View source for Basques

{{short description|European ethnic group}}
{{Other uses of|Basque}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Basques
| native_name      = {{native name|eu|Euskaldunak}}<br>{{native name|es|Vascos}}<br>{{native name|fr|Basques}}
| image            = Basque Ancestry by Country.png
| image_caption    = 
| population       = {{circa| 3 million}}
| region1          = Spain<br />(people living in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Provinces]] of Spain, including some areas where most people do not identify themselves as Basque)
| pop1             = 2,410,000
| ref1             = <ref name="EuskoJaurlaritzaren2013">{{cite book|url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/contenidos/informacion/argitalpenak/eu_6092/adjuntos/V.%20Inkesta.pdf|title=V. inkesta soziolinguistikoa 2011|trans-title=V. Sociolinguistic Survey|language=eu|publisher=Central Publications Service of the Basque Government|location=Vitoria-Gasteiz|year=2013|isbn=978-84-457-3303-5|access-date=2 November 2016|archive-date=1 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140601011600/http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/contenidos/informacion/argitalpenak/eu_6092/adjuntos/V.%20Inkesta.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ine.es/FichasWeb/RegComunidades.do?fichas=4&buscador=&botonFichas=Ir+a+la+tabla+de+resultados |title=INE |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2013 |publisher=INE |access-date=5 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107002529/http://www.ine.es/FichasWeb/RegComunidades.do?fichas=4&buscador=&botonFichas=Ir+a+la+tabla+de+resultados |archive-date=7 November 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region2          = France<br />(people living in the [[French Basque Country]], not all of whom identify as Basque)
| pop2             = 239,000
| ref2             = <ref name="EuskoJaurlaritzaren2013"/>
| region3          = United States<br />(self-identifying as having Basque ancestry)
| pop3             = 57,793
| ref3             = <ref name=ancestry2000>{{cite web|format=XLS|url=https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ancestry/ancestry_q_by_DAC_2000.xls|title=Census 2000: Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000|work=U.S. Census Bureau|date=22 January 2007|access-date=2 November 2016|archive-date=23 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723090719/https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ancestry/ancestry_q_by_DAC_2000.xls|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region4          = Canada<br />(including those of mixed ancestry)
| pop4             = 7,745<ref>{{cite web|title=Canada Census Profile 2021|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1,4&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31&SearchText=Canada|website=Census Profile, 2021 Census|date=7 May 2021|publisher=Statistics Canada Statistique Canada|access-date=3 January 2023|archive-date=3 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103201320/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?LANG=E&GENDERlist=1&STATISTIClist=1,4&DGUIDlist=2021A000011124&HEADERlist=31&SearchText=Canada|url-status=live}}</ref>
| langs            = [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[French language|French]], [[Gascon dialect|Gascon]]
| rels             = [[Christianity]] (mostly [[Catholicism]]),<ref>Estadísticas Enseñanzas no Universitarias – Resultados Detallados – Curso 2007–2008, Ministry of Education, educacion.es – Compiled by Fernando Bravo. FP: Formación Profesional (Vocational training).</ref> others
}}
{{IPA notice}}

The '''Basques''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|s|k|s}} {{respell|BAHSKS}} or {{IPAc-en|b|æ|s|k|s}} {{respell|BASKS}}; {{langx|eu|euskaldunak}} {{IPA|eu|eus̺kaldunak|}}; {{langx|es|vascos}} {{IPA|es|ˈbaskos|}}; {{langx|fr|basques}} {{IPA|fr|bask||audio=LL-Q150 (fra)-Lyokoï-basques.wav}}) are a [[Southwestern Europe]]an [[ethnic group]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9273123/Basque|title=Basque|encyclopedia=Britannica Online for Kids|access-date=16 March 2013|archive-date=11 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311161839/http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9273123/Basque|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095450510|title=Basque|work=Oxford Reference online|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123542/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095450510|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Totoricaguena2004">{{cite book|last=Totoricaguena|first=Gloria Pilar|title=Identity, Culture, and Politics in the Basque Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEvEw7LEoWYC&pg=PA59|access-date=3 November 2016|year=2004|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=978-0-87417-547-9|page=59}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> characterised by the [[Basque language]], a [[Basque culture|common culture]] and shared [[genetic ancestry]] to the ancient [[Vascones]] and [[Aquitanians]].<ref name="GüntherValdiosera2015">{{cite journal|last=Günther|first=Torsten|display-authors=etal|title=Ancient genomes link early farmers from Atapuerca in Spain to modern-day Basques|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=112|issue=38|year=2015|pages=11917–11922|doi=10.1073/pnas.1509851112|pmid=26351665|pmc=4586848 |bibcode=2015PNAS..11211917G|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Olalde2019">{{cite journal|last=Olalde|first=Iñigo|display-authors=etal|title=The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years|journal=Science|volume=363|issue=6432|year=2019|pages=1230–1234|doi=10.1126/science.aav4040|pmid=30872528|pmc=6436108 |bibcode=2019Sci...363.1230O}}</ref><ref name="Bycroft2019">{{cite journal|last=Bycroft|first=Clare|display-authors=etal|title=Patterns of genetic differentiation and the footprints of historical migrations in the Iberian Peninsula|journal=Nature Communications|volume=10|issue=1|year=2019|pages=551 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-08272-w|pmid=30710075
|pmc=6358624|bibcode=2019NatCo..10..551B}}</ref> Basques are [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] ({{langx|eu|Euskal Herria}})—a region that is located around the western end of the [[Pyrenees]] on the coast of the [[Bay of Biscay]] and straddles parts of north-central [[Spain]] and south-western [[France]].<ref name="Olalde2019"/>
{{toc limit|3}}

==Etymology==
[[File:Barscunes transparent.png|thumb|right|Barscunes coin, Roman period]]

The English word ''Basque'' may be pronounced {{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|s|k}} or {{IPAc-en|b|æ|s|k}} and derives from the French ''Basque'' ({{IPA|fr|bask|lang}}), itself derived from [[Gascon language|Gascon]] ''Basco'' (pronounced {{IPA|oc|ˈbasku|}}), cognate with Spanish ''Vasco ''(pronounced {{IPA|es|ˈbasko|}}). Those, in turn, come from [[Latin]] ''Vascō'' (pronounced {{IPA|la|ˈwaskoː|}}; plural ''[[Vascones|Vascōnēs]]''—see [[#History|history section]] below). The Latin {{IPAslink|w}} generally [[betacism|evolved into]] the [[bilabial]]s {{IPAslink|b}} and {{IPAslink|β̞}} in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and the related [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]] (the Latin /w/ instead evolved into {{IPAslink|v}} in [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and other [[Romance languages]]).

Several coins from the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscription ''barscunes''. The place in which they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere near [[Pamplona]], in the heartland of the area that historians believe was inhabited by the ''Vascones''. Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based on ''bhar-s-'', meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to which ''barscunes'' may have meant "the [[mountain people]]", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", and others have posited a relationship to a [[Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*bar-'' meaning "border", "frontier", "march".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/130014?idi=en&clave=130014&op=4&primR=1&regs=10&EIKVOGEN=Barscunes&pos=4&epi=120849#mrc1 |title=Vascones – el nombre (Auñamendi Encyclopedia) |publisher=Euskomedia.org |access-date=2010-08-22 |archive-date=2010-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306152012/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/130014?idi=en&clave=130014&op=4&primR=1&regs=10&EIKVOGEN=Barscunes&pos=4&epi=120849#mrc1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In Basque, people call themselves the ''euskaldunak'', singular ''euskaldun'', formed from ''euskal-'' (i.e. "Basque (language)") and ''-dun'' (i.e. "one who has"); ''euskaldun'' literally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the [[neologism]] ''euskotar'', plural ''euskotarrak'', was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the word ''euskara'' is derived from an ancient Basque verb ''enautsi'' "to say" (compare modern Basque ''esan'') and the suffix ''-(k)ara'' ("way (of doing something)"). Thus, ''euskara'' would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish book ''Compendio Historial'', written in 1571 by the Basque writer [[Esteban de Garibay]]. He records the name of the Basque language as ''enusquera''. That may, however, be a writing mistake.

