Corsicans

The Corsicans (Corsican, Italian and Ligurian: Corsi; French: Corses) are a Romance Italic ethnic group.[4] They are native to Corsica, a Mediterranean island and a territorial collectivity of France.[5]

Corsica has been described to be part of the so-called "Italian geographic region" (picture from the 1937 edition of the Touring Club Italiano).
For other uses, see Corsican (disambiguation).
Corsicans
Corsi (Corsican)
Corses (French)
Total population
2,500,000-3,500,000
Regions with significant populations
 Corsica~ 322,120 (inhabitants of Corsica, regardless of ethnicity)[1]

181,354 (people born in Corsica)[2]
 France1 000 000 ~ 1 200 000
 Puerto Rico300 000 ~ 400 000
 Sardinia200 000 ~ 300 000
 Italy6200
 United States1840[3]
Languages
French • Corsican • Ligurian • Greek
Historically Italian
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Sardinians
Sicilians
Italians
Southern French
Basques
Levantines
Greeks
Corsican Americans
a Corsicans in Puerto Rico, b Corsicans in Venezuela

Origin and history
See also: Prehistory of Corsica and History of Corsica
Filitosa, Statue menhir

The island was populated since the Mesolithic (Dame de Bonifacio) and the Neolithic by people who came from the Italian peninsula, especially the modern regions of Tuscany and Liguria.[6][7] An important megalithic tradition developed locally since the 4th millennium BC.[8] Reached, like Sardinia, by Polada culture influences in the Early Bronze Age,[9] in the 2nd millennium BC Corsica, the southern part in particular, saw the rise of the Torrean civilization, strongly linked to the Nuragic civilization.

Ancient tribes of Corsica

The modern Corsicans are named after an ancient people known by the Romans as Corsi. The Corsi, who gave their name to the island, actually originated from the Northeastern part of Nuragic Sardinia (Gallura). According to Ptolemy, the Corsi were formed by a composite number of tribes that dwelt in Corsica (namely the Belatones or Belatoni, the Cervini, the Cilebenses or Cilibensi, the Cumanenses or Cumanesi, the Licinini, the Macrini, the Opini, the Subasani, the Sumbri, the Tarabeni, the Titiani and the Venacini[10]) as well as in the far north-east of Sardinia (the Lestricones, Lestrigones or Lestriconi / Lestrigoni, the Longonenses or Longonensi). These Corsi shared the island with the Tibulati, who dwelt at the extreme north of Sardinia near the ancient town of Tibula.

Further research is still needed to answer the question of the origin of the Corsi and their alleged relation with today's Corsicans. According to several scholars, they may have been a group of tribes affiliated to the ancient Ligures, like the Ilvates in the neighboring Ilva island (today's Elba in Italy), and may have spoken the old Ligurian language.[11] The ethnic base of the Corsicans was made up of the Corsican tribes of the Nuragic and then Torrean civilization, of Sardinian origin. In ancient times they were influenced and mixed from the ancient Corsicans to the Ligurians, Carthaginians, Etruscans, to the first Greek settlers and then to other Italic peoples such as the Latins. At the beginning of our era, Corsica underwent Romanization. In the Middle Ages, the local population of Corsica mixed with a minority of Greeks Byzantines, Germanic Ostrogoths , Franks and Lombards . In the 9th century , Corsica was conquered by Arabs and Muslims from Spain, and in the 11th and 18th centuries the Pisans and the Genoese dominated the island. The indigenous population preferred to live in the central part of the island, which contributed to relative security and prevented them from mingling with foreigners.

Strabo says that when the Roman captains did some errands in Corsica and took a large number of slaves to Rome , one looked with admiration at the fact that the Corsicans were all savages and were more beast than man: for either they hunted each other to death in every way possible to them, or else they annoyed their masters so greatly with their impatience and lack of wit, that the said masters were angry for having put their money into it, although they would have cost them very little.[12]

For several centuries, the Corsicans suffered raids from the Barbary and many captured Corsicans were enslaved in North Africa. Some of these slaves converted to Islam and became renegades in the service of the Ottoman Empire, they in turn captured other Corsicans. Among these renegades are Hasan Corso, Mami Corso and Murad I Bey (born Giacomo Senti) who founded the Muradid dynasty, of Corsican origin and who reigned over the Regency of Tunis from 1613 to 1702.[13]

At the end of the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the Renaissance, the Corsicans distinguished themselves in combat in many conflicts, many of them were then mercenaries (or Condottieri) and fought for sometimes rival Kingdoms. Corsicans distinguished themselves in particular during the Battle of Lepanto alongside the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire , others were mercenaries in the service of the Kingdom of France (including Sampiero Corso who also served the Kingdom of Naples and returned to his native land with the support of France, Naplesand the Ottoman Empire to confront the Genoese occupiers).

