148-521: Albertacce ( French pronunciation: [albɛʁtatʃe] , Corsican: [alˈbɛrtatʃːe] , Italian: [alˈbɛrtattʃe] ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse in the island and collectivity of Corsica , France . Albertacce is located in the heart of the Regional Natural Park of Corsica . Albertacce is located high in the Corsican mountains some 30 km in
296-514: A Franco-Ottoman fleet occupied Corsica , but the reaction of Spain and Genoa, led by Andrea Doria , reestablished the Genoese supremacy on the island, confirmed by the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis . The unlucky protagonist of this episode was Sampiero di Bastelica , who would later come to be considered a hero of the island. Their power reinstated, the Genoese did not allow the Corsican nobility to share in
444-563: A Hercynian granite base, is the Forest of Valdu Niellu , a vast forest of Corsican pine traversed by the Golo and which occupies the western part of the commune. To the northeast of Valdu Niellu, between the mountains of Cinto and a ridge linking Crucetta Punta (2499 m), Capu Falu (2540 m), Capu di Inzecca (2299 m), the Cresta di l 'Inzecche , Monte Albanu (2018 m), and the remarkable Cinque Frati (1986 m)
592-501: A pledge for the debts incurred after enlisting French military help in suppressing the Corsican revolt; as a result, France annexed the island in 1769. The future Emperor of the French , Napoleon Bonaparte , was a native Corsican, born that same year in Ajaccio: his ancestral home, Maison Bonaparte , is now a visitor attraction and museum. Because of Corsica's historical ties to Tuscany ,
740-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since
888-506: A Southern Romance one. Fewer and fewer people speak a Ligurian dialect , known as bunifazzinu , in what has long been a language island , Bonifacio , and in Ajaccio , the aghjaccinu dialect. In Cargèse , a village established by Greek immigrants in the 17th century, Greek ( Ελληνικά ) was the traditional language. Among foreign languages, the most spoken ones were English (39%) and Italian (34%) as reported by an official survey by
1036-475: A Tarantella ). The Corsican brook salamander has no lungs. It breathes through the skin and mouth. The small population of Albertacce is divided between the Albertacce village and the hamlet Pietra Zitamboli , the village Calasima , and in the forest of Valdu Niellu . The village is built on a gentle slope towards the river Golo in a chestnut grove. Although near Lake Calacuccia , the town does does not border
1184-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into
1332-530: A commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at
1480-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to
1628-574: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,
SECTION 10
#17329095499771776-451: A direct line east by north-east of Porto on the west coast and 15 km west by north-west of Corte . Access to the commune is by a single road, the D84. The commune occupies the southwest part of Niolu surrounded by a vast mountainous circle formed of high peaks in the watershed of Golo . Its boundaries are marked as follows: In the midst of the basin of shallow siliceous soil which lies on
1924-653: A little firm, smooth, and without holes, and be refined throughout its thickness. The old "Migration way" started from Barghiana (Manso), but it can be taken from the end of the D351 road, passing by the Ponte di e Rocce , the col de Caprunale , the refuge of Puscaghia of the PNRC ( Évisa ), and Capu Tafunatu towards the Col de Vergio in the Albertacce commune. Although agro-pastoralism fell sharply in
2072-756: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem
2220-582: A much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected
2368-462: A scraper and arrowheads. The Archaeological Museum of Niolu of Lucien Acquaviva at Albertacce is intended to highlight the specific terminology of megalithic Corsican . A Menhir statue ( a stantara ) of a Niolu "soldier" wearing a suit of armour, a breastplate of the Peoples of the sea, and a dagger was discovered during the demolition of the chapel of Saint-Jean Baptiste which was decided on in 1985 by
2516-699: Is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with a median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into
2664-429: Is a territorial collectivity of France , and is expected to achieve "a form of autonomy" in the near future. The regional capital is Ajaccio . Although the region is divided into two administrative departments , Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud , their respective regional and departmental territorial collectivities were merged on 1 January 2018 to form the single territorial collectivity of Corsica. Corsican autonomy
2812-589: Is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage
2960-544: Is a temperate montane zone . The mountains are cooler and wetter, and home to the Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion. This region supports diverse forests of oak , pine , and broadleaf deciduous trees, with vegetation more typical of northern Europe. The population lives predominantly below 900 m (3,000 ft), with only shepherds and hikers from 600 to 900 m (2,000 to 3,000 ft). The elevation above 1,800 to 2,700 m (5,900 to 8,900 ft)
