Corse-du-Sud

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Corse-du-Sud

Coat of arms of the Corse-du-Sud department
Location

Administration
Department number:	2A
Region:	Corse
Prefecture:	Ajaccio
Subprefectures:	Sartène
Arrondissements:	2
Cantons:	22
Communes:	124
President of the General Council:	Jean-Jacques Panunzi UMP
Statistics
Population	Ranked 99th
-1999	118,593
Population density:	30/km²
Land area¹:	4014 km²

¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

Corse-du-Sud (Corsican: Corsica suttana) (English: Southern Corsica) is a French département. It is composed of the southern part of the island of Corsica.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Culture
5 Tourism
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

The department was formed on September 15, 1975, when the Corse department was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. Its boundaries correspond to the former department of Liamone, which existed from 1793 to 1811.

Map of Corsica

[edit] Geography

The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the north by the department of Haute-Corse.

The entire island of Corsica is mountainous with many beautiful beaches.

[edit] Demographics

The inhabitants of all of Corsica are called Corsicans.

[edit] Culture

Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a July 6, 2003 referendum on increased autonomy was voted down by a very thin majority: 50.98 percent against to 49.02 percent for. This was a major setback for French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, who had hoped to use Corsica as the first step in his decentralization policies.

[edit] Tourism

South Corsica enjoys the mild and hot climate of Mediterranean Islands, and therefore attracts a lot of tourists. Its gem is the city of Bonifacio, part of which is built upon a huge cliff. But inside mountains are beautiful as well, especially the Aiguilles de Bavella, some naked, needle-like rocks.