Which body of water do the French call 'La Manche'?

The English Channel, known as 'La Manche' in France, is a body of water that separates the island of Great Britain from the rest of Europe. It is 563 km (350 miles) long and 246 km (153 miles) wide, although it is only 34 km (21 miles) at its narrowest part (34 km) in the Strait of Dover.

The term 'English Channel' has been used for centuries, dating back to the 1500s when Dutch cartographers referred to the body of water as the 'Engelse Kanaal'. The French term 'La Manche' appeared in the following century. Meaning 'sleeve', the name probably refers to the shape of the channel. The French term has inspired other Romantic languages, who refer to the channel as 'Canal de la Mancha' (Spanish), 'Canal da Mancha' (Portuguese), and 'Canale della Manica' (Italian).

The English Channel, or 'La Mancha', is home to five inhabited islands: Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm. Collectively, they are known as the Channel Islands, or in France, 'Îles de la Manche' or 'Îles Anglo-Normandes'. Several major towns and cities rest on the shores of the channel on both sides, including Brighton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Southampton, Plymouth, Weymouth and Dover in England, and Le Havre, Calais and Dieppe in France.