3108-495: Is also likely that the Saracen colonies of Corte and Balagne, harassed by Christian patriots, were driven back into Niolu where significant names of Calaguccia and Calasima were applied to two villages. In the 16th century around 1520, the Pieve of Niolu was uninhabited. The Bank of Saint George , which had managed Corsica since 1453, used the troops of Nicolo Doria in 1503 to destroy
SECTION 20
#17329095499773256-649: Is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France . It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland , west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia , the nearest land mass. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. As of January 2024 , it had a population of 355,528. The island
3404-503: Is equipped with a water tank and a sewage treatment plant. The hamlet is a rare example of a cold-summer mediterranean climate . The vast forest Valdu Niellu has some residents. The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion has a chalet at Vergio for their training in the mountains. At Poppaghja there is a forester's house belonging to the ONF . Access to Albertacce is by
3552-521: Is estimated that only 10% of Corsica's population speak the language natively, with only 50% having some sort of proficiency in it. The Corsican language is divided into two main varieties: Cismuntanu and Ultramuntanu , spoken respectively northeast and southwest of the Girolata– Porto Vecchio line. This division was due to the massive immigration from Tuscany which took place in Corsica during
3700-552: Is more extensive than in other regional collectivities of France and the Corsican Assembly is permitted to exercise limited executive powers. Corsica's second-largest town is Bastia , located in the prefecture of Haute-Corse. Corsica was ruled by the Republic of Genoa from 1284 to 1755, when it seceded to become a self-proclaimed, Italian -speaking Republic . In 1768, Genoa officially ceded it to Louis XV of France as part of
3848-519: Is mostly composed of European black pine with other resinous trees such as birch and fragrant alders ( bassu ). Calasima is a remarkable village - the highest in Corsica at 1100 m altitude. Ponte Altu is a Genovese bridge over the Golo downstream from the D84 highway bridge. This Genovese bridge ( Ponte Muricciolu ) on the Viru , tributary of the Golo , is located at 852 m above sea level, 1 km towards
3996-458: Is said to be impenetrable. In February the first Crocus corsicus can be seen on the mountains, species unique to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia . On the heights mouflons can be seen from the colony of Cinto. The hydrographic network includes numerous streams and springs. The river Golo rises from 1991 metres in the commune south of the Paglia Orba (2525 m) and 200 m to the south of
4144-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities
4292-461: Is the high alpine zone . Vegetation is sparse, with high winds and frequent cloud cover. This zone is uninhabited. There is considerable birdlife in Corsica. One famous example is the bearded vulture , or Lammergeier , which (along with the iconic griffon vulture ) serve as environmental "janitors" by scavenging the remains of deceased animals, thus limiting the proliferation of infectious microbes and diseases. Other avian species to be seen include
4440-509: Is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by
4588-653: Is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in
Albertacce - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-405: Is the upper valley of Viru a tributary of the Golo. The western slopes of the valley are covered by the communal forest of Albertacce composed mainly of Corsican pine . The pine is called lariciu ("a large" in Corsican language ) is part of the large family of black pines. It can occur at altitudes between 1000 and 1800 m on sunny slopes. There are nuthatches , non-migratory birds which live on
4884-782: The Capu Tafunatu (2335 m). Its course is interrupted by the Calacuccia Dam. It leaves the commune 200 metres upstream of the Mazzola bridge on the D218 road. The Viru, the main tributary of the commune, is fed by several streams such as that of Paglia Orba and Foggiale bordered in part by the GR 20 . At the bottom of the creek beds, there are native species: the Tyrrhenian painted frogs ( a bariulata ) - toads living up to 1900 m and Corsican brook salamanders (
5032-548: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained
5180-552: The GR20 , one of Europe's most notable hiking trails . The island is 90 km (56 mi) from Tuscany in Italy and 170 km (110 mi) from the Côte d'Azur in France. It is separated from Sardinia to the south by the Strait of Bonifacio , which is a minimum of 11 km (6.8 mi) wide. In 2005 the population of Corsica was settled in approximately 360 communities. According to
5328-594: The Köppen climate classification scheme, coastal regions are characterized by a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). Further inland, a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) is more common. At the highest elevation locations, small areas with a subarctic climate (Dsc, Dfc) and the rare Mediterranean climate can be found. The station of Sari-Solenzara records the highest year-round temperatures in Metropolitan France, with an annual average of 16.41 °C over
