The 'Basque Country' () is a
cultural region in the western
Pyrenees mountains that spans the border between
France and
Spain, extending down to the coast of the
Bay of Biscay. It corresponds more or less with the
homeland of the
Basque people and
language.
Geography
Basque nationalists consider the Basque Country to be made up of
seven traditional regions. The four regions within the Spanish state, or ''Laurak Bat'', form ''Hegoalde'' (“the south zone”), while the three within the French form ''Iparralde'', or ("the north zone"). This formulation was first used by
Sabino Arana.
Southern Basque Country
The southern Basque Country (
Spanish: ''País Vasco'', Basque: ''Hegoalde'') includes the provinces of:
★
Araba (''Álava'' in Spanish), capital
Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vitoria-Gasteiz is also the capital of the
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Other cities are
Llodio and
Amurrio.
★
Biscay (''Bizkaia'' in Basque, ''Vizcaya'' in Spanish), capital
Bilbao. Other cities are
Gernika-Lumo,
Getxo,
Barakaldo,
Portugalete,
Bermeo,
Durango,
Sestao.
★
Gipuzkoa (''Guipúzcoa'' in Spanish), capital
Donostia-San Sebastian. Historically the capital was
Tolosa. Other cities are
Hondarribia,
Irun,
Hernani,
Eibar.
Navarre's (
Nafarroa in Basque, ''Navarra'' in Spanish) capital is
Pamplona, or
Iruñea, in Basque. Other cities are
Tafalla,
Tudela,
Lizarra. Navarre is currently a separate autonomous community, although the
Spanish Constitution of 1978 states that it may become a part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country if it is so decided by the people and institutions of Navarre. Its historical ties with the Basque Country are highly contested.
Northern Basque Country
Town of Maule (Mauléon) in Zuberoa (Soule)
The
French provinces lost their administrative meaning after the
French Revolution.
The
Northern Basque Country forms part of the French ''
département'' of
Pyrénées Atlantiques with the former province of
Bearn. The ''département'' is part of the
region of
Aquitaine.
★
Lower Navarre (''Behe Nafarroa'' in Basque, ''Basse-Navarre'' in
French). Traditional capital:
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Basque: ''Donibane Garazi'')
★
Lapurdi (''Labourd'' in French), traditional capitals:
Bayonne (Basque: ''Baiona'') and
Ustaritz (Basque: ''Uztaritze'')
★
Zuberoa (''Soule'' in French), capital
Mauléon (Basque: ''Maule'')
History
Nowadays it is generally accepted that Basques are the least diluted remnant of the
Paleolithic inhabitants of Western Europe (specifically those of the
Franco-Cantabric region), than any other people. Basque tribes were already mentioned in Roman times by
Strabo and
Pliny, including the
Vascones, the
Aquitani and others. There is enough evidence that they already spoke Basque in that time (see
Aquitanian language and
Iruña-Veleia).
In the
Early Middle Ages the territory between the
Ebro and
Garonne rivers was known as
Vasconia, at times united under the
Dukes of Vasconia. After the
Moorish invasions and the
Frankish expansion under
Charlemagne, the territory was fragmented and eventually the
Kingdom of Pamplona arose as the main state in the
9th century.
This state, later known as
Navarre was partially annexed to the
Kingdom of Castile in the
11th and
12th century and
1512-
21. The remainder of Navarre was united to
France. The three western provinces (Araba, Biscay, Gipuzkoa) had already joined with voluntary agreements to the kingdom of
Castile and helped to integrate
Navarre into Castile.
Nevertheless the Basque provinces enjoyed a great deal of self-government until the
French Revolution in the North, and until after the
Carlist Wars in the South. Since then, a section of the Basque society has always been struggling to achieve independence as a sovereign
nation-state (see
Basque nationalism).
Demographics
The Basque Country has a population of 3,007,661 as of early 2006. The population density, at 143.5/km² (359.5/sq. mile) is above the average of
Spain or
France, however, the distribution of the population is fairly unequal and it concentrates around the main cities. The
Greater Bilbao metropolitan area concentrates a third of the total population, whilst most of the interior of the French Basque Country remains quite sparsely populated.
| Province | Year | Area | Population | Population % | Density |
|---|
| Basque Country | 20061 | 20,947.2 | 3,007,661 | 100% | 143.5 |
|---|
| Araba | 2006 | 3,316.9 | 301,926 | 10.0 | 91.0 |
| Biscay | 2006 | 2,236.7 | 1,139,863 | 37.9 | 509.6 |
| Gipuzkoa | 2006 | 1,980.3 | 691,895 | 23.0 | 349.4 |
| Labourd | 2005 | 855.7 | 227,754 | 7.6 | 266.2 |
| Lower Navarre | 2005 | 1,322.1 | 28,835 | 1.0 | 21.8 |
| Navarre | 2006 | 10,421.0 | 601,874 | 20.0 | 57.8 |
| Soule | 2005 | 814.5 | 15,514 | 0.5 | 19.0 |
Source
Datutalaia and http://www.ine.es INE
Municipalities
The Basque Country is comprised of 682 municipalities, in general
Biscay and
Gipuzkoa have the smallest towns and cities, averaging around 10 to 15 km².