In the 19th century, the Basque nationalist activist [[Sabino Arana]] posited an original root ''euzko'', which he thought came from ''eguzkiko'' ("of the sun", related to the assumption of an original [[solar deity|solar religion]]). On the basis of that putative root, Arana proposed the name [[Basque Country (greater region)|Euzkadi]] for an independent Basque nation, composed of seven Basque historical territories. Arana's neologism ''Euzkadi'' (in the regularized spelling ''Euskadi'') is still widely used in both Basque and Spanish since it is now the official name of the [[Autonomous Community]] of the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=de la Granja Sainz |first= José Luis |author2=Santiago de Pablo |author3=Coro Rubio Pobes |date=2011 |title=Breve historia de Euskadi : de los fueros a la autonomía |edition=1st |location=Madrid |publisher=Debate |isbn=978-84-9992-039-9 |oclc=947160667}}</ref>

==Genetic origins==
{{Main|Origin of the Basques}}
[[File:Dolmen de Sorginetxe.jpg|thumb|Sorginetxe [[dolmen]] next to the stream and cave Leze, home to legends featuring mythological character [[Mari (goddess)|Mari]]]]

The distinctiveness noted by studies of classical genetic markers (such as [[Blood type|blood groups]]) and the [[Pre-Indo-European languages|pre-Indo-European]] of the Basque language has resulted in a popular and long-held view that Basques are "living fossils" of the earliest [[Anatomically modern humans|modern humans]] who colonised Europe.<ref name="Alonso2005">{{cite journal |last=Alonso|first=Santos |display-authors=etal |title=The place of the Basques in the European Y-chromosome diversity landscape |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |publisher=Springer Nature |volume=13 |issue=12 |year=2005 |pages=1293–1302 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201482 |pmid=16094307 |s2cid=7089003 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Partly for these reasons, anthropological and genetic studies from the beginning and the end of the 20th century theorized that the Basques are the descendants of the original [[Cro-Magnons]].<ref>Wells, H. G. ''[[The Outline of History]]''. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1920, Volume I, Chapter XI "The Races of Mankind," pp. 131-144. Compare pp. 98, 137 and 139.</ref><ref>Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; and Piazza Alberto. ''The History and Geography of Human Genes''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 280.</ref> 

But although they are genetically distinctive in some ways due to isolation, the Basques are still very typically European in their [[Y-DNA]] and [[mtDNA]] sequences, and in some other genetic [[Locus (genetics)|loci]]. These same sequences are widespread throughout the Western half of Europe, especially along the Western fringe of the continent.<ref name="Dupanloup2004">{{cite journal|last=Dupanloup|first=I.|display-authors=etal|title=Estimating the Impact of Prehistoric Admixture on the Genome of Europeans|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=21|issue=7|year=2004|pages=1361–1372|doi=10.1093/molbev/msh135|pmid=15044595|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Pericic2005">{{cite journal|last=Pericic|first=M.|display-authors=etal|title=High-Resolution Phylogenetic Analysis of Southeastern Europe Traces Major Episodes of Paternal Gene Flow Among Slavic Populations|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=22|issue=10|year=2005|pages=1964–1975|doi=10.1093/molbev/msi185|pmid=15944443|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of the Basque people|Basque Country (greater region)#History}}
[[File:Pamplona - Monumento a los Fueros 12.JPG|thumb|upright|Monument to the [[Fuero#Basque and Pyrenean fueros|Charters]] in Pamplona (1903)]]

Basque tribes were mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including the [[Vascones]], [[Aquitani]], and others. There is enough evidence to support the hypothesis that at that time and later they spoke old varieties of the Basque language (see: [[Aquitanian language]]).

In the [[Early Middle Ages]], the territory between the [[Ebro]] and [[Garonne]] rivers was known as [[Duchy of Vasconia|Vasconia]], a vaguely defined ethnic area and political entity struggling to fend off pressure from the Iberian [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] kingdom and [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Arab rule to the south]], as well as the [[Franks|Frankish]] push from the north.<ref>{{cite book |author=Trask, R.L. |year=1997 |title=The History of Basque |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbLbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |location=New York, US |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-13116-2 |page=12 |access-date=2017-11-01 |archive-date=2020-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504204223/https://books.google.com/books?id=lbLbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lewis AR 20-33">{{cite book|title=The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718-1050|last=Lewis|first=Archibald R.|author-link=Archibald Ross Lewis|year=1965|publisher=The University of Texas Press|pages=20–33|access-date=2017-10-28|url=http://libro.uca.edu/lewis/sfcatsoc.htm|archive-date=2019-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007095449/https://libro.uca.edu/lewis/sfcatsoc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> By the turn of the first millennium, the territory of [[Gascony|Vasconia]] had fragmented into different feudal regions, such as [[Soule]] and [[Labourd]], while south of the Pyrenees the [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Kingdom of Pamplona|Pamplona]] and the Pyrenean counties of [[County of Aragon|Aragon]], [[Sobrarbe]], [[Ribagorça]] (later [[Kingdom of Aragon]]), and [[County of Pallars|Pallars]] emerged as the main regional entities with Basque population in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The Kingdom of Pamplona, a central Basque realm, later known as [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]], underwent a process of feudalization and was subject to the influence of its much larger Aragonese, Castilian and French neighbours. Castile deprived Navarre of its coastline by conquering [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|key western territories]] (1199–1201), leaving the kingdom landlocked. The Basques were ravaged by the [[War of the Bands]], bitter partisan wars between local ruling families. Weakened by the Navarrese civil war, the [[Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre|bulk of the realm eventually fell]] before the onslaught of the Spanish armies (1512–1524). However, [[Lower Navarre|the Navarrese territory north of the Pyrenees]] remained beyond the reach of an increasingly powerful Spain. [[Lower Navarre]] became a province of France in 1620.

Nevertheless, the Basques enjoyed a great deal of self-government [[End of Basque home rule in France|until the French Revolution (1790)]] and the [[Carlist Wars]] (1839, 1876), when the Basques supported heir apparent [[Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina|Carlos V]] and his descendants. On either side of the Pyrenees, the Basques [[End of Basque home rule in Spain|lost their native institutions and laws]] held during the ''[[Ancien régime]]''. Since then, despite the current limited self-governing status of the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Autonomous Community]] and Navarre as settled by the Spanish Constitution, many Basques have attempted higher degrees of self-empowerment (see [[Basque nationalism]]), sometimes by acts of violence. [[Labourd]], [[Lower Navarre]], and [[Soule]] were integrated into the [[Departments of France|French department system]] (starting 1790), with Basque efforts to establish a region-specific political-administrative entity failing to take off to date. However, in January 2017, a single agglomeration community was established for the [[French Basque Country|Basque Country in France]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Garicoix |first=Michel |date=2017-12-29 |title=Le Pays basque se constitue en communauté d'agglomération |trans-title=The Basque Country is established as a agglomeration community |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2016/12/29/le-pays-basque-se-constitue-en-communaute-d-agglomeration_5055172_823448.html |language=fr |access-date=2017-10-31 |archive-date=2020-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430121358/https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2016/12/29/le-pays-basque-se-constitue-en-communaute-d-agglomeration_5055172_823448.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geography==

===Political and administrative divisions===
[[File:Ekialderantz Urkulutik.JPG|thumb|Mountains of the Basque Country]]
[[File:Leitza.JPG|thumb|[[Leitza]], in Navarre, Basque Country]]

The Basque region is divided into at least three administrative units, namely the [[Basque Autonomous Community]] and [[Navarre]] in Spain, and the [[Arrondissements of France|arrondissement]] of [[Bayonne]] and the [[cantons of France|cantons]] of [[Mauléon-Licharre]] and [[Tardets-Sorholus]] in the ''[[département]]'' of [[Pyrénées Atlantiques]], France.