5476-735: The Mesolithic era. The permanent human presence in Corsica is documented in the Neolithic period from the 6th millennium BC. After a brief occupation by the Carthaginians , colonization by the ancient Greeks , and an only slightly longer occupation by the Etruscans , it was incorporated by the Roman Republic at the end of the First Punic War and, with Sardinia , in 238 BC became a province of
5624-549: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,
5772-477: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,
5920-843: The Ostrogoths . Briefly recovered by the Byzantine Empire , it soon became part of the Kingdom of the Lombards . This made it a dependency of the March of Tuscany , which used it as an outpost against the Saracens . Pepin the Short , king of the Franks and Charlemagne 's father, expelled the Lombards and nominally granted Corsica to Pope Stephen II . In the first quarter of the 11th century, Pisa and Genoa together freed
6068-519: The Republic of Genoa , including an ephemeral attempt in 1736 to proclaim an independent Kingdom of Corsica under the German adventurer Theodor von Neuhoff , an independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed in 1755 under the leadership of Pasquale Paoli and remained sovereign until 1769 when the island was conquered by France . Following the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Pasquale Paoli
Albertacce - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-510: The Roman Republic . The Romans, who built a colony in Aléria , considered Corsica as one of the most backward regions of the Roman world. The island produced sheep, honey, resin and wax, and exported many slaves, not well considered because of their fierce and rebellious character. Moreover, it was known for its cheap wines, exported to Rome, and was used as a place of exile, one of the most famous being
6364-633: The Sardinian dhole , the mustelid Enhydrictis galictoides , the deer Praemegaceros cazioti , the Corsican giant shrew , Tyrrhenian mole , Sardinian pika , Tyrrhenian vole , and the Tyrrhenian field rat . As of the January 2024 estimate, Corsica has a population of 355,528 inhabitants. At the 2019 census, 55.7% of the inhabitants of Corsica were people born on the island, 29.9% were from Continental France , 0.3% were natives of Overseas France , and 14.1% were born in foreign countries. The majority of
6512-484: The Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion , in which forests and woodlands of evergreen sclerophyll oaks predominate, chiefly holm oak ( Quercus ilex ) and cork oak ( Quercus suber ). Much of the coastal lowlands have been cleared for agriculture, grazing and logging; these activities have reduced the forest area considerably. Between 600 and 1,800 m (2,000 and 5,900 ft)
6660-613: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for
6808-503: The barn owl , blue rock thrush , common crane , Corsican nuthatch , golden eagle , greater flamingo , osprey , peregrine falcon , red kite , and starry bittern . In some cases, Corsica is an isolated portion of a species' distribution; in other cases, it is the furthest point in a species' range. For example, a subspecies of hooded crow ( Corvus cornix cornix ) occurs in Corsica, but not anywhere further south. Corsica has abundant reptile and amphibians, one protected species being
6956-541: The chestnut trees of the convent on 23 June 1774 on the orders of General Sionville including a man from Albertacce. His name Ghjuvanni Albertini is mentioned on the commemorative plaque at the entrance of the convent. With the French Revolution that created the department of Corsica with Bastia as prefecture , the Pieve of Niolu became the Canton of Calacuccia in 1789. In 1793, the National Convention divided
7104-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by
7252-702: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to
7400-594: The vol d'oiseau in the North-east of Ponte Altu and upstream of the confluence of the Viru with the stream of Valdellu. Close to the bridge is an oratory . Both are located on the way to the GR Mare a Mare Nord . The ski resort of Castellu di Vergio is located about 1.5 km from the col de Vergio (1478 m) and is open year-round. Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] )
7548-499: The 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in the overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect
SECTION 50
#17329095499777696-433: The 1981–2010 period. The average amount of sunshine received annually was 2,715 hours in the period 2008–2016. The island is divided into four major ecological zones, by altitude. Below 600 metres (2,000 ft) is the coastal zone's mild Mediterranean climate , with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. The area's natural vegetation is sparse Mediterranean forest, scrubland, and shrubs. The coastal lowlands are part of
7844-407: The 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it
7992-401: The 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of
