CORSICA, an island in the Mediterranean, separated from the island of Sardinia by the strait of Bonifacio on the s. and situated in lat. 41° 20' to 43° a., and long. 8° 30' to 9° 30' east. It forms the French department of Corse, and has an area of :3,350 sq.m., with a pop., in 1876, of 262,701. The greater portion of the island is occupied by ranges of rugged mountains, the highest being Monte Rotondo (ancient Atone Aureus), 9,068 ft. high, and covered with perpetual snow. There are several rivers in the island, the largest of which, having their source in Monte Rotondo, are the Tavignano (ancient Rhotanus) and the Golo (ancient Tavola). They flow into the sea on the e. coast; the Gob is navigable for boats. Several small rivers, most of which are dry in summer, flow westward into the sea. The soil is generally fertile in the valleys, yielding all kinds of cereals, and much wine is produced. Olive, orange, fig, almond, and other fruit-trees flourish; fruit forming a considerable item in the exports. But C. is chiefly celebrated on account of its magnificent forests of oak, pine, chestnut, beech, larch, cork, etc. Many of the pines are upwards of 120 ft. high, and are much used for masts in the French navy. The chestnut forests are particularly fine, and the fruit serves as an important article of food for the inhabitants. Priekly-peal, arbutus, myrtle, etc., abound. Iron, lead, black manganese, antimony, marble, and granite of beautiful quality, are found on the island, but these sources of wealth are not developed. Sheep of a pecu
liar black breed, with four and occasionally six horns, goats, and pigs are numerous, and the rearing of cattle is carried on to a great extent. Tunny, pilchard, and anchovy abound along the coast. C. is divided into the five arrondissements of Ajaeeio, Bastia, Calvi, Corte, and Sartenc. Ajaccio is the capital. The language spoken in C. is a cor rupt Italian. The Corsicans are great improvisatori; valor, love of freedom, and desire of revenge arc their principal characteristics.
In early times C. was known as Cyriws, although its native name is said by some historians to have been the same as that it now bears. As early as 564 B.C., a colony of Phocmans had founded a city on its e. coast. After successive changes of Carthagin ian, Roman, Vandal, Greek, and Gothic rulers, it came in the 8th c. into the hands of the Saracens, who held it until the beginning of the 11th c., when it fell under the dominion of Pisa. It afterwards passed to the Genoese, who held it until 1735, when the Corsicans under gen. Paoli made themselves in great part independent. The French, to whom the Genoese surrendered the claims they themselves could not maintain, cap tured it in 1768; since which time, with slight intermission, it has remained in the pos session of France.