The autonomous community (a concept established in the [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]]) known as ''Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa'' or EAE in Basque and as ''Comunidad Autónoma Vasca'' or CAV in Spanish (in English: ''Basque Autonomous Community'' or BAC),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.euskadi.net/euskalterm/ |title=See EUSKALTERM, the Basque Public Term Bank, maintained by the Basque Government for these and other terms and their common translations |publisher=.euskadi.net |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510193253/http://www1.euskadi.net/euskalterm/ |archive-date=10 May 2010 }}</ref> is made up of the three Spanish provinces of [[Álava]], [[Biscay]] and [[Gipuzkoa]]. The corresponding Basque names of these territories are ''Araba'', ''Bizkaia'' and ''Gipuzkoa'', and their Spanish names are ''Álava'', ''Vizcaya'' and ''Guipúzcoa''.

The BAC only includes three of the seven provinces of the currently called historical territories. It is sometimes referred to simply as "the Basque Country" (or ''Euskadi'') by writers and public agencies only considering those three western provinces, but also on occasions merely as a convenient abbreviation when this does not lead to confusion in the context. Others reject this usage as inaccurate and are careful to specify the BAC (or an equivalent expression such as "the three provinces", up to 1978 referred to as "Provincias Vascongadas" in Spanish) when referring to this entity or region. Likewise, terms such as "the Basque Government" for "the government of the BAC" are commonly though not universally employed. In particular in common usage the French term ''Pays Basque'' ("Basque Country"), in the absence of further qualification, refers either to the whole [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] ("Euskal Herria" in Basque), or not infrequently to the [[Northern Basque Country|northern (or "French") Basque Country]] specifically.

Under Spain's present constitution, Navarre (''Nafarroa'' in present-day Basque, ''Navarra'' historically in Spanish) constitutes a separate entity, called in present-day Basque ''Nafarroako Foru Erkidegoa'', in Spanish ''Comunidad Foral de Navarra'' (the autonomous community of Navarre). The government of this autonomous community is the Government of Navarre. In historical contexts Navarre may refer to a wider area, and that the present-day northern Basque province of [[Lower Navarre]] may also be referred to as (part of) ''Nafarroa'', while the term "High Navarre" (''Nafarroa Garaia'' in Basque, ''Alta Navarra'' in Spanish) is also encountered as a way of referring to the territory of the present-day autonomous community.

There are three other historic provinces parts of the Basque Country: [[Labourd]], [[Lower Navarre]] and [[Soule]] (''Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea'' and ''Zuberoa'' in Basque; ''Labourd, Basse-Navarre'' and ''Soule'' in French), devoid of official status within France's present-day political and administrative territorial organization, and only minor political support to the Basque nationalists. A large number of regional and local nationalist and non-nationalist representatives have waged a campaign for years advocating for the creation of a separate Basque [[département]], while these demands have gone unheard by the French administration.

===Population, main cities, and languages===
[[File:Olentzero, Beasain.jpg|thumb|[[Olentzero]] in [[Gipuzkoa]], Basque Country]]

There are 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community (279,000 in Alava, 1,160,000 in Biscay and 684,000 in Gipuzkoa). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centers, are [[Bilbao]] (in Biscay), [[San Sebastián]] (in Gipuzkoa), and [[Vitoria-Gasteiz]] (in Álava). The official languages are Basque and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory under the Spanish constitution (article no. 3), and knowledge and usage of Basque is a right under the Statute of Autonomy (article no. 6), so only knowledge of Spanish is virtually universal. Knowledge of Basque, after declining for many years during [[Spain under Franco|Franco's dictatorship]] owing to official persecution, is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 33 percent of the population in the Basque Autonomous Community speaks Basque.

Navarre has a population of 601,000; its administrative capital and main city, also regarded by many nationalist Basques as the Basques' historical capital, is Pamplona (''Iruñea'' in modern Basque). Only Spanish is an official language of Navarre, and the Basque language is only co-official in the province's northern region, where most Basque-speaking Navarrese are concentrated.

About a quarter of a million people live in the [[French Basque Country]]. Nowadays Basque-speakers refer to this region as ''Iparralde'' (Basque for North), and to the Spanish provinces as ''Hegoalde'' (South). Much of this population lives in or near the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) urban belt on the coast (in Basque these are ''Baiona'', ''Angelu'' and ''Miarritze''). The Basque language, which was traditionally spoken by most of the region's population outside the BAB urban zone, is today rapidly losing ground to French. The French Basque Country's lack of self-government within the French state is coupled with the absence of official status for the Basque language in the region. Attempts to introduce bilingualism in local administration have so far met direct refusal from French officials.

==Basque diaspora==
{{Main|Basque diaspora}}
[[File:Basque festival in Buenos Aires August 2011.jpg|thumb|Basque festival in [[Buenos Aires]], Argentina]]
[[File:Winnemucca Basque Festival.jpg|thumb|right|Basque festival in [[Winnemucca, Nevada]], United States]]

Large numbers of Basques have left the Basque Country to settle in the rest of Spain, France or other parts of the world in different historical periods, often for economic or political reasons. Historically the Basques abroad were often employed in shepherding and ranching and by maritime fisheries and merchants. Millions of Basque descendants (see [[Basque American]] and [[Basque Canadian]]) live in North America (the United States; Canada, mainly in the provinces of [[Newfoundland]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/basques/|title=Basques|publisher=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|access-date=13 May 2017|archive-date=18 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718125636/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/basques/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Quebec]]), all over Latin America, South Africa, and Australia.

===Latin America===
Spanish author [[Miguel de Unamuno]] said: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to Basques: the [[Society of Jesus]] and the [[Republic of Chile]]."<ref>{{cite web|first=Pedro|last=Laín Entralgo|author-link=Pedro Laín Entralgo|url=http://www.filosofia.org/hem/194/alf/ez2302a.htm|title=Chile al trasluz|trans-title=Chile held up to the light|language=es|publisher=Filosofia.org|date=January 1949|access-date=2 November 2016|quote='La Compañía de Jesús y la República de Chile son las dos grandes hazañas del pueblo vascongado', solía decir don Miguel de Unamuno... '''[TRANS]''' Miguel de Unamuno used to say, 'The Company of Jesus and the Republic of Chile are the two great achievements of the Basque people...'|archive-date=14 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514164955/http://www.filosofia.org/hem/194/alf/ez2302a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Chilean historian Luis Thayer Ojeda estimated that 48 percent of immigrants to Chile in the 17th and 18th centuries were Basque.<ref name="DouglassBilbao2005">{{cite book|last1=Douglass|first1=William A.|author2=Jon Bilbao|author-link2=Jon Bilbao|title=Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KzfK1QwxDIC&pg=PA81|access-date=3 November 2016|year=2005|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=978-0-87417-625-4|page=81}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Estimates for the number of [[Basque Chilean|Basque descendants]] living in Chile range between 2.5 and 5&nbsp;million; the Basque have been a major, if not the strongest, influence in the country's [[cultural]] and [[economic]] development.

In [[Bolivia]], the [[War of the Vicuñas and Basques]] (Spanish: Guerra de Vicuñas y Vascongados), was an armed conflict in [[Charcas Province]] that lasted between June 1622 and March 1625, fought between Basques and "Vicuñas" (an informal term for non-Basque Spaniards in Upper Peru, a name obtained through the habit of wearing hats made of vicuña skins). Competition over the control of the silver mines in Potosí, Lípez and Chichas surged in the early 17th century, pitting Basques and Vicuñas against each other.The Vicuñas had initially employed legal and political measures attempting to block the Basque attempts to monopolize control over the cabildo (municipal government) of Potosí and the silver mining sector. The war pitted different sectors of the viceregal administration against each other, as some supported the Basque claims for hegemony whilst others had a conciliatory approach to the Vicuña rebels. Personalities involved in the conflict included the president and oidores of the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, treasury officials and the corregidor of Potosí and the visitador (sent to the area in order to audit fiscal accounts).

Basque place names are to be found in the Americas, such as [[Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain|Nueva Vizcaya]] (now [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] and [[Durango]], Mexico), [[New Navarre]] (now [[Sonora (state)|Sonora]] and [[Sinaloa]], Mexico), [[Biscayne Bay]] (United States), and [[Aguereberry Point]] (United States).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.basqueed.org/BEO%20Basque%20Culture%20Day%202007.htm |title=Basque Culture Day |publisher=Basqueed.org |date=2007-10-06 |access-date=2010-08-22 |archive-date=2011-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807092850/http://www.basqueed.org/BEO%20Basque%20Culture%20Day%202007.htm |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico) to be explored and settled by the Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango (the original [[Durango, Spain|Durango]] is a known city in Biscay).