8140-457: The City Council of Calacuccia. This stone called Ghjuvan Battista III was incorporated with two other menhirs into the walls of the chapel Saint-Jean Baptiste of Calacuccia that was next to the church when it was built in the 12th century, probably to confirm the victory of the Catholic religion over pagan rites because in the 7th century, Pope Gregory I claimed that he had repressed the "cult of stones" in Corsica. According to Ptolemy Corsica
8288-472: The D84 road which is the only road which crosses the Niolu and serves all the communes of the microregion. Excavations undertaken since 2006 on the site of A Curnatoghja at Albertacce and also at Sidossi close to the hamlet of Calacuccia on a spur called E Mizane on the lakefront, have revealed some archaeological finds which attest to human presence at the end the Neolithic and the Bronze Age . These include fragments of ceramics, stone tools like shards,
8436-416: The French Empire, many Corsicans retained a sense of community by establishing organizations where they would meet regularly, keep one another informed of developments in Corsica, and come to one another's aid in times of need. After the collapse of France to the German Wehrmacht in 1940, Corsica came under the rule of the Vichy French regime, which was collaborating with Nazi Germany . In November 1942
8584-440: The French government. Ever since, Corsican nationalism has been a feature of the island's politics, with calls for greater autonomy and protection for Corsican culture and the Corsican language , or even full independence. Some groups supporting independence, such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica , have carried out a violent campaign that includes bombings and assassinations targeting buildings and officials representing
8732-453: The French government; periodic flare-ups of raids and killings culminated in the assassination of Prefect Claude Érignac in 1998. Lately, the drive towards independence has taken a more electoral approach, where Corsicans elected pro-autonomist, or pro-independence parties overwhelmingly in the past few elections. In 2018, Corsica had the highest murder rate in France. In March 2022 Corsica saw large protests and riots after Yvan Colonna ,
8880-482: The French state. Despite the presence of a middle class in Bastia and Ajaccio, Corsica remained an otherwise primitive place, whose economy consisted mainly of subsistence agriculture, and whose population constituted a pastoral society, dominated by clans and the rules of vendetta . The code of vendetta required Corsicans to seek deadly revenge for offences against their family's honor. Between 1821 and 1852, no fewer than 4,300 murders were perpetrated in Corsica. During
9028-410: The Italian experience. The following 150 years were a period of conflict, when the Genoese rule was contested by Aragon, the local lords, the comuni and the Pope: finally, in 1450 Genoa ceded the administration of the island to its main bank, the Bank of Saint George , which brought peace. In the 16th century, the island entered into the fight between Spain and France for supremacy in Italy. In 1553,
SECTION 60
#17329095499779176-503: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across
9324-496: The Niolu which remained refractory. At the last moment its inhabitants made their submission on 13 August 1751. On 15 May 1768 the Genoese ceded Corsica to France. After the conquest of the island by the French troops of Louis XV in 1769, Niolu experienced savage military repression. The French subdued nascent revolts under the Generalship of Pasquale Paoli . At the convent of Saint-François-di-Niolu (in Corsican Conventu San Francescu ) at Calacuccia eleven Niolins were hanged from
9472-400: The Niolu, there are still a few shepherds who now produce cheeses to modern standards. Charcuterie and chestnut flour are also produced in the commune. The mountains attract more and more visitors and tourism brings new resources to the people and creates jobs. Nowadays migration trails are almost abandoned. However farms ( pigs , goats and more recently cattle ) have developed, becoming
9620-408: The Roman philosopher Seneca . Corsica was integrated into Roman Italy by Emperor Diocletian ( r. 284–305 ). Administratively, the island was divided into pagi , which in the Middle Ages became the pievi , the basic administrative units of the island until 1768. In the fifth century, the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, and the island was invaded by the Vandals and
9768-435: The Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has
9916-409: The approach to the village of Albertacce it passes under the bridge on the D84 road then under the Altu bridge which is a remarkable abandoned Genovese bridge. In summer, the natural pools of Golo are cool havens for the villagers and tourists. The territorial forest of Valdu Niellu is backed in the North by the main mountain range of Corsica and on the Northwest flanks of the Rotondo mountain range. It
10064-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,
10212-423: The central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace
10360-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include
