Invasion of Corsica (1794) the Ligurian Sea, a region of the Mediterranean bordered by Western Spain, Southern France and Northwestern Italy. Control of the island, and in particular the harbour at San Fiorenzo, can allow a naval force to exercise regional dominance over this important waterway. Corsica was for centuries a part of the Republic of Genoa, although by the mid-eighteenth century it was "de facto" independent as the Corsican Republic, led by Pasquale Paoli. Unable to contest Paoli's control of the island, the Genoese sold Corsica to the Kingdom of France in 1768, and a French invasion swiftly captured and annexed the island.
Corsica for example, the Corsican Assembly is able to exercise limited executive powers. The island formed a single department until it was split in 1975 into two historical departments: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica), with its regional capital in Ajaccio, the prefecture city of Corse-du-Sud. Bastia, the prefecture city of Haute-Corse, is the second largest settlement in Corsica. The two departments, and the region of Corsica, merged again into a single territorial collectivity in 2018. After being ruled by the Republic of Genoa since 1284, Corsica was briefly an independent republic from 1755 until it was officially ceded by