In Mexico most descendants of Basque émigrés are concentrated in the cities of [[Monterrey]], [[Saltillo]], [[Reynosa]], [[Camargo, Chihuahua|Camargo]], and the states of [[Jalisco]], [[Durango]], [[Nuevo León]], [[Tamaulipas]], [[Coahuila]], and [[Sonora]]. The Basques were important in the mining industry; many were ranchers and vaqueros ([[cowboy]]s), and the rest opened small shops in major cities such as [[Mexico City]], [[Guadalajara, Mexico|Guadalajara]] and [[Puebla]]. In [[Guatemala]], most Basques have been concentrated in [[Sacatepequez Department]], [[Antigua Guatemala]], [[Jalapa Department|Jalapa]] for six generations now, while some have migrated to [[Guatemala City]].

In Colombia, a large number of Basques settled mainly in [[Antioquia Department|Antioquia]] and the [[Colombian coffee growing axis|Coffee Axis]]. In 1955, Joaquín Ospina said: "Is there something more similar to the Basque people than the "''antioqueños''".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lehendakaritza.ejgv.euskadi.eus/r48-contcvpv/en/contenidos/informacion/03_andres_irujo/en_airujo/adjuntos/antioquia.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-11-17 |archive-date=2016-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117211439/http://www.lehendakaritza.ejgv.euskadi.eus/r48-contcvpv/en/contenidos/informacion/03_andres_irujo/en_airujo/adjuntos/antioquia.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Also, writer Arturo Escobar Uribe said in his book "''Mitos de Antioquia''" (Myths of Antioquia) (1950): "Antioquia, which in its clean ascendance predominates the peninsular farmer of the Basque provinces, inherited the virtues of its ancestors. ... Despite the predominance of the white race, its extension in the mountains ... has projected over Colombia's map the prototype of its race; in [[Medellín]] with the industrial [[Paisa region|paisa]], entrepreneur, strong and steady ... in its towns, the adventurer, arrogant, world-explorer. ... Its myths, which are an evidence of their deep credulity and an indubitable proof of their Iberian ancestor, are the sequel of the conqueror's blood which runs through their veins".<ref>Arturo Escobar Uribe (1950). Mitos de Antioquia. Introducción.</ref> [[Bambuco]], a Colombian folk music, has Basque roots.<ref>{{in lang|es}} http://campus.usal.es/~investigacionesmusicales/docs/influencia.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519013310/http://campus.usal.es/~investigacionesmusicales/docs/influencia.pdf |date=2020-05-19}}</ref><ref>Ocampo López, J. (1990). Música folclor de Colombia (1st ed., pp. 47, 98). Bogotá, Colombia: Plaza Janés.</ref>

===United States===
{{main|Basque Americans}}
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}

The largest of several important Basque communities in the United States is in the area around [[Boise, Idaho]], home to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, host to an annual Basque festival, as well as a festival for the Basque diaspora every five years. [[Reno, Nevada]], where the Center for Basque Studies and the Basque Studies Library are located at the [[University of Nevada, Reno|University of Nevada]], is another significant nucleus of Basque population. [[Elko, Nevada]], sponsors an annual Basque festival that celebrates the dance, cuisine and cultures of the Basque peoples of Spanish, French and Mexican nationalities who have arrived in [[Nevada]] since the late 19th century.

[[Texas]] has a large percentage of Hispanics descended from Basques who participated in the conquest of [[New Spain]]. Many of the original [[Tejano]]s had Basque blood, including those who fought in the [[Battle of the Alamo]] alongside many of the other Texans. Along the Mexican/Texan border, many Basque surnames can be found. The largest concentration of Basques who settled on Mexico's north-eastern "frontera", including the states of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], [[Durango]], [[Coahuila]], [[Nuevo León]], and [[Tamaulipas]], also settled along Texas' [[Rio Grande]] from [[South Texas]] to [[West Texas]]. Many of the historic ''hidalgos'', or noble families from this area, had gained their titles and land grants from Spain and Mexico; they still value their land. Some of North America's largest ranches, which were founded under these colonial land grants, can be found in this region.

[[California]] has a major concentration of Basques, most notably in the [[San Joaquin Valley]] between [[Stockton, California|Stockton]], [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] and [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]]. The city of Bakersfield has a large Basque community and the city has several Basque restaurants, including Noriega's which won the 2011 James Beard Foundation America's Classic Award. There is a history of Basque culture in [[Chino, California]]. In Chino, two annual Basque festivals celebrate the dance, cuisine, and culture of the peoples. The surrounding area of [[San Bernardino County, California|San Bernardino County]] has many Basque descendants as residents. They are mostly descendants of settlers from Spain and Mexico. These Basques in California are grouped in the group known as ''[[Californio]]s''.

Basques of European Spanish-French and Latin American nationalities also settled throughout the western U.S. in states like [[Louisiana]], [[New Mexico]], [[Arizona]], [[Utah]], [[Colorado]], [[Wyoming]], [[Montana]], [[Oregon]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]].

==Culture==
{{Basque culture}}
[[File:Lingue vasconum primitiae.gif|thumb|Cover of the first Basque language book, written by [[Bernard Etxepare]]]]
[[File:Nortasun.png|thumb|Cultural identity according to the 1981 and 1991 census based on the question ''Do you consider yourself Basque?'' &nbsp;&nbsp;1&nbsp;-&nbsp;Yes<br />2&nbsp;-&nbsp;Yes, in some ways &nbsp;&nbsp;3&nbsp;-&nbsp;No<br />4&nbsp;-&nbsp;Don't know / Don't answer]]

===Language===
{{Main|Basque language}}

The identifying language of the Basques is called Basque or ''Euskara'', spoken today by 25%-30%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eke.eus/en/kultura/euskara-the-basque-language/basque-sociolinguistics|title=Basque sociolinguistics|publisher=Eke.eus|access-date=2019-10-21|archive-date=2019-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802142337/https://www.eke.eus/en/kultura/euskara-the-basque-language/basque-sociolinguistics|url-status=live}}</ref> of the region's population. An idea of the central place the language has in cultural terms is given by the fact that Basques identify themselves by the term ''euskaldun'' and their country as ''Euskal Herria'', literally "Basque speaker" and "Country of the Basque Language" respectively. The language has been made a political issue by official Spanish and French policies restricting its use either historically or currently; however, this has not stopped the teaching, speaking, writing, and cultivating of this increasingly vibrant minority language. This sense of Basque identity tied to the local language does not only exist in isolation. For many Basques, it is juxtaposed with a sense of either Spanish or French identity tied with the use of the Spanish and [[French language]]s among other Basques, especially in the French Basque Country. Regarding the Spanish Basque Country, Basques that don't have a sense of Spanish identity make up an important part of the population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.noticiasdenavarra.com/2019/01/06/politica/navarra/navarra-es-la-comunidad-con-menor-sentimiento-de-espanolidad|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202214354/https://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2019/01/06/politica/navarra/navarra-es-la-comunidad-con-menor-sentimiento-de-espanolidad|archive-date=2 February 2019|title=Navarra es la comunidad con menor sentimiento de españolidad}}</ref> As with many European states, a regional identity, be it linguistically derived or otherwise, is not mutually exclusive with the broader national one. For example, Basque [[France national rugby union team|rugby union]] player for France, [[Imanol Harinordoquy]], has said about his national identity:<blockquote>"I am French and Basque. There is no conflict, I am proud of both. ... I have friends who are involved in the political side of things but that is not for me. My only interest is the culture, the Euskera language, the people, our history and ways."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/2431544/France-look-to-Basque-prodigy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/2431544/France-look-to-Basque-prodigy.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=France look to Basque prodigy |first=Brendan |last=Gallagher |work=[[telegraph.co.uk]] |date=27 February 2002 |access-date=6 May 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref></blockquote>