10508-583: The cheeses is brocciu (similar to ricotta), which is used as a fresh ingredient in many dishes, from first courses ( sturzapreti ) to cakes ( fiadone ). Other cheeses, like casgiu merzu ("rotten cheese", the Corsican counterpart of the Sardinian casu martzu ), and casgiu veghju , are made from goat or sheep milk. Chestnuts are the main ingredient in the making of pulenta castagnina and cakes ( falculelle ). A variety of alcohol also exists, ranging from aquavita (brandy), red and white Corsican wines ( Vinu Corsu ), muscat wine (plain or sparkling), to
10656-527: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In
10804-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house
10952-460: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in
11100-412: The difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune
11248-526: The division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within the current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on
11396-461: The eastern plains, and continuing chemical pollution ( Fanghi Rossi ) from mainland Italy increased tensions between the indigenous inhabitants and the French government. Tensions escalated until an armed police assault on a pieds-noirs-owned wine cellar in Aleria , occupied by Corsican nationalists on 23 August 1975. This marked the beginning of the Corsican conflict , an armed nationalist struggle against
11544-507: The eastern side. It is the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean, a "mountain in the sea". The island is 183 km (114 mi) long at its longest, 83 km (52 mi) wide at its widest, has 1,000 km (620 mi) of coastline, with more than 200 beaches such as Paraguano . Corsica is very mountainous, with Monte Cinto as the highest peak at 2,706 m (8,878 ft), and around 120 other summits of more than 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Mountains comprise two-thirds of
11692-651: The end of the Pisan rule and the beginning of the Genoese influence in Corsica: this was contested initially by the King of Aragon , who in 1296 had received from the Pope the investiture over Sardinia and Corsica. A popular revolution against this and the feudal lords, led by Sambucuccio d'Alando , got the aid of Genoa. After that, the Cismonte was ruled as a league of comuni and churches, after
11840-532: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from
11988-480: The fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of
12136-545: The famous "Cap Corse" apéritif produced by Mattei. The herbs which are part of Maquis ( Corsican : machja ), and the chestnuts and acorns of the Corsican forests are eaten by local animals, resulting in a noticeable flavour in the food there. Corsica has produced a number of known artists: Most Corsican football clubs are currently littered through the top 5 tiers of French football. AC Ajaccio and SC Bastia play in Ligue 2 in 2024–25, although both have played in Ligue 1 in
12284-490: The first half of the century, the people of Corsica were still immersed in the Italian cultural world: the bourgeoisie sent children to Pisa to study, official acts were enacted in Italian and most books were printed in Italian. Moreover, many islanders sympathised with the national struggle which was taking place in nearby Italy in those years: several political refugees from the peninsula, like Niccolò Tommaseo , spent years on
12432-472: The five towns of Niolu and part of the canton of Golo-Morosaglia. List of successive mayors of Albertacce The Golo arises in the extreme west of the commune. It traverses the forest of Valdu Niellu and creates the remarkable Radule Waterfall very close to the GR 20 . Further downstream it flows under the bridge of San Rimeriu where the sheep pens of Tillarga are and the ruins of the San Rimeriu chapel. At
12580-434: The forced merger of the former cantons of Omessa and Calacuccia. The Niolu is a micro-region in the central north-west of Corsica to the west of Corte. It consists of the communes of Corscia , Calacuccia , Albertacce ( E Lubertacce ), Lozzi , and Casamaccioli ( Casamacciuli ). It is located in the Regional Natural Park of Corsica and has always been a land of shepherds and traditions. The Niolu economy was, until
12728-489: The foreign immigrants in Corsica come from the Maghreb (particularly Moroccans , who made up 29.0% of all immigrants in Corsica at the 2019 census) and from Southern Europe (particularly Portuguese and Italians , 23.9% and 12.5% of immigrants on the island respectively). French ( Français ) is the official and most widely spoken language on the island. Italian was the official language of Corsica until 9 May 1859, when it
12876-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for
13024-642: The general insurrection of the island against Genoa. The island became known for the large number of mercenary soldiers and officers it produced. In 1743, over 4,600 Corsicans, or 4% of the entire population of the island, were serving as soldiers in various armies (predominantly those of Genoa, Venice, and Spain), making it one of the most militarized societies in Europe. In 1729, the Corsican Revolution for independence from Genoa began, first led by Luiggi Giafferi and Giacinto Paoli, and later by Paoli's son, Pasquale Paoli . After 26 years of struggle against
