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Haute-Corse
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Haute-Corse in France
Coordinates: 42°28′N 9°12′E / 42.467°N 9.2°E / 42.467; 9.2Coordinates: 42°28′N 9°12′E / 42.467°N 9.2°E / 42.467; 9.2
Country	France
Region	Corsica
Prefecture	Bastia
Subprefectures	Calvi Corte
Government
• President of the General Council	Joseph Castelli (since November 2010)
Area1
• Total	4,666 km2 (1,802 sq mi)
Population (1999)
• Total	141,603
• Rank	93rd
• Density	30/km2 (79/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	2B
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	30
Communes	236
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Haute-Corse (French pronunciation: [ot.kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica suprana) (English: Upper Corsica) is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.

History[link]

The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. The department corresponds exactly to the former department of Golo which existed between 1793 and 1811.

Map of Corsica

Geography[link]

The department is surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea and on the south by the department of Corse-du-Sud.

Demographics[link]

The inhabitants of the entire island of Corsica are called Corsicans.

Culture and politics[link]

The Corsicans are a fiercely independent people. However, a 6 July 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.

General Council[link]

The President of the General Council is Paul Giacobbi, who has held the office since 1998.

See also[link]

• Cantons of the Haute-Corse department
• Communes of the Haute-Corse department
• Arrondissements of the Haute-Corse department

External links[link]

• (French) General Council website
• (English) Haute-Corse at the Open Directory Project
• (French) University of Corsica website
• (English) Corsica Isula