Corsica

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Corsica (Italian Corsica, French Corse) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located 90 km west of mainland Italy, 170 km southeast of mainland France, and 11 km north of the island of Sardinia. Corsica is closely related with the Italian region of Tuscany. Corsu, the local dialect which is also spoken in the far north of Sardinia, is similar to the Tuscan dialect which developed into the Italian language.

Corsica is famed as the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte, born in 1769, only a year after Corsica became part of France. His ancestral home, Casa Buonaparte, is located in the capital, Ajaccio.

Encyclopædia Britannica

Street musician on the waterfront In Bastia, Corsica, 1907

Corsica, French Corse, official name Collectivité Territoriale de Corse, collectivité territoriale (territorial collectivity) of France and island in the Mediterranean Sea embracing (from 1976) the départements of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. Corsica is the fourth largest island (after Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus) in the Mediterranean. It lies 105 miles (170 km) from southern France and 56 miles (90 km) from northwestern Italy, and it is separated from Sardinia by the 7-mile (11-km) Strait of Bonifacio. Ajaccio is the capital. Although Corsica is still commonly described as one of 22 régions of metropolitan France, its official status was changed in 1991 from région to collectivité territoriale à statut particulier (territorial collectivity with special status). The unique classification provides Corsica greater autonomy than the régions. Area 3,352 square miles (8,681 square km). Pop. (1999) 260,196; (2014 est.) 324,212. [...] Bastia and Ajaccio, on the coast, are the largest towns and home to about half of the island’s population. In the early 21st century some four-fifths of Corsica’s population was urban. In northern Corsica the Balagne (once called the “Garden of Corsica”) is also densely populated. In contrast, sparsely populated rural villages, mostly situated at elevations between 650 and 2,600 feet (200 and 800 metres), have experienced much migration to the coast and to continental France. Despite a long history of emigration, there is overall growth in population, though many of the newcomers are retirees, which has led to a progressive aging of the population. Corsica’s standard of living, particularly in the interior, is lower than that of continental France. The island’s economic life is based primarily on tourism as well as the raising of sheep for ewe’s milk, which is used to make fine-quality cheeses, and the cultivation of citrus fruits, grapes (frequently with the aid of irrigation), and olives. Agriculture has been modernized along the eastern coastal plains. Industrial development is limited and focuses mainly on food processing.

History

Time Life picture: The lover of a German soldier in Corsica is tortured, shaved and humiliated (Source: Love affairs of German occupiers in the Second World War)

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Corsica was first invaded by the Vandals and Ostrogoths, then incorporated by the Byzantine Empire in its attempt to expel the Germanic conquerors, and was later reconquered to become part of the Kingdom of the Lombards.

Following the defeat of the Lombards by the Franks, Corsica was donated to the Pope. Due to the frequent Barbary pirate invasions, the neighbouring republics of Pisa and Genoa intervened. Corsica came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa which lasted from the early 1000s to 1284. It was then contested between the Republic of Genoa, and the Crown of Aragon (later Spain), though de facto ruled by the Genoese since 1284.

In 1729, a decades-long insurrection against the Republic of Genoa over taxation started. In 1755, the constitution of the Republic of Corsica was written. After the Seven Years War and the following Treaty of Versailles in 1768, the Genoese ceded all rights of Corsica to France to repay their own debt. France invaded the Republic of Corsica that same year, completed their conquest in 1769, and made it officially a French region in 1770.

It is now one of the 26 régions of France. In 1982, it was granted further autonomy, and designated as a "territorial collectivity" (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France.

WWII

Corsica became part of the Southern zone of Vichy France after the Battle of France in 1940, and was thus not directly occupied by Axis forces, but fell under ultimate military control of Germany. In 1942, Italy occupied Corsica with a huge force. German forces took over on 9 September 1943 after Italy's treason (Fall Achse. The Germans faced evacuated the island by October 1943. Corsica then became an Allied air base, supporting the Mediterranean Theater in 1944, and the invasion of southern France in August 1944.

Demographics

Corsica's resident population was 250,371 in 1990, and 347,597 in 2021. The capital Ajaccio in the southwest has 75,343 residents, while Bastia in the northeast, the second largest town, has 47,459. Both are coastal towns.

In 1990, 62.0% of the inhabitants of Corsica were born on the island, 21.3% were born in Metropolitan France, 0.2% were born in Overseas France, 6.0% were born in a foreign country with French citizenship (mostly Pied-Noirs who returned after the independence of the Maghreb), and 10.5% were born in foreign countries without French citizenship.

At the 2019 census, 55.7% were born on the island, 29.9% were from Metropolitan France, 0.3% were from Overseas France, 4.2% were foreign-born with French citizenship, and 9.9% were foreign-born without French citizenship.

Maghrebis and Southern Europeans make up the majority of foreign-born residents of the island. Moroccans are 29.0% of all first generation immigrants, Portuguese are 23.9% and Italians are 12.5%.