13172-459: The government of the island and oppressed the inhabitants with a heavy tax burden. On the other hand, they introduced the chestnut tree on a large scale, improving the diet of the population, and built a chain of towers along the coast to defend Corsica from the attacks of the Barbary pirates from North Africa. The period of peace lasted until 1729, when the refusal to pay taxes by a peasant sparked
13320-489: The houses in the villages of Lozzi, L'Acquale, Erco, Corscia, Calacuccia, Casamaccioli, Sidossi, and Erbechincieby. The Bank of Saint George did the same with the neighbouring Pieve of Sia (formed by the valley of Porto), ordering the depopulation Sia due to the non-submission of its inhabitants to the Lordship of Leca burning houses and crops. From 1729 Niolu took part in the uprising against Genoa , creating unrest in opposing
13468-492: The island drastically, and – last but not least – Napoleon himself, whose existence alone constituted an indissoluble link between France and Corsica. Thanks to all these factors by around 1870 Corsica had landed in the French cultural world. From the 19th century into the mid-20th century, Corsicans also grew closer to the French nation through participation in the French Empire. Compared to much of Metropolitan France, Corsica
13616-472: The island from the threat of Arab invasion. After that, the island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa . Many polychrome churches which adorn the island date from this period. Corsica also experienced a massive immigration from Tuscany, which gave to the island its present toponymy and rendered the language spoken in the northern two-thirds of the island very close to the Tuscan dialect . This led to
13764-465: The island has retained many Italian cultural elements, and many Corsican surnames are rooted in the Italian peninsula . French ( Français ) is the official and most widely spoken language on the island with Corsican , the native language and an Italo-Dalmatian language , also recognized as one of France's regional languages . Corsica is the third-least populated region of France after Mayotte and French Guiana . Corsica has been occupied since
13912-492: The island in an action called Opération Corse that led to the collapse of the government; the second phase of the coup attempt, occupying Paris , was cancelled following the establishment of a transitional government under Charles de Gaulle . Between the late 1950s and the 1970s, proposals to conduct underground nuclear tests in the Argentella mines , the immigration of 18,000 former settlers from Algeria (" Pieds-Noirs ") in
14060-429: The island into two departments: Golo which included Albertacce and Liamone . These were reunited in 1804 by Napoleon I who reestablished the department of Corsica. In 1954, Albertacce became part of the canton of Calacuccia which consists of the communes of: Albertacce, Calacuccia , Casamaccioli , Corscia , and Lozzi . Between 1971 and 1973 new cantons were created including the canton of Niolu-Omessa created by
14208-800: The island was occupied by Italian and German forces following the Anglo-American landings in North Africa . After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Italian and Free French Forces pushed the Germans out of the island, making Corsica the first French Department to be freed. During the May 1958 crisis , the French military command in Algeria mutinied against the French Fourth Republic and on 24 May occupied
14356-414: The island, forming a single chain. Forests make up 20% of the island. It is also the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily , Sardinia and Cyprus . Corsica has nature reserves covering about 3,500 km (1,400 sq mi) of the total surface area of 8,680 km (3,350 sq mi), primarily located in its interior is Parc naturel régional de Corse . Corsica contains
14504-461: The island, while some Corsicans, like Count Leonetto Cipriani [ fr ] , [ it ], took active part in the fights for Italian independence. Despite all that, during those years the Corsicans began to feel an increasingly strong attachment to France. The reasons for that are manifold: the knowledge of the French language, which thanks to the mandatory primary school started to penetrate among
14652-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,
14800-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over
14948-399: The lake. The houses are partly grouped with the shops around the parish church, others are aligned along the D84. The old buildings were built with red tile roofs and walls built of gray granite. Some massive houses in the baroque style were formerly houses for nobles. Albertacce has a water tank and a sewage treatment plant. Pietra and Zitamboli are two neighbouring hamlets northwest of
15096-460: The last century, dominated by pastoralism with regular movements of herds of goats and mouflons in search of pastures. In early autumn shepherds drove their animals to the coastal plains and at the end of spring, they climbed back to the mountain pastures. The cheese niulincu ( Niolo in French) must be tried to really know its character. It has a soft texture but to be really good, it should be
15244-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to
15392-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,
15540-414: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as
