Seated in a wheelchair and dressed in his white robes and cap, Francis was greeted by French Interior Minister Bruno Reto and a military band as he stepped off the papal plane.
Television footage showed him handing small gifts to local children who presented him with flowers.
The 87-year-old Pope Francis's busy schedule will include speaking at a congress on religion in the Mediterranean, saying the Angelus prayer and celebrating an outdoor Mass during the one-day visit.
He will also meet with President Emmanuel Macron before his departure at around 18:00 local time.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to greet Pope Francis in Ajaccio, the capital of the region that is popularly known as the "Ile de Beaute" (Island of Beauty).
The city is decked out with decorations in the papal colours of yellow and white, and cars are banned from the main streets with parking banned.
Around 2,000 police reinforcements were sent to Ajaccio to beef up security.
Pope Francis' brief trip, linked to a faith congress in the Mediterranean region, comes just a week after he rejected the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris five years after the devastating fire.
A long list of dignitaries, royals and world leaders attended the renewal, including US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Pope Francis declined the French government's invitation to attend.
He did, however, agree to the trip to Corsica, which was hosted by the island's popular and media-famous cardinal, 56-year-old François-Xavier Bustillo.
"Corsica has been preparing to receive (Francis) for a long time," Bustillo said this week.
"Even though this is a poor diocese ... we will be able to organize a welcome worthy of the pope" thanks to donations from businesses and individual church officials, he added.
The prefect of Corsica, Jerome Filippini, said the visit would also cost the French state "several million euros" for the few hours. | BGNES
