Corsica

I

Introduction

Corsica (French Corse), island in the Mediterranean Sea, a territorial collectivity of France. The Strait of Bonifacio separates Corsica from the Italian island of Sardinia to the south. The principal Corsican towns are Ajaccio, Bastia, Sartène, Corte, Calvi, Bonifacio, L'Île-Rousse, and Porto-Vecchio. The island is divided into two departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

Corsica covers an area of 8,680 sq km (3,350 sq mi). The interior is mountainous, reaching its highest peak at Mount Cinto (2,710 m/8,891 ft). The coast is mostly rocky and indented in the west; in the east the coastal plain of Aleria is dotted with lagoons and swamps. From the mountains descend numerous short, torrential streams. The island's largest rivers are the Golo and the Tavignano.

II

Economy

Farming and manufacturing exist on a limited scale in Corsica. Grapes, wheat, olives, vegetables, and citrus fruit are cultivated; goats and sheep are raised; and cheese is produced. The forests, which have been greatly depleted, still supply chestnuts, lumber, and cork. Other industries of the island are fishing, wine making, mining of antimony and asbestos, quarrying of granite and marble, and the preparation of tannic acid.

Although politically a part of France, Corsica has had close ties with Italy. As in Sicily and other parts of Italy, Corsica was long noted for the practice of the vendetta, a blood feud between families or clans. Blood feuds are no longer common, but they have not been stopped in the less accessible parts of the island, where heavy undergrowth, known as maquis, provides natural hiding places.

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III

History

Ionian Greek settlements existed on Corsica as early as 550 bc. The Romans conquered the island in 259 bc, during the First Punic War (see Punic Wars). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in ad476, Corsica was ruled for a time by the Vandals, then was successively a part of the Byzantine Empire and of the Lombard Kingdom (see Lombards), and from 850 to 1034 was held by the Moors. Late in the 11th century Corsica became subject to the Holy See, and in 1077 Pope Gregory VII sent administrators from Pisa to Corsica. In 1132, however, Genoa, a commercial and political rival of Pisa, induced Pope Innocent II to divide jurisdiction over Corsica between Pisa and Genoa, and in 1312 the Genoese achieved supremacy in Corsica. They ruled the island until the 18th century, except for the period from 1458 to 1558, when it was held by the French. In the 18th century a series of revolts against Genoese rule brought the Corsican patriot Pasquale Paoli to prominence and involved the intervention of European powers, principally England and France. The Genoese ceded the island to France in 1768; one significant result of the cession was that Napoleon I, born at Ajaccio the following year, was a French citizen. During the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), the island was twice held by the British.

During World War II the island was occupied by German and Italian troops, but the people revolted against them, and the island was liberated in late 1943. In 1958 Corsica was occupied by rebellious right-wing elements supporting the insurrection of the French colonists in Algeria. The occupation helped return Charles de Gaulle to power as premier and then president of France. A movement to achieve greater autonomy from France became active in Corsica in the 1970s; radical groups seeking independence directed terrorist activities at government buildings. In 1982, as part of the decentralization program, the French parliament responded by creating the Corsican Regional Assembly. The assembly, composed of 50 elected members, controls local spending and has influence over education and culture in Corsica.

Population (1990) 249,737.

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