As a result of state language promotion, school policies, the effects of mass media and migration, today virtually all Basques (except for some children below school age) speak the official language of their state (Spanish or French). There are extremely few Basque monolingual speakers: essentially all Basque speakers are bilingual on both sides of the border. Spanish or French is typically the first language of citizens from other regions (who often feel no need to learn Basque), and Spanish or French is also the first language of many Basques, all of which maintains the dominance of the state tongues of both France and Spain. Recent Basque Government policies aim to change this pattern, as they are viewed as potential threats against mainstream usage of the minority tongue.<ref>{{cite web|first=Xabier|last=Aierdi Urraza|url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07/en_integraz/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07.html|title=Routes to linguistic and cultural integration for immigrants in the Basque Autonomous Community|publisher=euskara.euskadi.net|date=24 July 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302214808/http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07/en_integraz/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07.html|archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref>

The Basque language is thought to be a [[genetic (linguistics)|genetic]] [[language isolate]] in contrast with other European languages, vast majority of which belong to the broad [[Indo-European language family]]. Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has probably been spoken continuously ''[[in situ]]'', in and around its present territorial location, for longer than most other modern European languages, which are typically thought to have been introduced in historic or prehistoric times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission.<ref name="Trask1997">{{cite book |last=Trask |first=Robert Lawrence |author-link=Larry Trask |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiemTo_t5r8C |title=The History of Basque |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-13116-2 |pages=8-9 |access-date=3 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519060306/https://books.google.com/books?id=OiemTo_t5r8C |archive-date=19 May 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

However, popular stereotypes characterizing Basque as "the oldest language in Europe" and "unique among the world's languages" may be misunderstood and lead to erroneous assumptions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Moreno Cabrera|first=Juan Carlos|url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10/en_aurreiri/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10.html|title=Misconceptions about Basque|publisher=euskara.euskadi.net|date=19 October 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302214757/http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10/en_aurreiri/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10.html|archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref> Over the centuries, Basque has remained in continuous contact with neighboring western European languages with which it has come to share numerous lexical properties and typological features; it is therefore misleading to exaggerate the "outlandish" character of Basque. Basque is also a modern language, and is established as a written and printed one used in present-day forms of publication and communication, as well as a language spoken and used in a very wide range of social and cultural contexts, styles, and registers.

===Land and inheritance===
[[File:ArangurenDorretxea.jpg|thumb|right|The Aranguren baserri in [[Orozko]], converted from a fortified tower]]
[[File:BaserriLizarralde.jpg|thumb|right|The Lizarralde baserri ([[Bergara]])]]

Basques have a close attachment to their home (''etxe(a)'' 'house, home'), especially when this consists of the traditional self-sufficient, family-run farm or ''[[baserri]](a)''. Home in this context is synonymous with family roots. Some [[Basque surnames]] were adapted from old ''baserri'' or [[habitation name]]s. They typically related to a geographical orientation or other locally meaningful identifying features. Such surnames provide even those Basques whose families may have left the land generations ago with an important link to their rural family origins: ''[[Bengoetxea]]'' "the house of further down", ''[[Goicoechea (disambiguation)|Goikoetxea]]'' "the house above", ''[[Landaburu]]'' "top of the field", ''[[Errekondo]]'' "next to the stream", ''[[Elizalde (disambiguation)|Elizalde]]'' "by the church", ''[[Mendizabal]]'' "wide hill", ''[[Usetxe]]'' "house of birds" ''[[Ibarretxe]]'' "house in the valley", ''[[Etxeberria]]'' "the new house", and so on.<ref>[[Koldo Mitxelena|MITXELENA, Koldo]], ''Apellidos vascos'' (fifth edition), San Sebastián: Txertoa, 1997.</ref>

In contrast to surrounding regions, ancient Basque inheritance patterns, recognised in the ''[[fueros]],'' favoured survival of the unity of inherited land holdings. In a kind of primogeniture, these usually were inherited by the eldest male or female child. As in other cultures, the fate of other family members depended on the assets of a family: wealthy Basque families tended to provide for all children in some way, while less-affluent families may have had only one asset to provide to one child. However, this heir often provided for the rest of the family (unlike in England, with strict primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited everything and often did not provide for others). Even though they were provided for in some way, younger siblings had to make much of their living by other means. Mostly after<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Pyrenean Marriage Strategies in the Nineteenth Century: The French Basque Case|first=Marie-Pierre|last=Arrizabalaga|date=21 December 2005|journal=International Review of Social History|volume=50|issue=S13|pages=93–122|doi=10.1017/S0020859005002087|doi-access=free}}</ref> the advent of industrialisation, this system resulted in the emigration of many rural Basques to Spain, France or the Americas. Harsh by modern standards, this custom resulted in a great many enterprising figures of Basque origin who went into the world to earn their way, from Spanish [[conquistador]]s such as [[Lope de Aguirre]] and [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]], to explorers, missionaries and saints of the Catholic Church, such as [[Francis Xavier]].

A widespread belief that Basque society was originally [[matriarchal]] is at odds with the current, clearly [[patrilineal]] kinship system and inheritance structures. Some scholars and commentators have attempted to reconcile these points by assuming that patrilineal kinship represents an innovation. In any case, the social position of women in both traditional and modern Basque society is somewhat better than in neighbouring cultures, and women have a substantial influence in decisions about the domestic economy. In the past, some women participated in collective magical ceremonies. They were key participants in a rich folklore, today largely forgotten.

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Basque cuisine}}

[[Basque cuisine]] is at the heart of Basque culture, influenced by the neighboring communities and produce from the sea and the land. A 20th-century feature of Basque culture is the phenomenon of [[gastronomical society|gastronomical societies]] (called ''[[txoko]]'' in Basque), food clubs where men gather to cook and enjoy their own food. Until recently, women were allowed entry only one day in the year. Cider houses ([[Sagardotegi]]ak) are popular restaurants in Gipuzkoa open for a few months while the cider is in season.

===Cultural production===
[[File:Artzaiak inudeak 2009 001.jpg|thumb|Artzaiak eta inudeak festival, [[Donostia]], Basque Country.]]

At the end of the 20th century, despite [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] violence (ended in 2010) and the crisis of heavy industries, the Basque economic condition recovered remarkably. They emerged from the [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] regime with a revitalized language and culture. The Basque language expanded geographically led by large increases in the major urban centers of Pamplona, Bilbao, and Bayonne, where only a few decades ago the Basque language had all but disappeared. Nowadays, the number of Basque speakers is maintaining its level or increasing slightly.

===Music===
{{Main|Basque music}}
[[File:Basque dance.JPG|thumb|Basque dance]]

===Religion===
Traditionally Basques have been mostly [[Catholic Church|Catholics]]. In the 19th century and well into the 20th, Basques as a group remained notably devout and churchgoing. In recent years church attendance has fallen off, as in most of Western Europe. The region has been a source of missionaries like [[Francis Xavier]] and [[Michel Garicoïts]]. [[Ignatius Loyola]], founder of the [[Society of Jesus]], was a Basque. [[California]] [[Franciscan]] [[Fermín Lasuén]] was born in [[Vitoria-Gasteiz|Vitoria]]. Lasuén was the successor to Franciscan Padre [[Junípero Serra]] and founded 9 of the 21 extant [[California Missions]] along the coast.

A sprout of [[Protestantism]] in the continental Basque Country produced the first translation of the new Testament into Basque by [[Joanes Leizarraga]]. Queen [[Jeanne III of Navarre]], a devout [[Huguenots|Huguenot]], commissioned the translation of the New Testament into Basque and [[Béarnese dialect|Béarnese]] for the benefit of her subjects. By the time [[Henry IV of France|Henry III of Navarre]] converted to Catholicism in order to become king of France, Protestantism virtually disappeared from the Basque community.

[[Bayonne]] held a [[Jews|Jewish]] community composed mainly of [[Sephardi Jews]] fleeing from the [[Spanish Inquisition|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese Inquisition]]s. There were also important Jewish and [[Muslims|Muslim]] communities in [[Navarre]] before the Castilian invasion of 1512–21.

