French constitutional thinking after the Revolution is based on the concept of the “Republic, ” including principles of the “unity of the French People, ” the “indivisibility of the Republic, ” “individualism, ” “equality” and “laicism.” The process of modern capitalistic development was directed by a strong centralized bureaucracy. Corsica, an island situated on the periphery of the republic, became increasingly marginalized.
Under Mitterrand's decentralization policy, mid-level “regional” local governments were created and given some of the State's authority, however, this process did not change the fundamental nature of the French Republic. Corsica was designated as a region with a special status, which legitimated policies promoting Corsican culture and regional identity, such as educational programs, or broadcasting in the Corsican language.
Moreover, with the institutional reform of 1991, Corsica was designated as a “cultural and historic community, composing the French people.” However that was in conflict with the Republican principles.
In July 2000, the French government proposed to give partial legislative power to Corsica and to introduce compulsory regional language classes into Corsican elementary schools and kindergartens. However, if these projects are adopted, the French Republican Constitution would need to be amended. For this reason, many Republicans are strongly opposed.
In either case, the French Republic itself is going to lose its legitimacy in the process of European integration based on the principles of subsidiarity and pluralism. We can conclude that actual Corsican reform is an opportunity to change the “unitary Republic” into the “plural Republic.”

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The first purpose of this study is to find out the number of hours that residents of remote islands can stay in the nearby major cities, and to determine possibilities for the islanders to engage in their daily living activities more readily during their one day trip to a nearby major city. The second purpose is to analyze factors which can affect the number of hours that the residents of remote islands can stay in the nearby major cities. The residents of 255 remote islands were studied. The result of this study may be summarized as follows:
(1) The calculation of hours that the remote island residents can stay in a nearby major city with local government revealed that 87.6% of them were able to stay in the cities for their purposes. In other words, many remote islands are located within a distance that makes the residents eligible to receive financial benefit or service in the city and return home in one day. However, the residents of 33 remote islands were unable to go to the nearby major cities and return in one day. It is strongly recommended that convenient transportation be provided for these islanders to and from the remote islands.
(2) Many remote islands are within the jurisdiction of a nearby major city's administration, and islanders can readily visit the nearby major cities and return home in one day. However, the amount of time they are able to spend in the cities is limited. There exists a big disparity among different remote islands. Only a few remote islands are known to have residents who can afford to work in nearby major cities while living on their remote islands. In many cases they do not have enough time or money to keep their job in the major cities and live on the remote islands. Therefore, many remote islands are considered to be residential areas of the nearby major cities workers.
(3) The most vital factor influencing islanders' time spent in the nearby major cities seems to be the ferry schedule to and from the remote islands. In many cases, a limited number of ferry trips between the remote islands and the nearby major cities is one of the main factors limiting their time spent in the nearby cities. If the ferry leaves the nearby cities at or before 17: 00 hours daily, many residents of the remote islands cannot afford to stay there for a long time. Another case is when the ferry leaves the ports of the remote islands and the nearby cities simultaneously, which also makes it difficult for the islanders to spend a lot of time in the nearby major cities.
(4) Another factor to influence the length of stay for the residents of the remote islands in the nearby major cities is the island's remote geographic location. The length of their stay in the major cities is largely decided by the distance between the islands and the cities. The population of the remote islands and the location of the islands in relation to the nearby cities are other important factors. Other significant factors include the population of the nearby major cities with their own administrative government and the existence of coral reefs around the remote islands.

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Environmental problems currently are a major concern globally. Although much work is being done in this area, there are surprisingly few studies environmental problems in the islands. There, unique difficulties present themselves, such as special laws, limitations owing to the economy of scale, and the unwillingness of the local people to deal with these problems. This paper aims to clarify the nature of the problem, and offer some suggestions on sustainability in the islands.

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