L'Île-Rousse

L'Île-Rousse
Lìsula
Port
Location of L'Île-Rousse
L'Île-Rousse
L'Île-Rousse
Coordinates: 42°38′08″N 8°56′17″E / 42.6356°N 8.9381°E / 42.6356; 8.9381
CountryFrance
RegionCorsica
DepartmentHaute-Corse
ArrondissementCalvi
CantonL'Île-Rousse
IntercommunalityCC de l'Île-Rousse - Balagne
Government
  Mayor (20202026) Angèle Bastiani
Area
1
2.5 km2 (1.0 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
3,213
  Density1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
2B134 /20220
Elevation0–151 m (0–495 ft)
(avg. 15 m or 49 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

L'Île-Rousse (French pronunciation: [lil ʁus]; Corsican: Lìsula, [ˈlizula], or Isula Rossa, [ˈizula ˈrɔssa]; Italian: Isola Rossa, [ˈiːzola ˈrossa]; lit.'Red Island') is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.

It was founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to create a port that would not be in the hands of the Genoese (such as Calvi). As Italian was until 1848 the administrative language of Corsica, the town was originally named Isola Rossa (Red Island) from the eponymous reddish color of a rocky islet that served as a natural harbor.

Along with Saint-Florent and Tox, it is one of only three communes in the département to have a French name — all the others have kept their Italian names despite the repeated demands of Corsican nationalists to change the names of all communes to their native Corsican names.