Could this Island be Europe’s Newest Country? 

Probably not

It would be quite ironic given the island's most famous resident, Napoleon, created the first French empire and became that nation's go to historic figure but who knows.

Corsican here, very nice of you to make a video about our small island. I work in the tourism industry and all my colleagues are from "Le continent" (mainland france). Young corsicans are not very interested in the tourism business. I live in Aiacciu (Ajaccio) and the tourist influx is bigger sometimes than the entire population of the island which is crazy. Adding to that the giant cruise boats that spew out massive amount of people and the pollution it generates... each passing years i'm more and more keen on leaving the tourism industry. Avvèdeci !

The language spoken in Corsica is a variant of the Italian spoken in Tuscany long time ago. The Tuscan Italian is the base for the standard Italian. So if you speak standard Italian, but not French, you can still have a quite normal conversation with Corsican people speaking Corsican, unlike with Sardinians. I tried myself.

Pasquale Paoli was an underrated genius. He just casually wrote the first democratic constitution of the modern age (that was more democratic than the US one). He just did it.

I wouldn't call the island "small" it's pretty damn large for an island I think. I always thought Corsica and Sandinia looks very cool on a map. Uniquely beautiful.

I live in Sicily (Italy's deep south), and I can really easily understand Corsican, it is very similar to the dialect spoken in my region

You actually got a part wrong hoser. The Genoa didn't sell Corsica to France because they were tired of the civil war, they gave them to France because they owed France war reparations and they didn't exactly have the money to pay it off so instead they gave them Corsica instead. It's also important to note that both of Napoleon's parents were Italian and hadn't been on the island too long when they made and gave birth to Napoleon

Great video but there is a mistake, most Corsicans speak french as their first langage, in fact only 20% of the population of the island speak corsican on a daily basis

holy shit hoser making a video about the country I live in, incredible

I'm pretty doubtful. Small, split up population with little way to really organize and it's so reliant on the aid of others. For it to be independent, it would either have to live with all the repercussions it already deals with on it's own before some other nation bails it out or 100's of years of history, especially in the lack of fields and jobs, would need to change drastically.

Imagine Corsica (or any Mediterranean Island) 5 Million years ago. It would have been a lonely, desert mountain in the middle of the deepest, driest region on Earth - the vast salt pans of the Mediterranean basin. The shores of what is the Mediterranean sea today would have been huge cliffs, dropping down almost 5 km deep, and at the bottom the temperature would have reached nearly 80 Celsius - a cauldron of hot air that only extremophile bacteria could survive in. The vast rivers of North Africa and Southern Europe - the Po, the Rhone, the Nile - all would have evaporated before reaching the bottom of this, the deepest canyon in the Solar system. Whatever life clung to Monte Corsica would have been completely isolated from the mainland, either leftovers from the last time that basin had been a sea or descendants of flying animals. Island dwarfism and gigantism were also at play: giant flightless geese up to 3 meters tall with club-like bones set in their wings for slapping other males to chase them off during the breeding season, dormice the size of housecats, a hedgehog relative turned pursuit carnivore the size of a puma, elephants the size of donkeys, the isolated mountains of this vast salt pan were host to some of the strangest species, long cut off from the mainland and left to occupy niches undisturbed for millions of years. And then came the flood - a large earthquake shook the Straights of Gibraltar, opening at first a tiny crack in the land, but it was enough for the Atlantic Ocean to start pouring through. The resulting flow must have been the most powerful movement of water in Earth's history, with water being shot into the salt pan close to the speed of sound and falling for over a kilometer down to the valley floor below. The native species of Corsica must have seen a vast plume of mist rising on the horizon, and heard the thunder of the greatest waterfall to have ever existed, even from hundreds of kilometers away. Some estimate that the entire basin filled in under a century - one century, to fill the entire sea!

Fun fact: I can draw my ancestry back to a Corsican boxer that would go on to fight in the revolutionary war and eventually settle in North Carolina.

Bullets on road signs are just local hunters rehearsing their aiming skills, you see a lot of those in Italy

Problem is, if France lets Corsica become independent, other groups within its borders may wanna start leaving. And even if they let them, I don't think spain would accept it as a country, since that would get ethnic groups like basques (on both sides of the pyrenees, cause some are in south-western France) and catalans to start pushing for their own independence even more.

