Corsica
3 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Corsica. All 3 are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an island in the Mediterranean, forming the French department the same name. It is separated from of the island of Sardinia, on the S., by the Strait of Bonifacio, about 10 miles wide; length, N. to S., 110 miles; breadth, near its center, 53 miles; area, 3,367 square miles. The E. coast is almost unbroken, but on the W. coast a number of deep bays, St. Fiorenzo, Calvi, Porto, Liscia, Ajaccio, and Valinco, follow in rapid succession. The interior is traversed by a mountain chain, the culminating point of which is Monte Cinto, 8,891 feet high, Monte Rotondo coming next with 8,775 feet. From the E. and W. side of the chain numerous streams flow to opposite sides of the coast, generally mere torrents. With the exception of some marshy districts on the E. coast, the climate is very fine. There are fine forests containing pines, oaks, beeches, chestnuts, and cork-trees, and the mountain scenery is splendid. In the plains and numerous valleys the soil is generally fertile; but agriculture is in a backward state. Mules, goats, horses, cattle, and sheep, and among wild animals, the boar, the fox, and the deer, are common. There are good fisheries. In minerals Corsica is not rich. The chief exports are wine, brandy, olive-oil, chestnuts, fruits, and fish. The chief towns, Ajaccio (pop. 19,000) and Bastia (pop. 30,000), are connected by railway. The island was first colonized by the Phoenicians, from whom it got the name of Cyrnos. The Romans afterward gave it that of Corsica. From the Romans it passed to the Goths, and from them to the Saracens, and in the 15th century to the Genoese. France had the rights of the Genoese ceded to her, after Paoli had virtually made Corsica independent, and entered on forcible possession of it in 1768. An insurrection in 1794, headed by General Paoli and assisted by the British, for a time restored the island to independence; but in 1796 it again fell under the dominion of France. Pop. about 289,000.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Called Cyrnus by the Greeks, a mountainous island in the Mediterranean, north of Sardinia. Corvus, M. Valerius. One of the most illustrious men in the early history of Rome. He obtained the surname of Corvus, or "Raven," because, when serving as military tribune under Camillus, B. c. 349, he accepted the challenge of a gigantic Gaul to single combat, and was assisted in the conflict by a raven which settled upon his helmet, and flew in the face of the barbarian. Cotta, Aurelius C. Consul B. C. 75 with L. Octavius, was one of the most distinguished orators of his time, and is introduced by Cicero as one of the speakers in the De Oratore and the De Natura Deorum. Crassus, M. Licinius . A celebrated Roman, who, by educating slaves and selling them, became very wealthy. He was made consul with Pompey, and was afterward censor, and formed one of the first triumvirate, his associates in it being Pompey and Caesar . In the hope of enlarging his possessions he left Rome, crossed the Euphrates, and hastened to make himself master of Parthia. He was met by Surena, the Parthian general, and in the battle which ensued 20,000 of the Romans were killed and 10,000 made prisoners. Crassus surrendered, and was put to death B. C. 53.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a large island of the Mediterranean. It lies immediately north of Sardinia, 100 miles south of Genoa. Length, 116 miles; extreme width, 52 miles. The highest peak reaches an elevation of 8,889 feet. There are mines of lead and copper, plantations of olive, almond, and fig trees. Vineyards are numerous. The people are of Italian blood, language, and aspect. The island has belonged at various times to the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Saracens, Pisans, and Genoese. It now belongs to France. Education is backward. Half of the people are unable to read and write. Local feuds are still bitter. The island is noted as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. See Italy ; Sardinia
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's 1921 note that Corsica formed "the French department of the same name" no longer holds: the single department was split in two in 1976, given a special autonomous statute in 1982, and in 2018 reunified as a single territorial collectivity with its own assembly in Ajaccio. The bitter "local feuds" Aiton's mentions in 1910 were succeeded by an armed nationalist campaign — the Corsican National Liberation Front, formed in 1976, whose militants killed the island's prefect, Claude Erignac, in 1998 — and nationalist parties won control of the Corsican assembly in 2015; the FLNC declared an end to its campaign in 2014. Aiton's claim that "half of the people are unable to read and write" has been overtaken by universal schooling, though Corsican itself is now a taught but endangered language, and the "backward" agriculture Collier's deplored has been overtaken by tourism as the island's main business. Population, given as about 289,000 in 1921, fell for decades before recovering to roughly 350,000 today, with Ajaccio now clearly larger than Bastia — the reverse of the figures Collier's printed.
Written for this edition, 2026.