Island areas
The Mediterranean island of Corsica is divided into 2 departments, the Haute-Corse and Corse du Sud. These 2 are further divided into other subcategories which make the infrastructure of Corsica look like a labyrinth.
Haute-Corse
The department of Haute-Corse constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.
It is organized into three arrondissements separated into 30 cantons consisting of 236 communes. The most famous among the communes are Bastia, Calvi, L’Ile-Rousse, Corte, Ponte Leccia, Sant’Antonino and Nonza.
· Bastia
Bastia is the capital of the Haute-Corse department as well as an important Corsican port famous for its wines.
· Calvi
Located on the northwest coast of the island, Calvi is the fifth largest commune in Corsica. There is a legend that Columbus was from Calvi, but hid his heritage because of the bad reputation the locals had at the time.
· L’Ile-Rousse
The red island is a port in Corsica founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to undermine the Genoese influence on the port of Calvi.
· Corte
It’s the fourth largest commune in Corsica, and was the capital of the independent Corsican state during the period of Pasquale Paoli.
Corse du Sud
Corse du Sud is the second department of Corsica and the southern part of the island. It is divided into two arrondissements grouped as 22 cantons of 124 communes. Among the 124 communes the more known ones are Ajaccio, Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio, Caldane and Zoza.
· Ajaccio
It is the capital of the territorial collectivity of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud. The house in which Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 is preserved, and his associations with the town are everywhere emphasized by street-names and statues.
· Porto-Vecchio
The third largest town in Corsica is also called the city of salt as it was built on salt-water marshes which were drained in order to develop the harbor zone.
· Bonifacio
It is a small seaside town at the southern tip of the island of Corsica in the Corse-du-Sud department of France. Bonifacio is located directly on the Mediterranean Sea, separated from Sardinia by the Strait of Bonifacio.