Nowadays, according to one single opinion poll, only slightly more than 50% of Basques profess some kind of belief in [[God]], while the rest are either [[Agnosticism|agnostic]] or [[Atheism|atheist]]. The number of religious skeptics increases noticeably for the younger generations, while the older ones are more religious.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eitb.com/argazki/forum_re/caracterizacion.pdf|title=Opinion poll on religion by GIZAKER|publisher=[[EITB]] the Basque Country's public broadcast service.|access-date=2010-08-22|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728103246/http://www.eitb.com/argazki/forum_re/caracterizacion.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-28}}</ref> Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]]. In 2019, the proportion of Basques that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 60%,<ref name=CIS2019Euskadi>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cis.es/cis/export/sites/default/-Archivos/Marginales/3260_3279/3263/Marginales/es3263mar_PVasco.pdf |author=''Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas'' (Centre for Sociological Research) |title=Macrobarómetro de octubre 2019, Banco de datos – Document 'Población con derecho a voto en elecciones generales y residente en España, País Vasco (aut.) |date=October 2019 |page=23 |access-date=4 February 2020 |language=es |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204181948/http://www.cis.es/cis/export/sites/default/-Archivos/Marginales/3260_3279/3263/Marginales/es3263mar_PVasco.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> while it is one of the most secularized communities of Spain: 24.6% were non-religious and 12.3% of Basques were [[atheist]].

====Pre-Christian religion and mythology====
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2020}}
{{Main|Basque mythology}}
[[File:Amboto 01.jpg|thumb|[[Anboto]] mountain is one of sites where [[Mari (goddess)|Mari]] was believed to dwell]]

The [[Christianization|Christianisation]] of the Basque Country has been the topic of some discussion. There are, broadly speaking, two views. According to one, Christianity arrived in the Basque Country during the 4th and 5th centuries but according to the other, it did not take place until the 12th and 13th centuries. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' says that the Basques were not Christianized until the tenth century, however, and that their earlier animism survives in their folklore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Basque {{!}} Definition, History, Region, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522233107/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque |url-status=live }}</ref> The main issue lies in the different interpretations of what is considered Christianisation. Early traces of Christianity can be found in the major urban areas from the 4th century onwards, a bishopric from 589 in [[Pamplona]] and three hermit cave concentrations (two in [[Álava]], one in [[Navarre]]) that were in use from the 6th century onwards. In this sense, Christianity arrived "early".

Pre-Christian belief seems to have focused on a goddess called [[Mari (goddess)|Mari]]. A number of place-names contain her name, which would suggest these places were related to worship of her such as ''[[Anbotoko Mari]]'' who appears to have been related to the weather. According to one tradition, she travelled every seven years between a cave on Mount [[Anboto]] and one on another mountain (the stories vary); the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she was in [[Aloña]], or [[Supelegor]], or [[Gorbea]]. One of her names, ''Mari [[Urraca]]'' possibly ties her to an historical Navarrese princess of the 11th and 12th century, with other legends giving her a brother or cousin who was a Roman Catholic priest. So far the discussions about whether the name Mari is original and just happened to coincide closely with the Christian name María or if Mari is an early Basque attempt to give a Christian veneer to pagan worship have remained speculative. At any rate, Mari (Andramari) is one of the oldest worshipped Christian icons in Basque territories.

Mari's consort is [[Sugaar]]. This [[chthonic]] couple seems to bear the superior ethical power and the power of creation and destruction. It's said that when they gathered in the high caves of the sacred peaks, they engendered the storms. These meetings typically happened on Friday nights, the day of historical [[Akelarre (witchcraft)|akelarre]] or [[coven]]. Mari was said to reside in Mount [[Anboto]]; periodically she crossed the skies as a bright light to reach her other home at Mount [[Txindoki]].

Legends also speak of many and abundant genies, like ''[[jentilak]]'' (equivalent to [[giant (mythology)|giants]]), ''lamiak'' (equivalent to [[nymph]]s), ''[[mairu]]ak'' (builders of the cromlechs or stone circles, literally [[Moors]]), ''iratxoak'' ([[imp]]s), ''[[sorginak]]'' ([[witch]]es, priestess of Mari), and so on. [[Basajaun]] is a Basque version of the [[Woodwose]]. There is a [[trickster]] named ''[[San Martin Txiki]]'' ("St Martin the Lesser").

It is unclear whether [[Neolithic]] stone structures called [[dolmen]]s have a religious significance or were built to house animals or resting shepherds. Some of the dolmens and [[Stone circles|cromlechs]] are burial sites serving also as border markers.
[[File:Ioaldunak 001.jpg|thumb|''Ioaldunak'' dancers of Navarre.]] The ''jentilak'' ('[[Giant (mythology)|Giants]]'), on the other hand, are a legendary people which explains the disappearance of a people of [[Stone Age]] culture that used to live in the high lands and with no knowledge of iron. Many legends about them tell that they were bigger and taller, with a great force, but were displaced by the ''ferrons'', or workers of ironworks foundries, until their total fade-out. They were pagans, but one of them, [[Olentzero]], accepted Christianity and became a sort of Basque [[Santa Claus]]. They gave name to several toponyms, as ''[[Jentilbaratza]]''.

===Society===
[[File:Weiditz Trachtenbuch 125-126.jpg|thumb|Senior Basque women during the 16th century; the attire was forbidden on [[Pierre de Lancre]]'s intervention in the Basque Country (1609–1612)]]

Historically, Basque society can be described as being somewhat at odds with Roman and later European societal norms. [[Strabo]]'s account of the north of Spain in his ''[[Geographica]]'' (written between approximately 20 BC and 20 AD) makes a mention of "a sort of woman-rule—not at all a mark of civilization" (Hadington 1992), a first mention of the—for the period—unusual position of women: "Women could inherit and control property as well as officiate in churches." The evidence for this assertion is rather sparse however.<ref>Kurlansky, Mark. ''The Basque History of the World'' (p.94)</ref>

This preference for female dominance existed well into the 20th century:
<blockquote>... [[matrilineal]] inheritance laws, and agricultural work performed by women continued in Basque country until the early twentieth century. For more than a century, scholars have widely discussed the high status of Basque women in law codes, as well as their positions as judges, inheritors, and arbitrators through ante-Roman, medieval, and modern times. The system of laws governing succession in the French Basque region reflected total equality between the sexes. Up until the eve of the French Revolution, the Basque woman was truly 'the mistress of the house', hereditary guardian, and head of the lineage.<ref name="treilo">Gimbutas, M. ''The Living Goddesses'' University of California Press: 2001</ref></blockquote>

While women continued to have a higher position in Basque than other western European societies, it is highly unlikely that any point the society was 'matriarchal', as is often falsely claimed about pre-Indo-European peoples in general. The 'Basque matriarchy' argument is typically tied to 20th century nationalism and is at odds with earlier accounts of the society.<ref>Bullen, Margaret. ''Basque Gender Studies'' (p.118-120)</ref>

Although the [[Kingdom of Navarre]] did adopt feudalism, most Basques also possessed unusual social institutions different from those of the rest of feudal Europe. Some aspects of this include the [[elizate]] tradition where local house-owners met in front of the church to elect a representative to send to the ''juntas'' and ''[[Juntas Generales]]'' (such as the ''Juntas Generales de Vizcaya'' or ''Guipúzcoa'') which administered much larger areas. Another example was that in the medieval period most land was owned by the farmers, not the Church or a king.<ref name="Trask1997"/>{{Page needed|date=November 2010}}<ref name="oprmay">Collins, R. ''The Basques'' Blackwell: 1986</ref>

==Sports in the Basque Country==
[[File:LuxioApustua.jpg|thumb|Rivalry and betting in a [[Aizkolaritza|wood-chopping contest (1949)]]]]

===Pelota===
{{Main|Basque pelota}}

The great family of ball games has its unique offspring among Basque ball games, known generically as [[Basque pelota|pilota]] (Spanish: ''pelota''). Some variants have been exported to the United States and [[Macau]] under the name of [[Jai Alai]].

===Rural sports===
{{Main|Basque rural sports}}
[[File:Remo-ria-de-bilbao.jpg|thumb|''Trainerilla'' in the [[Estuary of Bilbao|Bilbao estuary]]]]
[[File:20060122 barrenak gora.jpg|thumb|''Barrenatzaileak'' in [[Barakaldo]].]]