At the beginning of the 17th century , according to Pierre Davity, the Corsicans were hardly civilized for the most part and there was not in them that politeness that one sees among the Italians. They are "extremely cruel" and still retain what Caesar said of them for this look, nevertheless there are some very good soldiers and brave strong men among them. Moreover, they are so vindictive that the Italians have a common proverb which says that one should not trust a Corsican who is neither alive nor dead, because as soon as someone has been killed, suddenly all his relatives come together to make die the murderer if it is possible for them.[12]

The territorial expansion of the Republic of Pisa

In subsequent centuries, Corsica was ruled and settled by Pisans (from 1050 to 1295) and the Genoese (from 1295 to 1755, when the island broke free from La Superba): this is reflected in the fact that around 80% of the modern Corsican surnames (Casanova, Luciani, Agostini, Colonna, Paoli, Bartoli, Rossi, Albertini, Filippi, Cesari, etc.[14][15]) is found in Italy,[16] as well as in the fact that the modern Corsican varieties, especially the Northern ones, are linguistically considered part of Tuscan.[17] Because the island has been historically and culturally related to the Italian mainland up until then,[18][19] the Italian populations from Northern and Central Italy have contributed to a significant degree to the modern Corsican ancestry.

In 1891, Roland Bonaparte wrote in Une excursion en Corse that the Corsicans particularly abhor injustice and since the Genoese who ruled the island for 500 years had erected the denial of justice into a principle of government, it followed that the Corsica was reduced to taking justice into his own hands: hence the vendetta.[20]

Throughout the 19th century, many Corsicans sympathized with the Bonapartist doctrine and French nationalism while other Corsicans took part in French political and military life.

Population in Corsica
Population of Corsica (2011 Census)
Place of birth of residents of Corsica Percent of population
Corsica
 
 56.3%
Continental France
 
 28.6%
Overseas France
 
 0.3%
Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹
 
 5.0%
Immigrants²
 
 9.8%
Reference:[2]
¹Essentially Pieds-Noirs who resettled in Corsica.
²An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth.

Corsica has a population of 322,120 inhabitants (Jan. 2013 estimate).[1] At the 2011 census, 56.3% of the inhabitants of Corsica were born on the island and 28.6% in Continental France, while 0.3% were natives of Overseas France and 14.8% hailed from foreign (non-French) countries.[2]

The majority of the foreign population in Corsica comes from the Maghreb (particularly Moroccans, who made up 33.5% of all immigrants in Corsica at the 2011 census), and from Southern Europe (particularly Portuguese, 22.7% of all immigrants, followed by the Italians, 13.7%).[21]

The Corsican diaspora

During the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, Corsican emigration was significant. Large numbers of Corsicans left the island for the French mainland or foreign countries. During the 19th century, the favorite destinations of migrants were the French colonies and South America (for more details, see Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico and Corsican immigration to Venezuela).

Then, between the 1920s and the 1950s, the major destination became the French mainland, primarily Marseille, which today is considered as the "first Corsican city of the world" with around 100,000 Corsicana in the city.[22] Causes of this emigration are various; poverty is the main reason (the French laws for restriction of exportations, the Second Industrial Revolution and the agricultural crisis had an adverse effect on the local economy). Later, the departures have become more considerable owing to the demographic strain caused by First World War.

Immigration
Place of birth of residents of Corsica
(at the 1982, 1990, 1999, and 2011 censuses)
CensusBorn in CorsicaBorn in
Continental France		Born in
Overseas France		Born in foreign
countries with French
citizenship at birth		Immigrants2
201156.3%28.6%0.3%5.0%9.8%
from the Maghreb3from Southern Europe4from the rest of the world
4.3%3.8%1.7%
199959.5%24.8%0.3%5.5%10.0%
from the Maghreb3from Southern Europe4from the rest of the world
5.3%3.3%1.4%
199062.0%21.3%0.2%6.0%10.5%
198261.6%20.4%0.2%6.0%11.8%

Notes: Essentially Pieds-Noirs who resettled in Corsica after the independence of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, many of whom had Corsican ancestry.2 An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. 3 Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria 4 Portugal, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Gibraltar, Monaco Source: INSEE[2][21][23]

Culture

Languages
Main articles: Corsican language, French language, Ligurian (Romance language), and Gallurese dialect

Alongside French (Français), the official language throughout France, Corsican (Corsu) is the other most widely spoken language on the island: it is a Romance language pertaining to the Italo-Dalmatian branch and akin to medieval Tuscan. Corsican was long the vernacular language besides Italian (Italiano), which retained official status in Corsica until 1859. Since then, Italian as the island's traditional prestige language has been replaced by French due to the annexation of the island by France in 1768. Over the next two centuries, the use of French grew to the extent that, by the Liberation in 1945, all islanders had a working knowledge of French. The twentieth century saw a wholesale language shift, with islanders changing their language practices to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican speakers left by the 1960s. By 1990, an estimated 50% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican, and a small minority, perhaps 10%, used Corsican as a first language.[24] Fewer and fewer people speak also a Ligurian dialect in what has long been a language island, Bonifacio: it is locally known by the name of bunifazzin.[25]

