Corsica

Corsica was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose parents were of the minor nobility. Corsica was under French control at the time, and Corsican nobles were offered the ability to gain French titles if they could prove their genealogy sufficiently. In the attempt to do that, his parents travelled to court in France, and like many other Corsican nobles, they sent young Napoleon to school there.

Another important figure is Pasquale Paoli (1725-1807), the Corsican general and patriot, who struggled for Corsican independence, first against Genoa, then against France.

The city state of Genoa held sway for centuries before giving Corsica to France in 1768 to help pay off a debt.

Main towns: (Corsican names)

Ajaccio (Aiacciu)

Bastia (Bastia)

Corte (Corti)

Sartene (Sartè)

Saint-Florent (San Fiorenzu)

Calvi (Calvi)

Porto-Vecchio (Porti Vechju)

Bonifacio (Bunifaziu)

The French government is strongly opposed to the idea, fearing it would threaten the unity of France. In any case, independence movements never get a majority of the votes in the island, indicating the probable lack of support for independence among the locals.

Some supporters of Corsican independence have launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations to try to force the French government to grant it independence. In addition, some of these groups are known to practice extortion, making them similar to mafias; those who do not comply with their demands may get their belongings destroyed. They also use other intimidation tactics against those who do not cave in to their demands; for instance, on the night of September 4 to 5, 2003, the car of journalist Christine Clerc was machine-gunned after she had written a September 1 article in Le Figaro on the topic of intimidation and crime against non-Corsicans living in the island.

On February 6, 1998, prefect Claude Érignac was murdered. On July 4, 2003, principal suspect Yvan Colonna was arrested.

Perhaps due to this athmosphere of gangsterism and intimidation is the tradition of omertà or "law of silence"; that is, the authors of crimes are seldom reported, suspects (including of murder) are protected from Justice, and it is difficult to obtain witnesses.

In 2000, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin agreed to grant an increased degree of autonomy to Corsica, in exchange for a cessation of violence. This was opposed by the Gaullist opposition in the French National Assembly, on the grounds that it would lead to autonomy also for other regions (Brittany, Provence, Alsace, etc.), and that would in turn lead eventually to the breakup of France; in any case, autonomy for Corsica has created a precedent for devolution to other French regions also.

The proposed autonomy for Corsica would include greater protection for the Corsican language (corsu), the traditional language of the island. France traditionally has been discouraging the use of regional or minority languages.

Corsica, Pennsylvania

Geography

Demographics

Corsica, South Dakota

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²). 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

There are 259 households out of which 27.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% are married couples living together, 5.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% are non-families. 35.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 23.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.24 and the average family size is 2.91.

In the city the population is spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 17.9% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 33.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 48 years. For every 100 females there are 77.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 74.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $27,589, and the median income for a family is $34,531. Males have a median income of $26,136 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income for the city is $13,370. 9.4% of the population and 7.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 8.6% are under the age of 18 and 16.7% are 65 or older.