Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, about 200 km south-east of Nice. It is divided into two departments (Haute-Corse and Corse du Sud) and its 250,000 inhabitants are chiefly concentrated around two cities, Bastia in the north-east and Ajaccio in the south-west.

Family holiday (near Ajaccio, Corsica)

Corsica has a wide variety of gorgeous scenery in a relatively small space. High, sometimes snow-topped mountains, thickly wooded slopes inland, long sandy beaches in the west and rocky coastlines in the east bear out the island's soubriquet, "l'île de beauté".

Solar panels (Corsica)

Economically, the region depends largely on its high level of tourism (its population doubles in the summer) which, however, has little influence on the local job situation. Its agriculture and food industry, together with a number of small artisanal businesses, have not enabled it to catch up economically.

Corte town centre (Corsica)

Finally, it should be said that nationalist and sometimes terrorist activity over the past twenty years has been and is still a serious political problem for the French government.