I am french and I went in Corsica once, the thing is everything is incredibly beautiful there, literally mind blowing me all the time.

wow hoser really went on vacation and said fuck it i’ll drop a banger about this place

I can't imagine Corsica surviving long without France unless they decide to become a tax haven.

As a British person, Corsica has quite an influencial if subtle role in our History because it encouraged greater cooperation between monarchist and Parliamentary forces, leading to the Parliamentary-Monarchy the UK has which is so strong.

Love your humor. Keep up the good and original work.

France is never going to let Corsica go. It's the birthplace of Napoleon.

I wish you could do more videos on Africa but this was equally as entertaining, informative, and captivating

Can't believe you went to Corsica and almost didn't make a video there! I do totally get wanting to make it count as a business trip though

Thanks for the awesome content and great videos!!

From the title itself, this video is gonna be the BOMB 💣

Man, watching your videos is relaxing

Great to listen while working out 🎉

Being part of the EU may have made these new countries possible based on regional identities… BUT, and it’s a big ‘but’, Spain will definitely not allow a breakaway country to become grandfathered into the EU. Spain has made it plain they wouldn’t allow it for Scotland-they were also cagey about allowing Scotland in after a formal application process as well.

Puerto Rico and Cuba had a significant amount if Corsican migration in the 19th century. The fricative sound in some Puerto Rican Spanish is said to have stemmed from french speakers. Many people have french and Italian last names as well. The city of Ponce and town of Yauco have landmarks made in honor of Corsican migrants who enriched the island culture.

Enjoyable video, could we get a history of Cyprus vid at some point ? Visited there recently and have been interested in the modern history of the island.

I just want to say Im proud of how far you've come, Ive been subbed since you had only 500 subs

Great video

Really weird to me that corsica isnt even an autonimous region

6:52 Other fun fact: Napoleon didn't speak French until he was a teen. Only Italian and Corsican (which are nearly identical). For any Italian, it's very easy to read those anti-French graffiti, as well as Paoli's constitution.

Actually one of your most interesting videos

By far my favorite content creator!

Corsica: We’re declaring independence. Genoa: Hey France do you want to buy this island? France: Sure thing. Narrator: Just in time for Napoleon to be born French. Corsicans: Go home French soldiers. Young Napoleon: Yeah they said it. Carlo Bonaparte: I embrace my French bros. Young Napoleon: Oh look at me I’m dad. I wear powdered wigs, silverbuckle shoes and I’m a traitor to the Corsican people. Carlo: Go to your room Napoleon! Napoleon: No you go to your room dad! Carlo: Ok

I would have thought the ubiquitous graffiti and the danger posed by the aggravated people living there would diminish its status as a tourist destination, but a lot of tourist destinations are like that, actually

Thanks for the video, other than Napoleon. I knew very little about Corsica before watching this

My great great grandfather emigrated from Corsica to Puerto Rico, settled down in a coffee plantation, and had 9 kids. My great grandmother and grandmother are classic Italian ladies, and I never noticed it until I researched my family and Corsica's history for a college project.

Hello from a 19 y/o Corsican, first of all I really enjoyed your video, some moments made me laugh because I know what you're talking about like the spray paint, the bullets holes etc. This is just my opinion but I'd say that the 20-25 y/o range is leaving the island because of the cost of life on our island and I'm sure that you saw this on your vacation especially in Ajaccio or Corte even if Corte is still better in price/quality, in addition to this is the rise of price for land here, if you don't have a family land or you don't have enough money to buy a buildable land don't expect to be able to build your house here, we know it and it's been a big problem for the past years, the education is also a big part of it BUT, in Corte we have a good "fac" and "iut" where I'm currently studying which teach a lot of the "basic" superior education, but in order to do architectural studies you need to go to Montpellier, Paris etc.. BUT, for most of the students they'll find themselves coming back to Corsica at the end of their studies. For the bombing part of the video it's important to say that for most of the explosions they occur when "speculation" is detected, I won't take a risk by saying that. and I'm pretty sure that if you went to small villages like Tallano, Levie, you've seen a lot of houses, not modern one that are ruining the architectural patrimony and YES this is a big concern this is also why a lot of these villas are destroyed, btw not causing deaths.

