Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country, also called the Basque Autonomous Community, is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa. It also surrounds an enclave called Treviño, which belongs to the neighboring autonomous community of Castile and León.
Txindoki mountain from Olaberria, Gipuzkoa
Basque coast near Mundaka, Biscay
Urkiola mountain range seen from Mañaria
Rioja vineyards near the Ebro
Basque is the only surviving Paleo-European language spoken in Europe, predating the arrival of speakers of the Indo-European languages that dominate the continent today. Basque is spoken by the Basques and other residents of the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is classified as a language isolate, with no relationship to any other language having been established. The Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit the Basque Country. The Basque language is spoken by 806,000 Basques in all territories. Of these, 93.7% (756,000) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.3% (50,000) are in the French portion.
Family transmission of Basque language (Basque as initial language)
Inscription with Basque-like lexical forms identified as "UME ZAHAR", Lerga (Navarre)
Lines in an exercise book given as punishment during Franco's regime. The line is "En la escuela no tengo que hablar vasco" (transl. "I must not speak in Basque at school").
An example of Basque lettering in a funerary stela