Descrption : 

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Ajaccio is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud and capital of Corsica. It is located on the west coast of the island, 390 km from Marseille.

Ajaccio had 72,647 inhabitants in 2020, making it the largest city in Corsica. Its inhabitants are called Ajaccians. Its urban unit had 84,590 inhabitants in 2020 and its catchment area, which extends over 79 communes, had 117,405 inhabitants. It is at the centre of an intermunicipal community, the Pays Ajaccien agglomeration community, comprising 10 communes and 89,990 inhabitants in 2020.

The town, whose foundation dates back to before the 5th century, experienced a significant decline during the Middle Ages, particularly during the first centuries of Genoese domination. The Genoese refounded the city in 1492 and it developed around the citadel. A city of average importance compared to Bastia or even Corte until the beginning of the 19th century, it experienced significant development from the First Empire onwards when Napoleon I decided to make the city the prefecture of the single department of Corsica in 1811.

Ajaccio is nicknamed the "imperial city" - previously the "city of coral" - in reference to the emperor Napoleon I, a native of the town and born on 15 August 1769 three months after the conquest of the island by Louis XV's army. It was the first city liberated from mainland France during the Second World War, on 9 September 1943.