Corsica

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Island region of France, in the Mediterranean off the west coast of Italy, north of Sardinia; it comprises the départements of Haute Corse and Corse du Sud; area 8,680 sq km/3,351 sq mi; population (1999 est) 260,200 (including just under 50% native Corsicans). The capital, Ajaccio, and Bastia (at the island's northern tip) are the chief towns and ports. The island is largely mountainous and characterized by maquis vegetation (drought-tolerant shrubs such as cork oak and myrtle). The main products are wine and olive oil; tourism is the island's economic mainstay. The languages spoken are French (official) and Corsican, an Italian dialect. The French emperor Napoleon was born in Ajaccio in 1769, the same year that Corsica became a province of France. The island's characteristic maquis has long provided ideal hideouts for bandits, and banditry remained a problem on the island until the 1930s. Vendettas, or blood feuds, between clans remained common until recent times. This practice was similar to that in Sicily and parts of southern Italy, and indicates the close ties that have continued to exist between the island and Italy.

The Phocaeans of Ionia founded Alalia in about 570 BC, and were succeeded in turn by the Etruscans, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, and the Arabs. In 1077 Pope Gregory VII ceded the island to Pisa; Pisa and Genoa, and later Genoa and Aragon, battled for control until 1312 when Corsica fell to the Genoese. Administration of the island was in the hands of the Bank of San Giorgio in Genoa by the mid-15th century, and Genoese rule became increasingly harsh and unpopular. In the second half of the 18th century a Corsican nationalist, Pasquale Paoli (1725–1807), led an independence movement. Paoli headed a successful revolt against Genoa in 1755, but it only resulted in the cession of Corsica to France in 1768.

In World War II Corsica was occupied by Italy from 1942 to 1943. From 1962, French pieds noirs (refugees from Algeria), mainly vine growers, were settled in Corsica, and their prosperity helped to fan nationalist feeling, which demands an independent Corsica. This fuelled the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FNLC), banned in 1983, which has engaged in some terrorist bombings (a truce began in June 1988 but ended in January 1991). In 1991, the island was granted special status as a territorial ‘collective’ with its own elected regional assembly.

The yellow of the emblem is said to denote Angola's natural wealth. Red is said to stand for the blood spilt by the freedom fighters. Black represents Africa. Effective date: 11 November 1975. >>