Bastia Airfares (BIA) - France

Bastia, France - City Overview and Airfare Information

Bastia

Bastia (French & Corsican: Bastia), is a town and commune of northern Corsica, in France. It is the préfecture (capital) of the Haute-Corse département and has a population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants. Bastia is also an important Corsican port and is famous for its wines.

Situated in the northeast of Corsica, at the base of Cap Corse, Bastia is the principal port of the island and its principal commercial town. The average annual temperature is about 15.3 °C, and there are usually five days of freezing weather per year. The wind in Bastia is frequent and violent, and the annual rainfall is copious (more than 700 mm). However, there are about 340 days of sunshine per year.

The census of 1999 gives the figure of 39,016 inhabitants, an increase of .01% since 1990. Ten percent of the population consists of foreigners. The unemployment rate is very high, 20% in 2004.

• The Museum of Corsica

Bastia was the birthplace of:

• Vincent de Moro Giafferi (1878–1956): lawyer, nicknamed the 'Grand Moro'
• César Campinchi (1882–1941): lawyer and French politician
• César Vezzani (1888–1951): opera singer
• John Bernard (1893–1983): American politician, representing Minnesota in the House of Representatives
• Angelo Rinaldi (1940— ): French writer and member of the Académie française
• Yves Simonpaoli, a.k.a. Paoli (1928— ): painter and professor of dentistry

Bastia's sister city is Erding, in Bavaria, Germany