Álava and
Navarre have the biggest municipalities.
Iturria Datutalaia
Biggest cities
#
Bilbao 354.145 inhabitants
#
Vitoria-Gasteiz 227.568 inhabitants
#
Pamplona 195.769 inhabitants
#
Donostia 183.308 inhabitants
#
Barakaldo 95.640 inhabitants
#
Getxo 82.327 inhabitants
#
Irun 60.261 inhabitants
#
Portugalete 49.118 inhabitants
#
Santurtzi 47.320 inhabitants
#
Bayonne 44.300 inhabitants
Non-Basque minorities in the Basque Country
Historical minorities
As in the rest of Spain, the roads of the Basque Country were travelled by nomadic
Gitanos (
Roma people, Basque: ''Ijitoak'') and
Mercheros (
Quinqui-speakers), who related to the peasant society as travelling cattle merchants and artisans. After industrialization, they settled in slums near the big cities. The French Basque Country and Guipuzcoa were also visited by another branch of Romas of Balkan origin (known in the Basque Country as ''buhameak'', equivalent to the English ''Bohemians''). Basque Roma used to have their own dialectal forms of Basque.
Both sides of the Pyrenees were home to a despised minority, the
Agotes (also ''cagots''). They were not a people apart, but lived as untouchables in Basque villages and were allowed to marry only among themselves. Their origin is hidden by legends and superstitions. In the modern society, they have mostly assimilated into the general society.
In the
Middle Ages, many so-called ''Franks'' of
Occitan language settled along the
Way of Saint James in Navarre but were eventually asimilated. Navarre also held
Jewish and
Muslim minorities but these were expelled or forced to assimilate after the Spanish conquest in the
16th century. One of the most outstanding members of such minorities was
Benjamin of Tudela.
Recent immigrants
José Aranda Aznar writes
[1] that 30% of the population of the southern Basque Country were born in other regions of Spain and that 40% of the people living in that territory had not a single Basque parent.
Most of these peoples of
Castilian and
Galician stock arrived to the Basque Country in the late
19th century and along the
20th century, as the region became more and more industrialized and prosperous and additional workers were needed to attend the economic growth. Second generation immigrants from other parts of Spain are for the most part well integrated.
Additionally, since the
1980s, the Basque Country has received an increasing number of overseas immigrants, especially from
North Africa,
Latin America,
Sub-Saharan Africa,
South Asia, and
China.
Education
Main articles: Basque education system
Education in the Basque Country is entirely free from the age of 3 , and compulsory between 6 and 16 years. In the southern Basque country, the majority of students are educated in the
Basque language, although only 20% of students learn it in the north. The autonomous comunities of the Basque Country and Navarre have higher rates of school success than any other part of the Spanish state.
Universities
The earliest university in the Basque Country was the
University of Oñate, founded in
1540 in
Hernani and moved to Oñate in
1548. It lasted in various forms until
1901.
[1] In
1868 there was an unsuccessful effort to establish a Basque-Navarrese University. The
Jesuits founded the
University of Deusto in
Deusto (now a Bilbao neighbourhood) by the turn of the century, with another later campus in San Sebastián. The first modern Basque public university was the Basque University, founded
November 18 1936 by the
socialist Spanish government in Bilbao in the midst of the
Spanish Civil War. It operated only briefly before the government's defeat by
Fransisco Franco's
fascist forces.
[2].
Several universities, originally teaching only in Spanish, were founded in the Basque region in the Franco era. One of those, the
University of Bilbao, has now evolved into the
University of the Basque Country with campuses in the three western provinces.
In
Navarre,
Opus Dei manages the
University of Navarre with another campus in San Sebastián. Additionally there is also the
Public University of Navarre managed by the
Navarrese Foral Government.
Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa has established its institutions for superior education as the
Mondragon University, based in
Mondragón and nearby towns.
There are numerous other significant Basque cultural institutions in the Basque Country and elsewhere. Most Basque organizations in the
United States are affiliated with NABO (
North American Basque Organizations, Inc.).
Politics
Most of the southern Basque Country (the provinces of Araba/Álava, Bizkaia/Vizcaya and Gipuzkoa/Guipúzcoa) is primarily Basque in character and has a great deal of autonomy.
Navarre has a separate autonomy based in the historical ''
fuero'' (charter), that has never been submitted to referendum, as is the case with the possibility (always open) of incorporating itself to the Basque Autonomous Community.
