About

Basque Country

The Basque Country is a region situated between the north east of Spain and the south west of France. Located on both sides of the Western Pyrenees mountains, it is called Pays Basque by the French and País Vasco by the Spanish. The Basques regard the Basque Country as being made up of seven provinces. Four of the provinces that fall within Spain are named: Bizkaia, Araba, Gipuzkoa, and Nafarroa. These provinces are referred to by Basques as Hegoalde, or "southern part". The other three provinces that fall within France are named: Lapurdi, Behe Nafarroa, and Zuberoa. The Basques call these provinces Iparralde, or "northern part".

The seven provinces are divided among three politico–administrative structures. Two of the structures fall on the Spanish State: The Basque Autonomous Community formed by Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba which are referred to as Euskadi, and the Autonomous Community of Nafarroa. The three provinces that fall within the French State are not autonomous. Along with the Bearn, they form the department of Pyrénées–Atlantiques, which is part of the region of Aquitaine.

Basque Language

The Basque language is called Euskara and a person who speaks the language is called Euskaldun, or "one who has Basque". One who is born within the Basque Country but does not speak the language is certainly Basque, but is not Euskaldun. It is their language which defines their nation. The Basque name for the Basque Country is Euskal Herria, "The Country of Basque". Without Euskara, there is no Euskal Herria. In Basque, there are no proper words to describe a person who is born in the Basque Country, but one can use Euskal Herrikoa which means "from the Basque Country".

Basque is a prehistoric language and is the only one in Western Europe still being used today. It is a language isolate and has no relation to any of the Romance languages. Before Roman times Basque was spoken in a much larger area surrounding the Pyrenees. However, because it was not related to any of its neighboring languages, it became unpopular and was deemed too difficult to learn. Over time, the regions in which the language was spoken began to shrink. Today there are about 660,000 native Basque speakers.