You know it’s a great day when hoser uploads

The tourist numbers made me think of asheville. Barely 100k residents and 12 million toursists a year usually in the fall

I love your videos!!

This was refreshing. I feel like Corsica and Sardinia usually just get brushed aside in these conversations.

very interesting, good video. Does Sardinia feel the same way? Would be curious to know Italian thoughts on this

great vid :)

Good video, very good 👍🏽

Corsica is sounding kinda similar to our situation in Cornwall. Everything Hoser said is happening in Corsica here. Except the constant arson, thats only happened a few times. But it makes me think that I should educate myself on other places than my own.

Corsica is France 🤓 Corsica is Italy 🤓 Corsica is Independent 🤓 Corsica is ALBANIA 🗿🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱🇦🇱

Great videos! Subscribed!! 👍😃

Very interesting video; reminds me a lot of Malta

-Very little working age population -No industry outside tourism -No more financial support from France -No more French police keeping the Mafia and clan feuds in check. To me, an independent Corsica sounds like another Albania.

«Siamo Còrsi per nascita e sentimenti, ma prima di tutto ci sentiamo Italiani per lingua, costumi e tradizioni... E tutti gli Italiani sono fratelli e solidali davanti alla Storia e davanti a Dio... Come Còrsi non vogliamo essere né servi e né "ribelli" e come Italiani abbiamo il diritto di essere trattati uguale agli altri Italiani... O non saremo nulla... O vinceremo con l'onore o moriremo con le armi in mano... La nostra guerra di liberazione è santa e giusta, come santo e giusto è il nome di Dio, e qui, nei nostri monti, spunterà per l'Italia il sole della libertà.» (Pasquale Paoli a Napoli nel 1750[1

great video! now do the same for sardinia pls 😊👍

Love your style of Videos! I am so glad that you dont use countryballs to represent the countries, your little animals are so charming!

YES A VIDEO ON MY ISLAND

9:15 I remember that. Some of my friends helped block my middle school but in only lasted like 2 days and we had to get back to studying. I have to say everybody in the school wanted to participate in those demonstrations. I believe even a french dude in the school threw a brick on a police car, breaking its windshield. I wanted to join them and even though my father had done the same thing during his youth, it was more my mother who thought i was too young to participate in that. One of the guy i knew in the school got shot in the throat by those super dangerous grenades that the french police uses. Even though he was an asshole we all felt bad for him cause the wound was really severe

Great video bro👍 Could you talk about Canary islands on the next video?

Great video. Never knew about the island. Makes me want to look into the Corsican language and hear what it sounds like. Footage a little overexposed. Don't know if fixed in future videos, but sure hope it is. Let me know if you're editing in fcpx

That's just plain wrong that French is a second language in Corsica, many polls have shown that about 25% of corsicans can actually speak the regional language and barely 50% understand it, and it's going lower and lower every year as it's mostly old people A simple google search could've told you that, I don't dare to watch whatever other bullshit you might have said in the rest of the video

Damn, h0ser is becoming a travel guide channel. I never thought I’d consider traveling to Corsica but it does look nice (and cheap) 😎

Please make a video about Sardinia, that would be great. It has a incredibly interesting historical background

Excellent

I’m literally about to go to Corsica in a couple hours. This helped so much! Hope the freedom fighters don’t attack me though.

Do a video about Spain plssss 😢 P.S: I love your vídeos:)

What a great video. Thank you!

Should unite with Italy 🇮🇹

It has to be considered though, that if Corsica gains independence, they are no longer a part of the EU, and it is unlikely they will be able to join in or even get special treatment, because those kinds of measures have to be approved by all member states, including France and countries like Spain, which has its own independence struggles in Catalonia. Now imagine you are an EU citizen deciding where to spend your Summer vacation. You want to visit the Mediterranean Sea and really like some of the remote, rugged places it has to offer. Do you visit Corsica and go through the bureaucratic struggle of getting a visa and possible border controls at the airport/harbor, or do you pick Sardinia as your destination instead? It has the same terrain and weather, the culture is similar and since you travel inside the EU you avoid any hassle international travel usually contains.