There are several sports derived by Basques from everyday chores. Heavy workers were challenged and bets placed upon them. Examples are:
* ''[[estropadak]]'' rowing regattas: from fishermen activities.
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Sokatira (tug-of-war)|sokatira]]'': tug-of-war.
* ''[[Harri-jasotzaileak|harri-jasotzea]]'': stone-lifting, from quarry works.
* ''[[aizkolaritza]]'' and ''[[Basque rural sports#Trontza (sawing)|trontzalaritza]]'': wood-chopping and log sawing.
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Sega jokoa (scything)|sega jokoa]]'': cutting grass with a [[scythe]].
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Giza-abere probak (dragging games)|Giza-abere probak]]'': stone block pulling, from construction works:
** ''[[idi probak]]'' with teams of oxen.
** ''asto probak'' with donkeys.
** ''zaldi probak'' with horses.
** ''gizon probak'' with human teams.
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Txinga eramatea (weight carrying)|txinga eramatea]]'': carrying of weights, one in each hand, representing milk canisters.
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Ahari topeka (ram fighting)|ahari topaketa]]'': ram fights.
* ''[[Basque rural sports#Harri zulaketa (hole drilling)|harri zulaketa]]'' competitions: drilling stone blocks with a metal bar, only in the former mining areas of West Biscay.
* [[Basque rural sports#Txakur probak (sheepdog trials)|Basque sheepdog trials]] competitions.

===Bull runs and bullock games===
The [[encierro]] (bull run) in [[Pamplona]]'s [[festival|fiestas]] ''[[Festival of San Fermín|Sanfermines]]'' started as a transport of bulls to the ring. These encierros, as well as other bull and [[Cattle|bullock]] related activities are not exclusive to Pamplona but are traditional in many towns and villages of the Basque country.

===Football===
{{Main|Basque Country national football team}}

There are several clubs within the Basque Country, such as [[Athletic Bilbao]], [[Real Sociedad]], [[Deportivo Alavés]], [[SD Eibar]] and, as Navarre club, the [[CA Osasuna]] (the only club in [[La Liga]] that has a Basque name—''osasuna'' means "health"). In the 2016–17 season these five clubs played together in La Liga, the first instance where five Basque clubs have reached that level at the same time. Athletic's [[Athletic Bilbao signing policy|recruitment policy]] has meant the club refuses to sign any non-Basque players, with "Basque" currently defined to include either ethnic Basques or players of any ethnicity trained by a Basque club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.athletic-club.eus/en/club.html |title=Athletic Club Official Site – Club overview including 'code' |access-date=2017-03-16 |archive-date=2017-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821003244/http://www.athletic-club.eus/en/club.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Real Sociedad also previously employed such a policy.

===Basketball===
{{main|Basque Country autonomous basketball team|Basque basketball derby}}

The Basque Country also features several professional basketball teams, the most notable of which is [[Saski Baskonia]] from Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the 11 clubs that own stakes in [[Euroleague Basketball]], the company that operates the continent-wide [[EuroLeague]] and [[EuroCup Basketball|EuroCup]]. They are currently joined in the Spanish top flight, [[Liga ACB]], by [[Bilbao Basket]], with the two clubs involved in a [[Basque basketball derby|longstanding rivalry]]. Another club from the Basque Country, [[Gipuzkoa Basket]] from Donostia, currently plays in the second-level [[Liga Española de Baloncesto|LEB Oro]].

===Rugby union===
[[Rugby union]] is a popular sport among French Basques, with major clubs [[Biarritz Olympique]] and [[Aviron Bayonnais]] traditional powerhouses in the premier division of French Rugby (the [[Top 14]]). Biarritz regularly play [[European Rugby Champions Cup|Champions Cup]] matches, especially knockout matches, at [[Estadio Anoeta]] in [[San Sebastián|San Sebastian]]. Games between the Basque clubs and Catalan club [[USA Perpignan]] are always hard fought.

===Professional cycling===
Cycling is popular and the {{UCI team code|Euskaltel}} professional cycling team, partly sponsored by the Basque Government participated in the UCI World Tour division until 2014. Known for their orange tops and hill-climbing ability, their fans were famous for lining the famous Pyrenean climbs in the Tour de France, in support of their compatriots.

Each April the week-long [[Tour of the Basque Country]] showcases the beautiful rolling Basque countryside. [[Miguel Indurain]], born in [[Villava]] is one of the most celebrated cyclists in the world having won 5 consecutive [[Tour de France|Tours de France]].

==Politics==
{{Main|Basque Country (greater region)#Politics}}{{See also|Basque Country independence}}[[File:Giza katea, Urbia.JPG|thumb|2014 [[human chain (politics)|human chain]] for the Basque Country's right to [[self-determination]]]]
[[File:Gure Esku Dago manifestazioa "Demokrazia" - Bilbo 2017-19-16 - 9.jpg|thumb|Demonstration in [[Bilbao]] in solidarity with [[2017 Catalan independence referendum|Catalan independence referendum]], September 2017]]

While there is no independent Basque state, Spain's [[autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous community]] of the Basque Country, made up of the provinces of Álava (Araba), Biscay (Bizkaia) and Gipuzkoa, is primarily a historical consequence and an answer to the wide autonomy claim of its population.

Navarre has a separate statute of autonomy, a contentious arrangement designed during Spanish transition to democracy (the ''Amejoramiento'', an 'upgrade' of its previous status during dictatorship). It refers back to the kingdom status of Navarre (up to 1841) and their traditional institutional and legal framework ([[Fuero#Basque and Pyrenean fueros|charters]]). Basque, the original and main language of Navarre up to the late 18th century, has kept family transmission especially in the northern part of Navarre and central areas to a lesser extent, designated as Basque speaking or mixed area in Navarrese law. Questions of political, linguistic and cultural allegiance and identity are highly complex in Navarre. Politically some Basque nationalists would like to integrate with the Basque Autonomous Community.

The [[French Basque Country]] today does not exist as a formal political entity and is officially simply part of the French [[department (country subdivision)|department]] of [[Pyrénées Atlantiques]], centered in [[Béarn]]. In recent years the number of mayors of the region supporting the creation of a separate Basque department has grown to 63.87%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maire-info.com/territoires/departements/64-des-maires-basques-favorables-un-departement-pays-basque-article-6264 |title=64% des maires basques favorables à un département Pays Basque |date=2 Nov 2005 |publisher=Maire-info.com |access-date=3 August 2012 |archive-date=7 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907171752/http://www.maire-info.com/territoires/departements/64-des-maires-basques-favorables-un-departement-pays-basque-article-6264 |url-status=live}}</ref> So far, their attempts have been unsuccessful.

===Political conflicts===

====Language====
{{Main|Basque language}}
{{See also|Basque Country (greater region)#Language}}

Both the Spanish and French governments have, at times, suppressed Basque [[natural language|linguistic]] and cultural identity. The [[French Republics (disambiguation)|French Republics]], the epitome of the [[nation-state]], have a long history of attempting the complete cultural absorption of cultural 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 [[Spain under Franco|regime of Francisco Franco]], the Spanish government reversed the advances of Basque nationalism, as it had fought in the opposite side of the [[Spanish Civil War]]: cultural activity in Basque was limited to folkloric issues and the [[Catholic Church]].

Today, the [[Southern Basque Country]] within Spain enjoys an extensive cultural and political autonomy. The majority of schools under the jurisdiction of the [[Basque education system]] use Basque as the primary medium of teaching. However, the situation is more delicate in the [[French Basque Country|Northern Basque Country]] within France, where Basque is not officially recognized, and where lack of autonomy and monolingual public schooling in French exert great pressure on the Basque language.

