mi). </P>

What body of water separates france and england