CORSICA (Gk. Khrroc, Kyrnos,Kopals, Kor sis, Lat. Corsica, Fr. Corse). An island belonging to France (the fourth in size of the islands in the .111editerranean, situated between latitudes 41° 21' and 43° N. and longitude 8° 32' and 9° 31' E. (Map: France, P 8). It is separated by the Strait of Bonifacio from Sardinia, on the south, and occupies an area of nearly 3380 square miles. In the northeast is a long, narrow penin sula, pointing in the direction of Genoa and ter minating in Cape Corso. In its physical forma tion Corsica undoubtedly belongs more to • Italy than to France. Its surfaee is traversed by nu merous mountain ranges of rugged appearance and covered with beautiful forests. The principal chain runs from north to south, sending off numerous offshoots in every direction. The high est summits of the island are Monte Cinto, 8S90 feet: ?Monte Rotondo, 8600 feet: Monte Padro, 7846 feet; and Monte d'Oro, 7840 feet high. The coasts are precipitous on the west, while on the east they are low, and in some parts even swampy. The chief geological formation is gran ite, occasionally interspersed with porphyry and serpentine. There are a number of short and swift streams on the island, the principal of whioh are the Colo. Tavignano, and Taravo. The climate is generally healthful and the tempera ture moderate, the average for the summer being about 75°. The lower parts of the island are oemsionally visited by malaria, but the moun tain regions are very salubrious. The vegetation of the island is rich, and the fine forests for which Corsica was famous in ancient times are still found 011 the mountain slopes. The flora of the valleys does not differ materially from that of Italy. There is an abundance of olives, oranges, citrons, vines, and other Mediterranean plants.
The soil is very fertile, and, according to some estimates, over 40 per cent. of the total area is cultivable. The chief products are wheat, barley, rye, corn, wine, and chestnuts, the latter being used extensively for food. The agricultural work is done in part by laborers who come over from Tuscany. Cattle-raising is carried on on a very large scale, and constitutes the chief industry of the island. There are also good fisheries of tunny and pilchard. Among the minerals mined are iron, lead. copper. and antimony, and there are quarries of granite. marble. and alabaster. The commerce is of little importance. The chief im ports are foodstuffs, building materials, and metal ware. The exports consist mostly of trine, olive oil, and fruits. Corsica forms a depart
ment of France, and is divided into the five ar rondissements of Ajaccio, Bastian Calvi, Corte, and Sartclne. The population in 1896 was 290, 16S, or nearly S6 per square mile. The Corsicans are of mixed origin. independent in spirit, pas sionate, and revengeful. (See VENDETTA.) They scorn work and pay little attention to the devel opment of the natural resources of their island. The current language is a corrupt Italian. The capital is Ajaccio, with a population of over 20,000.
Corsica is supposed to have been originally in-• habited by a people of Iberian origin. It was settled in succession by the Etruscans, the rhea nicians, and the Phocceans, and finally came into the possession of the Carthaginians in the fifth century B.C. Wrested by the Romans from the Carthaginians in the second half of the third century rt.c., the island remained for seven cen turies under the sway of Rome, uiitn1, after re peated attacks by the Vandals, it finally fell into their hands in 470. Alter• the expul sion of the Vandals by Belisarius in 533, Corsica was occupied successively by the Byzan tine Empire, the Goths, Franks, and the Sara cens. At the beginning of the eleventh cen tury it came into the possession of the Pisans, by whom it was ceded in 1300 to the Genoese. The rule of the latter was marked by continuous re volts on the island, and the ruling city found itself compelled on several occasions to ask as sistance from Austria and France. In 1736 a German adventurer, Baron Theodor von Neuhof, became King of Corsica, but in 1738 he had to lay down his crown. The uprisings under the leadership of Paoli during the second half of the eighteenth century were of the most se rious nature. In 1768 Genoa made Corsica over to France. Paoli made an attempt to re sist the French rule, but the dispatch of 30,000 French troops to the island compelled him to seek safety in England. He returned in 1790, and in 1793 headed a successful rising, in which the British lent assistance to the patriots. In the following year Corsica came under the protection of Great Britain, from which it obtained a con stitutional form of government. Two years later the British were forced by the French to evacu ate the island, which has ever since remained in the possession of France. Corsica is noted as the birthplace of Napoleon. Consult: Giro lami-Cordona, Ge'ographie gclia'rale de /a Corse (Ajaceio, 1893) ; Vuillier, The Forgotten Isles (New York, 1896) ; Caird, The History of Cor sica (London, 1899).