15688-406: The local youth, the high prestige of French culture, the awareness of being part of a big, powerful state, the possibility of well-paid jobs as civil servants, both in the island, in the mainland and in the colonies, the prospect of serving the French army during the wars for the conquest of the colonial empire, the introduction of steamboats , which reduced the travel time between mainland France and
15836-687: The lower Middle Ages: as a result, the Cismuntanu became very similar to the Tuscan dialects, being part of the Italo-Dalmatian language group , while the Ultramuntanu maintained its original characteristics which make it much more similar to a Southern Romance language , such as Sardinian ( Sardu ). Therefore, due to the differences between the main dialectal varieties, many linguists classify Corsican as an Italo-Dalmatian language, while others consider it
15984-564: The lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide
16132-423: The main activity of the commune. At the exit to the village to the col de Vergio animals are present in pens and also on the road. The ski resort of Vergio ( Campu di neve ) is 22 km from the village and about 1 km before the col de Vergio (1478 m). It does not have as much snow as the resorts of continental Europe. The reason is both a low number of days of snowfall, a thick layer of light snow most of
16280-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,
16428-461: The maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement
16576-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in
16724-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to
16872-414: The murderer of Claude Érignac , was murdered in prison. The August 2022 Corsica derecho swept across the island and killed six people, injured dozens of others, and caused significant damage. Corsica was formed about 250 million years ago with the uplift of a granite backbone on the western side. About 50 million years ago sedimentary rock was pressed against this granite, forming the schists of
17020-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there
17168-518: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high
17316-404: The number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter
17464-625: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given
17612-426: The park. The Corsican red deer was re-introduced after it was extinct due to overhunting . This Corsican subspecies was the same that survived on Sardinia, so it is endemic . There are other species endemic to Corsica especially in the upper mountain ranges, i.e. Corsican nuthatch , Corsican fire salamander and Corsican brook salamander and many plant subspecies. Corsica, like all the other Mediterranean islands,
17760-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in
17908-541: The populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ),
18056-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike
18204-499: The publication of judicial decisions. In early March 1730 the people of Niolu occupied Vicu and seized 200 guns in the house of the Lieutenant. On the night of 29 to 30 March 1734, Castineta attacked, at Camputile (Niolu), Ghjacumu Santu Petriconi at the head of 300 Genoese troops - Greeks for the most part - and forced him to retreat to Vicu. On 13 January 1739 Lieutenant-General Jean-Baptiste Francois des Marets, marquis de Maillebois
18352-402: The regional government. From the mountains to the plains and sea, many ingredients play a role. Game such as wild boar ( Cingale , Singhjari ) is popular. There also is seafood and river fish, such as trout . Delicacies, such as figatellu (also named as ficateddu ), made with liver, coppa , ham ( prizuttu ), lonzu , are made from Corsican pork ( porcu nustrale ).Characteristic among
18500-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to
18648-465: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in
18796-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at
18944-403: The same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with
19092-504: The sensitive Hermann's tortoise , which are found at A Cupulatta at Vero and Moltifao Regional Natural Park. Corsican brook and fire salamanders , leaf-toed gecko , and yellow and green grass snakes are also common. The European pond turtle can be seen, especially in the waters of Fango Estuary, southern Calvi , Biguglia Lagoon and Pietracorbara . The island has a natural park ( Parc Naturel Régional de Corse , Parcu di Corsica), which protects rare animal and plant species. The park
19240-414: The size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in the kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council,
19388-420: The suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city. Corsica Corsica ( / ˈ k ɔːr s ɪ k ə / KOR -sik-ə ; Corsican: [ˈkorsiɡa, ˈkɔrsika] ; Italian : Corsica ; French : Corse [kɔʁs] )
19536-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing
19684-401: The time, and the slopes are too short - insufficient to satisfy the customers. In addition, and since 11 May 2010, the fishing association "AAPPMA A NIULINCA" has moved its headquarters to the town hall of Albertacce. This association, with 150 members covering the five communes of the canton, manages the aquatic environment of this beautiful region where the Golo rises. Albertacce is one of