Hi Hoser have you thought about making a video of other seperatist states and maybe dive in if it's more, less or meh possible to gain independence

Hoser me gustan mucho tus videos

This feels like a great and well researched video but I would like to make a few corrections. Corsican is not a first language anymore, having falled from fashion in favor of french near the end of the XIXth and even the independantists of today learned it as a second language and speak it with a strong french accent (According to my father, the speeches made in corsican by autonomists have nothing to see with what his native grandfather would speak). Second, Colonna did not kill a politician but a high profile civil servant. Third, it should have been noted that autonomists have gained a lot of strength in polls, making it plausible that more autonomy could be given to Corsica, but that means a new organization of the territories and a few more power, not independence. The actual support for independence is pretty low despite the noisy independentist movement, and sovereignity seems like a bad idea for the reasons quoted in the video. So in the end I think independence for Corsica is highly improbable in the long term.

The island looks like a beautiful place.

Nice video as always! Idk if Corsica can become independent, only the future will tell. btw do you plan on making a video about Bulgaria and its declining population? Bulgaria is the fastest shrinking country in the world and the poorest one in the EU despite its important location.

Is your full name hoserSimplified, because Oversimplified is totally your long lost twin brother! RU-vid algorithm is spot on occasionally. It is his video that stuck Corsica to my head. what a coincidence to see you cover it again hahaha

0:26... finally some truth from these content creators :-) I always thought Corsica was part of Italy

Reminds me of Western NY and it's attitude towards NYC. Many from WNY want to separate from NYC and become its own state. A lot of the same issues presented in this video applies to WNY and NYC as well

Hope you’re working on a Scotland video

Nice of you to make a video on one of the less talked about parts of the world. I honestly don't think Corsica could be successful independently, unless some Lee Kuan Yew figure shows up and radically changes the island

Corsica would collapse without France. As you said no economy aside from Tourism and France and Spain would never let Corsica join the EU. No EU> no easy travel access, No official French langauge> loss of the majority of Tourists . No Tourism economy> even fewer young people at home. Also collapse of only other economy source construction industry for tourism purposes.

Well, this kind of cuisine, archiecteture and landcapes are found all over southern France, so yes, It does feel French. France is also a Mediterranean country, people seem to forget that...

nice video! im goin to venice next week, your thoughts on venice?

hOser I love you're content, but you gotta make a video on pakistan!

Can you make another one about Western Sahara

Corsica's mountains are beautiful but very rugged. It was apparently a really difficult region for the Romans to fully subdue.

make an video on what is problably is going happen with brasil on future

You should make a video regarding Lebanon.

i think napoleon would like a word…

Whenever I used to play Civilization (4-5) I always liked custom naming my empire Corsica & I’d name my settlements after the real towns on the island. So this news is interesting, ironic & cool haha

I need an edit of you talking about their imports with vine boom sound effects

Could you do a video about last dictatorship in Europe (Belarus)?

It's history reminds me of my own minority. Our island was constantly changing hands among northern European countries and we also have our own language

I'm very familiar with the island, and honestly, I can't really see it becoming a country, young people are leaving, the modern Corsican family is rarely speaking Corsican and some even live in France 3/4 of the year. For it to become a country and use Corsican as the official language just seems impossible, one reason being that ditching the french language would little by little make French tourists go away, and when you're relying so much on tourism, you can't really afford to lose tourists like that... (Also, great choice coming to Corsica during Spring, that's the best season to visit it)

Could your next video be on panama

1:31 - gotta love it, no french on our signs! And you spelled vechju wrong!!

sick video, could you do something similar on catalonia?

I am descended from Napoleon, my great grandma said her grandmother said he was a good kisser.

pls do one on kenya

pls make a video on kenya

Fun fact: the West of Puerto Rico has a shit load of Corsicans. The reason the Corsicans came here was because places like Yauco, San German, Sabana Grande etc.. look very similar to Corsica. Now I see that we are extremely similar