Gallurese dialect is a variety of Corsican[26][27][28][29] spoken in the extreme north of Sardinia, including the region of Gallura and the archipelago of La Maddalena. In the Maddalena archipelago, the local dialect (called Isulanu, Maddaleninu, Maddalenino) was brought by shepherds from Alta Rocca and Sartène in southern Corsica during immigration in the 17th to 18th centuries. Though influenced by Gallurese, it has maintained the original characteristics of Corsican. There are also numerous words of Genoese and Ponzese origin.[26][30]

Number of Corsican speakers

The January 2007 estimated population of the island was 281,000, while the figure for the March 1999 census, when most of the studies – though not the linguistic survey work referenced in this article – were performed, was about 261,000 (see under Corsica). Only a fraction of the population at either time spoke Corsican with any fluency. The 2001 population of 341,000 speakers on the island given by Ethnologue[31] exceeds either census and thus may be considered questionable, like its estimate of 402,000 speakers worldwide.

The use of Corsican over French has been declining. In 1980 about 70% of the population "had some command of the Corsican language."[32] In 1990 out of a total population of about 254,000 the percentage had declined to 50%, with only 10% using it as a first language.[24] The language appeared to be in serious decline when the French government reversed its non-supportive stand and began some strong measures to save it. Whether these measures will succeed remains to be seen. No recent statistics on Corsican are available.

UNESCO classifies the Corsican language as a potentially endangered language, as it has "a large number of children speakers" but is "without an official or prestigious status."[33] The classification does not state that the language is currently endangered, only that it is potentially so. Often acting according to the current long-standing sentiment unknown Corsicans cross out French roadway signs and paint in the Corsican names. The Corsican language is a key vehicle for Corsican culture, which is notably rich in proverbs and in polyphonic song.

Cuisine
Main article: Cuisine of Corsica
Corsican cuisine.

From the mountains to the plains and sea, many ingredients play a role. Game such as wild boar (Cignale, Singhjari) is popular, and in old times mouflon (muvra) were consumed. There also is seafood and river fish such as trout. Delicatessen such as figatellu, coppa, ham (prizuttu), lonzu are made from Corsican pork (porcu nustrale). Cheeses like Brocciu, casgiu merzu (the Corsican version of the Sardinian casu marzu), casgiu veghju are made from goat or sheep milk. Chestnuts are the main ingredient in the making of pulenta. A variety of alcoholic drinks also exist, ranging from aquavita (brandy), red and white Corsican wines (Vinu Corsu), muscat (plain or sparkling), and the famous "cap corse" produced by Mattei.

Genetics

Genetic research has revealed that the Corsican samples presented affinities with people from the French region of Provence and the Italians from Tuscany, Liguria, Campania, Sicily and Latium;[34] other genetic studies pointed to a regional differentiation along a North-South axis, mirroring the island's geographic and linguistic features. In 2019, analysis of the genome of the Corsican population also reveals a close genetic affinity with the populations of northern and central Italy, while sharing with the Sardinians a notable proportion of ancestry, demographic processes and similar isolations. It is also verified that the Corsicans would have ancient Basques origins, Greek, Germanic, Levantine Arabs, Celtic origins but these origins are found in a minority in front of the common origins with the Sardinians and the Italians of the North. The analysis revealed that the Corsican population shares several genomic characteristics with Sardinia and north-central Italy, creating a unique blend of genomic ancestry.[35] Overall, the Corsican samples have been found to be genetically closer to the Northern and Central Italian populations than to the neighboring Sardinians.[36] The same study estimate that the genome of the modern Corsicans derive from Anatolia Neolithic: 33%, Europe Middle Neolithic/Chalcolithic: 34%, Steppe EMBA: 19% and Iran Neolithic: 14%.[37]