The northern Basque Country has no autonomy whatsoever and it is just part of the French department of Pyrénées Atlantiques.
Political parties
Under the
Spanish constitution, Spain is ''"one and indivisible"''. Therefore any separatist action would require a constitutional reform.
Parties with presence in all the Basque Country
★
Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) (Basque Solidarity). They broke away from EAJ in 1984, under the leadership of charismatic ''lehendakari''
Carlos Garaikoetxea,
[2] as EAJ-PNV had pacted with the Spanish right in Navarre (against the opinion of the local federation) in exchange for support in Bilbao. They are defined as
Social-democrats and are quite more emphatic in their nationalist claims.
★
Batasuna (Unity) was formerly known as
Herri Batasuna and
Euskal Heritarrok. Its ideology is radical nationalist and socialist. It was declared illegal in
2003 after the Spanish parliament passed a new Law of Political Parties, due to its relation with
ETA. It had even representation (12-18%) through all the Southern Basque Country, including Navarre, where it is the main Basque nationalist force (even if it's now forbidden to run in the elections). Its presence in France is insignificant.
★
★ Inside Batasuna there's another historical party:
Eusko Abertzale Ekintza (Basque Nationalist Action), the first left-wing Basque nationalist party to exist.
★ The
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV-PNB) is the oldest of all nationalist parties, having more than 100 years of history. It is
Christian-Democrat and has evolved towards rather moderate positions though it still keeps the demand for self-determination and eventual independence. It is the main party in the
Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) and is the most voted party (about 40% population)
Parties with presence only in the Northern Basque Country
★
Union for French Democracy (Union pour la Démocratie Française), Christian-Democrat, is the main France-wide party in Iparralde.
★
Parti Socialiste, Social-Democrat, France-wide.
★
Rassemblement pour la République, Conservative, France-wide.
★
Abertzaleen Batasuna: the main Basque nationalist force of the North.
Parties with presence in all Southern Basque Country
★
Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), social democrat and unionist, with its branches:
★
★ PSE-EE in the BAC
★
★ PSN in Navarre
★
Partido Popular (PP), conservative , with its branches:
★
★
Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN) in Navarre
★
★ Partido Popular del País Vasco in the BAC
★
Izquierda Unida (IU), left-wing around the former Communist Party, federalist and republican, with its branches:
★
★ Ezker Batua (EB-IU) in the BAC
★
★ Izquierda Unida de Navarra (IUN) in Navarre
★
Aralar: a breakaway faction separated from Batasuna, stronger in Navarre.
Parties with presence only in Navarre
★
Convergencia Democrática Navarra (CDN), center regionalist, a schism of UPN
★
Batzarre, left-wing coalition around neo-communist
Zutik, mostly internationalist but favorable to self-determination
★ Eusko Alkartasuna, Aralar, Batzarre and EAJ-PNV run together to the latest Navarrese elections under the name
Nafarroa Bai (''Yes to Navarre'')
Political conflicts
Language
Both Spanish and French governments have, at times, tried to suppress Basque
linguistic and cultural identity. The
French Republics, the epitome of the
nation-state, have a long history of attempting the complete cultural absorption of ethnic minority groups. Spain has, at most points in its history, granted some degree of linguistic, cultural, and even political autonomy to its Basques, but under the
regime of Francisco Franco, the Spanish government reversed the advances of Basque nationalism, as it had fought on the
republican side of the Spanish Civil War: cultural activity in Basque was limited to folkloric issues and the
Roman Catholic Church, while a quite limited degree of tolerance was granted to Basque culture in
Álava and
Navarra, since both areas mostly supported Francoist troops during the war.
Today, the Basque Country within Spain enjoys an extensive cultural and political autonomy. The
Basque education system has three types of schools differentiated by their linguistic teaching models: A, B and D. Model D, with education entirely in Basque, and Spanish as a compulsory subject, is the most widely chosen model by parents. In
Navarre there is an additional G model, with education entirely in Spanish.
In Navarre the ruling (as of March 2007) conservative government of ''
Unión del Pueblo Navarro'' opposes Basque nationalist attempts to provide education in Basque through all Navarre. Navarre is divided into three linguistic zones, the north being Basque, the zone around Pamplona bilingual, and the zone south of Pamplona, Spanish. This zonification has been objected to by those parents in the Spanish zone who wish that their children learn Basque, because, since there is no public teaching of this language in this zone, those parents are forced to send their children to private schools. Basque language teaching in the public education network is limited to the Basque speaking north and central regions. However, in the central region, Basque teaching in the public education network is fairly limited, and part of the demand is served via private schools or
ikastolak.
The situation of the Basque language in the northern Basque Country is tenuous, where monolingual public schooling in French exert great pressure on the Basque language. Basque teaching is mainly in private schools, or
ikastolak.
