Corsica is only at the top of Cap Corse.
Bastia ( Bastìa ) ( [ bas.tja ] , Corsican and Italian pronunciation : [ - allbasˈti.a ] ) is a French commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the north-east of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse . Corsica ( [ ˈkɔrsɪkə ] Corse [ kɔʁs ] Corsican and Italian : Corsica [ ˈkɔrsika ] ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 13 regions of France . It is located west of the Italian Peninsula , southeast of the French mainland , and north of the Italian island of Sardinia . The island formed a single department until it was split in 1975 into two departments : Haute-Corse ( Upper Corsica ) and Corse-du-Sud ( Southern Corsica ) , with its regional capital in Ajaccio , the prefecture city of Corse-du-Sud .