Corsica Description and Information

Corsica Départements

• Corse (20) - Divided into two zones
• Corse du Sud (2a)
• Haute-Corse (2b)

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Corsica description

Corsica is situated 160km (99miles) off the southern coast of France in the gulf of Genoa, but it is actually closer - 80km(50 miles) - to Italy and was in Italian possession until 1768 when it was purchased by France. The island's diverse coast of 1,000km (620miles) has a mix of rugged cliffs as well as some of the finest beaches in the Mediterranean with beautiful half-moon bays and picturesque villages. There are no high rise developments along the coast as buildings are restricted to a maximum two storeys and not allowed to encroach too closely upon the beach.

Inland further diverse landscapes can be found. Driving up the steep climbs and around sharp hairpin bends through the jagged mountains can be exhilarating. Half of these mountains are snow-capped for almost the entire year. The mid-level mountains are covered in maquis - a mix of harsh and resilient bushes including broom, gorse, juniper, laurel, lentisk and myrtle mixed with the strong aroma-giving plants like asphodel, cistus, heather, lavender, thyme and sage (which provide the spice in Corsican cooking). Pine and chestnut forests cover the craggy mountains and olive groves fill the valleys.

Corsicans are known for being intimate in community but to strangers very reserved and some outsiders could find the taciturn people unapproachable.. The family is paramount to the people. The language Corsu is more closely related to Italian and many people are working to keep it alive, evidenced in the bilingual or exclusively Corsu street and shop signs about the island. Almost half of the population is concentrated in the two major towns and in the interior of the country many communes are suffering from depopulation and few activities exist outside of agriculture. The most effected are 136 communes in the west of the island where more than half of the population are aged over sixty. Communes that are less deserted, but which have no shops or services, are those close to the autoroutes. The people here drive to work in the major towns.

The population's relationship with the mainland is uneasy and a nationalist movement is in constant and sometimes violent conflict with central government. It's easy to understand some of the bad feeling as the Corsicans are proud of their language, culture and traditions but until recently, the French government neglected the island both economically and culturally, and corruption was rife. In 1998 Claude Erignac, Ajaccio's Préfet was assassinated and since then the French government has adopted a tougher approach towards the corruption that dogged the island for decades. Today it's a heavily subsidised région, both by central government and the EU. Corsicans are exempt from social security contributions and big financial incentives are on offer to draw foreign companies to the island. The islands two major activities are agriculture and tourism. The major agricultural products are clementines (99% of France's production), almonds (42%), chestnuts (21%), kiwis(17,3%), and olive oil (12,9%).

The island is most popular with Italian holiday-home owners, although there are signs of an increased interest from those from further afield.

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Corsica Population

• Population: 260,196
• Pop.density (people per km2): 30

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