Calvi is a small town and commune of the Haute-Corse, in France. It is on the northwest coast of the island of Corsica, 95 km from Bastia and 24 km from L'Île-Rousse. The town has 5,177 people (1999), and is the fifth-largest commune in Corsica. There is a legend that Christopher Columbus was from Calvi, which at the time was part of the Genoese empire. The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment of the French Foreign Legion is based in Calvi.