Basque Country is an autonomous community with the status of historical region within Spain, the capital of which is Vitoria-Gasteiz. It is part
of the larger Basque speaking lands, which are also called the Basque Country, in the western Pyrenees mountains that spans the border between
France and Spain, extending down to the coast of the Bay of Biscay.
The following provinces make up Basque Country:
- Araba, capital Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Bizkaia, capital Bilbo
- Gipuzkoa, capital Donostia.
Before the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and its system of autonomous communities, these three provinces were known in Spanish as the Provincias
Vascongadas.
Recent genetic studies have shown that about 75% of the people of the British Isles have bloodlines that can be traced to inhabitants of the
Basque areas of Spain and France, amongst other ancestries. The originators of these genes are thought to have travelled up the Atlantic Coast
in the Upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic period.
Major cities
- Bilbao
- Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Donostia-San Sebastián
Tourism and monuments
 As well as the famous Guggenheim Museum, the city acts as home for the Fine Arts Museum, recognised as one of Spain’s best art museums, and the
Maritime Museum on the Nervion’s banks, which recently hosted the RMS Titanic exhibition which has been touring Europe. Museums are only a part
of the city's attractions.
Bilbao was briefly featured at the start of the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.
Language
Basque is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western
France.
The Standard Basque name for the language is euskara and although geographically surrounded by Indo-European languages, Basque is believed
to be a language isolate: it is not an Indo-European language, meaning that it does not belong to Germanic, Slavic, Celtic, or Romance, nor to any
other family.
Basque and Spanish are co-official in all territories of the Community, although in many instances, especially those that depend on the central
Spanish Government, like tribunals, it is difficult to carry on bureaucracy or judicial processes in any language other than Spanish.
A 1984 language census showed that of the 2.1 million people in the Basque Country region, 23 percent could understand Basque, 21 percent could speak it, but only 13 percent could read the language and only 10 percent could write it.
Cuisine
Basque cuisine is at the heart of Basque culture, influenced by the neighbouring communities and the excellent produce from the sea and the land.
A twentieth-century feature of Basque culture is the phenomenon of gastronomical societies, food clubs where men gather to cook and enjoy their
own food. Until recently, women were only allowed on one day in the year. Sagardotegiak or cider houses are popular restaurants in Gipuzkoa open
for a few months while the cider is in season.
Rural sports
There are several sports derived by Basques from everyday chores. Heavy workers were challenged and bets placed upon them.
Examples are:
- trainera (oar boat) regattas: from fishermen activities.
- harri jasoketa: stone-lifting, from quarry works.
- aizkolaritza and trontzalaritza: tree hacking and log sawing.
- segalaritza: grass mowing with scythes
.
- dema or stone block pulling, from construction works: idi probak with couples of oxen, asto probak with donkeys, zaldi probak with horses,
gizon probak with couples of sportsmen.
- txinga erute: carrying of weights, one in each hand, representing milk canisters.
- ram fights.
- zipota, a French Basque martial art, similar to savate.
- barrenatzaile competitions: drilling stone blocks with a metal bar, only in the former mining areas of West Biscay.
- shepherd dog competitions.
Bull runs and bullock games
The world-famous encierro (bull run) in Pamplona's fiestas Sanfermines started as a transport of bulls to the ring. These encierros, as well as
other bull and bullock related activities are not exclussive of Pamplona but they are actually traditional in many towns and villages of the
Basque Country.
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