Notable Corsicans
Main article: List of Corsican people

Corsicans in fiction

See also

References
  1. INSEE. "Estimation de population au 1er janvier, par région, sexe et grande classe d'âge – Année 2013" (in French). Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  2. INSEE. "Fichier Données harmonisées des recensements de la population de 1968 à 2011" (in French). Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau (ed.). "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  4. Minahan, James (2000). One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 182. ISBN 0313309841. The Corsicans are a Romance people
  5. Corsicans - World Directory of Minorities
  6. Laurent-Jacques Costa, Corse préhistorique, Éditions Errance, Paris, 2004 p.215 – 216
  7. Gabriel Camps, Préhistoire d'une île. Les origines de la Corse, 1988
  8. Peregrine, Peter N.; Ember, Melvin (2001). "Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 1: Africa". Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Vol. 4 : Europe. Springer. pp. 157, 169. ISBN 0-306-46255-9.
  9. Paolo Melis, I rapporti fra la Sardegna settentrionale e la Corsica nell’antica età del Bronzo
  10. Xavier Poli in La Corse dans l'Antiquité et dans le Haut Moyen Âge Librairie Albert Fontemoing Paris 1907
  11. Attilio Mastino-Corsica e Sardegna in età antica
  12. Pierre Davity, Les Estats, empires, et principautez du monde, Paris, Chevalier, 1616.
  13. Azzedine Guellouz; Mongi Smida; Abdelkader Masmoudi; Ahmed Saadaoui (2007). "Les temps modernes". In Sud Éditions (ed.). Histoire générale de la Tunisie (in French). Vol. III. Tunis. p. 62. ISBN 978-9973-844-76-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  14. "Les noms de famille les plus portés en Corse (20)". Le Journal des Femmes.
  15. I cognomi corsi sono tutti diffusi in Italia tranne quelli finendo da Y, Pietri Mariani, Agoravox
  16. "Les noms de famille corses" (PDF).
  17. Harris, Martin; Vincent, Nigel (1997). Romance Languages. London: Routlegde. ISBN 0-415-16417-6.
  18. Atlante linguistico etnografico italiano della Corsica, Gino Bottiglioni and Guido Colucci, Pisa, 1933.
  19. Storia della Corsica Italiana, Gioacchino Volpe, Varese, Industrie Grafiche Amedeo Nicola e C., 1939
  20. Prince Roland Bonaparte, Une excursion en Corse, Paris, 1891, p. 41 (lire en ligne).
  21. INSEE. "IMG1B – Les immigrés par sexe, âge et pays de naissance" (in French). Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  22. Marseille, capitale des Corses - Sudorama, mémoires du Sud de 1940 à nos jours (in French), retrieved 2022-10-23
  23. INSEE. "D_FD_IMG2 – Base France par départements – Lieux de naissance à l'étranger selon la nationalité" (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  24. "Corsican in France". Euromosaic. Retrieved 2008-06-13. To access the data, click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican in France, then scroll to Geographical and language background.
  25. Enciclopedia Treccani - Dialetti liguri
  26. Atti Convegno Lingua Gallurese, Palau 2014
  27. Blasco Ferrer 1984: 180–186, 200
  28. Contini 1987: 1°, 500–503
  29. Dettori 2002
  30. Corsican at Ethnologue
  31. "Corsican". Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  32. "Corsican language use survey". Euromosaic. Retrieved 2008-06-13. To find this statement and the supporting data click on List by languages, Corsican, Corsican language use survey and look under INTRODUCTION.
  33. Salminen, Tapani (1993–1999). "UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe". Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  34. Calafell, F.; Bertranpetit, J.; Rendine, S.; Cappello, N.; Mercier, P.; Amoros, J. P.; Piazza, A. (1996). "Population history of Corsica: a linguistic and genetic analysis". Annals of Human Biology. 23 (3): 237–251. doi:10.1080/03014469600004462. ISSN 0301-4460. PMID 8807041.
  35. Morelli, Laura; Paoli, Giorgio; Francalacci, Paolo (2002). "Surname Analysis of the Corsican Population Reveals an Agreement with Geographical and Linguistic Structure". Journal of Biosocial Science. 34 (3): 289–301. doi:10.1017/S0021932002002894. ISSN 1469-7599. PMID 12117210. S2CID 31637888.
  36. Tamm, Erika; Di Cristofaro, Julie; Mazières, Stéphane; Pennarun, Erwan; Kushniarevich, Alena; Raveane, Alessandro; Semino, Ornella; Chiaroni, Jacques; Pereira, Luisa; Metspalu, Mait; Montinaro, Francesco (2019-09-19). "Genome-wide analysis of Corsican population reveals a close affinity with Northern and Central Italy". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 13581. Bibcode:2019NatSR...913581T. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49901-8. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6753063. PMID 31537848.
  37. Tamm, Erika; Di Cristofaro, Julie; Mazières, Stéphane; Pennarun, Erwan; Kushniarevich, Alena; Raveane, Alessandro; Semino, Ornella; Chiaroni, Jacques; Pereira, Luisa; Metspalu, Mait; Montinaro, Francesco (2019-09-19). "Genome-wide analysis of Corsican population reveals a close affinity with Northern and Central Italy". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 13581. Bibcode:2019NatSR...913581T. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49901-8. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6753063. PMID 31537848.
  • Smith, William (1872). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: J. Murray. pp. pages 689–692. Downloadable Google Books.
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