19832-493: The traditional division of Corsica into two parts, along the main chain of mountains roughly going from Calvi to Porto-Vecchio : the eastern Banda di dentro , or Cismonte , more populated, developed, and open to the commerce with Italy, and the western Banda di fuori , or Pomonte , almost deserted, wild and remote. The crushing defeat experienced by Pisa in 1284 in the Battle of Meloria against Genoa had among its consequences
19980-616: The tree trunks moving head down. There are 2,000 pairs in Corsica. Along the length of Valdu Niellu on the southern slope of the col de Vergio is another remarkable Corsican pine forest: the Forest of Aïtone ( Évisa ). Towards the peaks on the shady side, between 1600 and 2100 metres, pushes the fragrant alder trees ( bassu in Corsican). These are shrubs without trunks and rarely exceeds 3 metres high. Its leaves are sticky and its branches were once used by shepherds to cover their huts. The forest
20128-540: The village of Albertacce, Zitamboli being located below Pietra. Between the two, a church was built. Its bell tower is similar to that of the parish church of the village and those of neighbouring towns. Access is difficult - both villages are served by the small road D318 that leads to Calasima. Built at 1100 m altitude, Calasima is the highest village in Corsica . Today a hamlet of Albertacce, this village has houses clustered around its church, war memorial and cemetery. Calasima
20276-571: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly
20424-554: Was able to return to Corsica from exile in Britain. In 1794, he invited British forces under Lord Hood to intervene to free Corsica from French rule. Anglo-Corsican forces drove the French from the island and established an Anglo-Corsican Kingdom . Following Spain's entry into the war, the British decided to withdraw from Corsica in 1796. Despite being the birthplace of the Emperor, the island
20572-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in
20720-547: Was appointed army commander of the King in Corsica and he came to Corsica. On 24 June of the same year Niolu submitted to General Maillebois. From 30 July to 1 August 1751, deputies and prosecutors from the Pieve assembled in Oletta and signed an act of submission to the Republic of Genoa , an act by which the King of France tried to make favourable for the Corsicans. Troops were ready to occupy
20868-597: Was created in 1972 and includes the Golfe de Porto, the Scandola Nature Reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage Site ), and some of the highest mountains on the island. Scandola cannot be reached on foot, but people can gain access by boat from the village of Galéria and Porto (Ota). Two endangered subspecies of hoofed mammals, the European mouflon ( Ovis aries musimon ) and Corsican red deer ( Cervus elaphus corsicanus ) inhabit
21016-535: Was home to endemic mammals during the Late Pleistocene , most or all of these are shared with Sardinia (as Sardinia was joined to Corsica for much of the Pleistocene). After the arrival of humans during Mesolithic around 8000 BC, these began to disappear. Some of the smaller mammals managed to survive until at least the early Iron Age, but are now all extinct. Extinct mammals formerly native to Corsica include
21164-507: Was inhabited by twelve nations who, for the indigenous majority, had not been subject to Roman influence to a great extent. Niolu was inhabited by the Licnini, a people who occupied the middle basin of the Golo . Masters of the Casacconi and Ampugnani countries they returned to the mountains, populating the cantons of Caccia and Niolo. The Greeks used the term "Lieninoï" to refer to the people. It
21312-1013: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at
21460-495: Was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double
21608-602: Was poor and many Corsicans emigrated. While Corsicans emigrated globally, especially to many South American countries, many chose to move within the French Empire which acted as a conduit for emigration and eventual return, as many young Corsican men could find better job opportunities in the far corners of the Empire where many other French hesitated to go. In many parts of the Empire, Corsicans were strongly represented, such as in Saigon where in 1926 12% of Europeans were from Corsica. Across
21756-409: Was replaced by French. Corsican ( Corsu ), a minority language that is closely related to medieval Tuscan ( Toscano ), has a better prospect of survival than most other French regional languages : Corsican is the second most widely spoken language after French. However, since the annexation of the island by France in the 18th century, Corsican has been under heavy pressure from French, and today it
21904-475: Was slightly neglected by Napoleon's government. In 1814, near the end of the Napoleonic Wars , Corsica was briefly occupied again by British troops. The Treaty of Bastia gave the British crown sovereignty over the island, but it was later repudiated by Lord Castlereagh who insisted that the island should be returned to a restored French monarchy . After the restoration, the island was further neglected by
#976023