Political status and violence
Since the 19th century,
Basque nationalism has demanded the right of
self-determination, which is supported by more than 60% of Basques and
independence, which would be supported, according to a 2007 poll, by approximately 38%
[3] of them. The desire for independence is particularly stressed among
leftist Basque nationalists. The right of self-determination was asserted by the
Basque Parliament in 1990, 2002 and 2006.
[3]
Since self-determination is not recognized in the
Spanish Constitution of 1978, a noticeable number of Basques abstained and some even voted against it in the referendum of
December 6 of that year. However, it was approved by clear
majority at the Spanish level, and simple majority at Navarrese and Basque levels. The derived autonomous regimes for the BAC was approved in later referendum but the autonomy of Navarre (''amejoramiento del fuero'': "improvement of the charter") was never subject to referendum but just approved by the Navarrese Cortes (parliament).
ETA
Main articles: ETA
''
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna'' (ETA) is a paramilitary Basque nationalist organisationis which is designated as a
terrorist organization by the
European Union. In 2006 ETA declared a "permanent ceasefire", after nearly 40 years fighting for independence from Spanish and French authorities. In June 2007 ETA officially ended the "permanent ceasefire".
Sports
The Basque Country has also contributed some sportsmen, primarily in
soccer,
cycling,
jai-alai,
rugby and
surfing.
The main sport in the Basque Country, as in the rest of Spain and France, is soccer. The top teams
Athletic Bilbao,
Real Sociedad,
Osasuna,
Eibar and
Alavés are a fixture in the
Spanish national league. Athletic Bilbao has a policy of hiring only Basque players. This policy has been applied with variable flexibility.
Cycling as a sport is very popular in the Basque Country. Cycling races often see Basque fans lining the roads wearing orange, the corporate color of the telco
Euskaltel, coining the term ''the orange crush'' during the Pyrenees stages of the
Tour de France.
The Navarrese cyclist
Miguel Indurain (now retired) was the first to win the
Tour de France five consecutive times, and has also won the
Giro d'Italia and the
World Cycling Championship in the discipline of
individual time trial. Fellow Basque cyclist
Abraham Olano has won the
Vuelta a España and the World Cycling Championship.
The
Euskaltel-Euskadi cycling team is a commercial team. Present and former members of the team have been strong contenders in the
Tour de France held annually in July and
La Vuelta a España held in September. Team leaders have included riders such as
Iban Mayo,
Haimar Zubeldia and
David Etxebarria.
In the north,
rugby union is another popular sport with the Basque community. In
Biarritz, the local club is
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, the name referencing the club's Basque heritage. They wear red, white and green, and supporters wave the
Basque flag in the stands. They also recognize 16 other clubs as "Basque-friendly". The most famous Biarritz & Basque player is the legendary French fullback
Serge Blanco, whose mother was Basque.
Michel Celaya captained both Biarritz and France. French number 8
Imanol Harinordoquy, currently battling injury problems, is also a Biarritz & Basque player. Before the banning of
rugby league in
1940, a Basque club was the last to celebrate winning the cup.
Aviron Bayonnais is another top club with ''some'' Basque ties.
Pelota (
Jai Alai) is the Basque version of the
European game family that includes
real tennis and
squash. Basque players, playing for either the Spanish or the French teams, dominate international competitions.
Mountaineering is favoured by the mountainous character of Basque terrain and nearness of the
Pyrenees.
Juanito Oiarzabal (from
Vitoria), holds the world record for number of climbs above 8,000 meters, with 21. There are also great sport climbers in the Basque Country, such as,
Josune Bereziartu, the only female to have climbed the grade 9a/5.14d; and Iker Pou, one of the most versatile climbers in the world.
One of the top
basketball clubs in Europe,
TAU Baskonia, is located in
Gasteiz/Vítoria.
In recent years
surfing has taken off on the Basque shores, and
Mundaka and
Biarritz have become spots on the world surf circuit.
Traditional Basque sports
See also
★
Basque Country (autonomous community)
★
Northern Basque Country, in France
★
★
Basque people
★
Basque cuisine
★
Basque Mythology
★
List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
★
Nationalities in Spain
★
List of Basques
References
1. "La mezcla del pueblo vasco", ''Empiria: Revista de metodología de ciencias sociales'', ISSN 1139-5737, Nº 1, 1998, pags. 121-180.
2. Ilkka Nordberg.'' Regionalism and revenue. The moderate Basque Nationalist Party, PNV, 1980–1998''. Doctoral dissertation: Department of History, University of Helsinki, 2005
3. EITB: ''Basque parliament adopts resolution on self-determination''
External links
★
Eusko Jaurlaritza/Basque Government
★
Basque Country (Travel guide)
★
The Basque People in the Middle Ages (historical article)
★
Buber's Basque Page
★
Maps of Basque Country
★
Euskara Kultur Elkargoa-''Basque Cultural Foundation''
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