About Corsica´s Geography

Corsica is situated in the Mediterranean Sea between the latitudes 43 01’ and 41 22’ North and the longitudes 9 34’ and 8 33’ East. It is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus.

 

 

The island measures 183 km from Cap Corse in the north to Capo Pertusato in the south, while the island’s widest point in an east-west direction – from Alistro to Capo Rosso – measures 83 km. Corsica is therefore roughly 8,680 km² in size. Thanks to the numerous coves that line the coast, its coastline extends for more than 1,000 km. The ratio of sandy beaches to rocky coastline is 1:2.

 

 

The island is mostly mountainous; the only completely flat area, which is up to 10 km in width, can be found along the eastern coast. The island is surrounded by the Western Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas.

 

 

The island is approximately 180 km from Nice on the French mainland, whereas Livorno in Italy and Sardinia are respectively just 83 and 12 km away.

 

 

Together with Sardinia, Corsica forms a landmass that separated from the European mainland around 35 million years ago. The current mountainous island was created by the compression and expansion of enormous rock masses during this drift, which occurred in the tertiary period when the Alps were formed. With fifty mountains above 2,000 metres in height, Corsica has an average altitude of 568 metres. The mountain range curves in an S-shape from the Northwest to the Southeast, thus forming a natural barrier between the historic Cismonte region (“this side of the mountains”) and Pumonte (“the other side of the mountains”).

 

 

 

Corsica can be roughly divided into eastern, western, southern, northern and central Corsica.