In Navarre, Basque has been declared an endangered language, since the anti-Basque and conservative government of [[Navarrese People's Union]] opposes the symbols of Basque culture,<ref>Resolution of the General Assembly of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages, 13 September 2003 (Helsinki), on the situation of the Basque language in the Autonomous Community of Navarre. Reported in MERCATOR Butlleti 55: "Speakers of a regional or minority language should have the right to use their language in private and public life. Contrary to these principles, local authorities from Iruña/Pamplona (capital city of the Autonomous Community of [[Navarre]] in Spain) have been implementing a series of reforms to the Autonomous Community legislation limiting the use of the Basque language. Basque is the only endangered language in the Autonomous Community of Navarre..."</ref> highlighting a Spanish identity for Navarre.

Basque is also spoken by immigrants in the major cities of Spain and France, in [[Australia]], in many parts of [[Latin America]], and in the [[United States]], especially in Nevada, Idaho, and California.<ref name="Trask1997" />{{rp|1}}

====Political status and violence====
Since its articulation by Sabino Arana in the late 19th century, the more radical currents of [[Basque nationalism]] have demanded the right of [[self-determination]] and even [[independence]]. Within the Basque country, this element of Basque politics is often in balance with the conception of the Basque Country as just another part of the Spanish state, a view more commonly espoused on the right of the political spectrum. In contrast, the desire for greater autonomy or independence is particularly common among [[left-wing politics|leftist]] Basque nationalists. The right of self-determination was asserted by the [[Basque Parliament]] in 2002 and 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/politics/pp-and-pse-voted-against-basque-parliament-adopts-resolution-on-s?itemId=B24_18787&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fpolitica&idioma=en |title=EITB: ''Basque parliament adopts resolution on self-determination'' |publisher=Eitb24.com |access-date=2014-03-12 |archive-date=2009-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109122849/http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/politics/pp-and-pse-voted-against-basque-parliament-adopts-resolution-on-s?itemId=B24_18787&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fpolitica&idioma=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Since self-determination is not recognized in the [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]], a wide majority of Basques abstained (55%) and some even voted against it (23.5%) in the ratification referendum of 6 December that year. However, it was approved by clear [[majority]] overall in Spain (87%). The autonomous regime for the Basque Country was approved in a 1979 referendum but the autonomy of Navarre (''Amejoramiento del Fuero'': "improvement of the charter") was never subject to a referendum but only approved by the Navarrese Cortes (parliament).

====Political violence====
{{Main|Basque conflict}}
{{See also|ETA (separatist group)|Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación|Batallón Vasco Español|Comandos Autónomos Anticapitalistas|Iraultza}}
{{Expand section|date=August 2010}}

==Classification==
As with their language, the Basques are clearly a distinct cultural group in their region. They regard themselves as culturally and especially linguistically distinct from their surrounding neighbours. Some Basques identify themselves as Basques only whereas others identify themselves both as Basque and Spanish.<ref name="Euskobarómetro">{{cite web|url=http://www.ehu.es/cpvweb/paginas/series_eusko/series_13.html|title=Evolución de la identidad nacional subjetiva de los vascos, 1981–2006|trans-title=Evolution of the subjective national identity of the Basques, 1981–2006|language=es|publisher=[[Euskobarómetro]]|date=2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622071009/http://www.ehu.es/cpvweb/paginas/series_eusko/series_13.html|archive-date=22 June 2007}} Thirty-three percent of the Basque Autonomous Community in late 2006 identified as only being Basque.</ref> Many Basques regard the designation as a "cultural minority" as incomplete, favouring instead the definition as a nation, the commonly accepted designation for the Basque people up to the rise of the nation-states and the definition imposed by the [[History of the Basque people#Revolution and war|1812 Spanish Constitution]].

In modern times, as a European people living in a highly industrialized area, cultural differences from the rest of Europe are inevitably blurred, although a conscious cultural identity as a people or nation remains very strong, as does an identification with their homeland, even among many Basques who have emigrated to other parts of Spain or France, or to other parts of the world.

The strongest distinction between the Basques and their traditional neighbours is linguistic. Surrounded by [[Romance languages|Romance-language]] speakers, the Basques traditionally spoke (and many still speak) a language that was not only non-Romance but non-Indo-European. The prevailing belief amongst Basques, and forming part of their national identity, is that their language has continuity with the people who were in this region since not only pre-Roman and pre-Celtic times, but since the Stone Age.

==Notable Basques==
{{Main|List of Basques}}

Among the most notable Basque people are [[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] (who led the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe after [[Ferdinand Magellan]] died mid-journey); [[Sancho III of Navarre]]; and [[Ignatius of Loyola]] and [[Francis Xavier]], founders of the [[Society of Jesus]].

[[Diego de Gardoqui|Don Diego María de Gardoqui y Arriquibar]] (1735–1798) was also a Basque, who became Spain's first Ambassador to the United States, and [[Miguel de Unamuno]] was a noted novelist and philosopher of the late 19th and the 20th century, was also a Basque.

Another well-known Basque was [[Alberto Hurtado|Father Alberto Hurtado, S.J.]] (1901–1952), a Jesuit priest who founded the charitable housing system [[Hogar de Cristo]], meaning hearth, or home, of Christ, in Chile. El Hogar provided a home-like milieu for the homeless. Hurtado also founded the Chilean Trade Union Association to promote a union movement based on the social teachings of the Catholic Church. He was a friend and savior to all the poor and homeless, and was beatified by [[Pope John Paul II]] on 16 October 1994. He was canonized by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] on 23 October 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/st-alberto-hurtado-sj |title=St. Alberto Hurtado, SJ: patron saint of multitaskers|date=18 August 2010 |website=America Magazine|access-date=5 April 2019|archive-date=19 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519005939/https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/st-alberto-hurtado-sj |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spain|France}}
* [[Aberri Eguna]]
* [[Aquitani]]
* [[Code talker#Basque code talkers (disputed)|Basque code talkers]]
* [[Duchy of Vasconia]]
* [[Genetic history of Europe]]
* [[Iberians]]
* [[Late Basquisation]]
* [[List of Basques]]
* [[National and regional identity in Spain]]
* [[Spanish people]]
* [[Vascones]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* Allières, Jacques. ''The Basques''  [https://scholarworks.unr.edu/bitstream/handle/11714/747/The_Basques_Allieres.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 1977; online 2016 reprint].
* ''The Basques, the Catalans and Spain'', Daniele Conversi, 2000, {{ISBN|1-85065-268-6}}.
* ''The Basque History of the World'', [[Mark Kurlansky]], 1999, {{ISBN|0-8027-1349-1}}.
* ''The Oldest Europeans'', J. F. del Giorgio, A. J. Place, 2006, {{ISBN|980-6898-00-1}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180708/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/fr/languages Ethnologue report for France] for population statistics in France.
* ''Euskal Herria en la Prehistoria'', Xabier Peñalver Iribarren, 1996, {{ISBN|84-89077-58-4}}.
* [[Marija Gimbutas|Gimbutas, Marija]], ''The Living Goddesses'' (Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 2001).
* {{cite journal |last1=Hadingham |first1=Evan |title=Europe's Mystery People |journal=World Monitor |date=September 1992 |volume=5 |issue=9}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hamilton |first1=Carrie |title=Re-membering the Basque nationalist family: Daughters, fathers and the reproduction of the radical nationalist community |journal=Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies |volume=1 |pages=153–71 |year=2000 |doi=10.1080/713683438 |issue=2|s2cid=144135906}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Basque}}
{{EB1911 poster|Basques}}
{{commons category|People of the Basque Country}}
* [http://www.basques.euskadi.net/t32-7413/en/ Basque Autonomous Government]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111118043051/http://www.8probintziak.com/ 8 Probintziak. Non profit association working with the basques in the world]
* [http://www.basque.unr.edu/oralhistory/index.htm Oroitzapenak Voices From Basque America], University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180421233206/http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/cdm/search/collection/basqcoll Basque Digital Collection], University of Nevada, Reno Special Collections
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180930043837/http://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/sheepherders/default.aspx Sheepherders of Northern Nevada], University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180421232444/http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/cdm/search/collection/basqpost Basque Posters], University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections
* [http://www.basque.unr.edu/oralhistory/index.htm Voices from Basque America] University of Nevada, Reno Libraries

{{Ethnic groups of Spain}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Basque people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups divided by international borders]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in France]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Spain]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South America]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Cuba]]