The Basque Country

You may be wondering yourselves, what exactly is Euskal Herria?

Well, Euskal Herria is the Basque Country.

And what is the Basque Country then?

You can find that answer following this link.

This is the information you will find there:

The Basque Country

The Basque Country is a nation in southwestern Europe.

It is currently divided between two states: France and Spain. Our country is located on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, on both slopes of the Western Pyrenees that separate Spain and France.

The Basque Country is the territory which is historically, ethnically and culturally Basque. Spanish and French may call Basque Country (Pays Basque, País Vasco) only to a portion of the country, not the whole nation. Nevertheless, Basques conceive their country as embracing the area of the traditional seven provinces: Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba and Nafarroa on the Spanish side, Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa on the French side.

These provinces are divided among three politico-administrative structures. Two are within the Spanish State: the Basque Autonomous Community (formed by Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and the Autonomous Community of Navarre (Nafarroa alone). The three provinces within the French State are not autonomous. They form, along with Bearn, the French department of Pyrenees Atlantiques (capital Pau, in Bearn), which is part of the region of Aquitaine (capital Bordeaux).

The Basque Country is a little nation: just 20.864 sq. km and 2.9 million people. Only 650.000 of them speak Basque, mostly in the Spanish side (only 70.000 in the French side). There is another minority language in the Basque Country: Occitan; several hundred people (or a few thousand) speak Gascon and Bearnais dialects of Occitan in the french side of the Basque Country.

The Basque name of the Basque Country is Euskal Herria.

The Basque word for the language is Euskara.

Euskal Herria is formed from euskal, the combining form of Euskara, plus herri 'country', with the article -a.

Euskadi is also used for the Basque Country. This is a political name, coined at the end of the 19th century. Sometimes spelled as Euzkadi, it has been translated as Basque Fatherland or Basque State. Lately, Euskadi is used just to name the territory under the Basque Autonomous Government (only three provinces out of seven).

That territory, the Basque Autonomous Community is oficially called Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa in Basque (initials: EAE), and Comunidad Autonoma Vasca in Spanish (initials: CAV). It is important to note that most of the Basque Country lies outside the borders of this autonomous administration.

What Spaniards and French call "Spanish" or "French Basque Country" is called Northern or Southern Basque Country by the Basques:

Ipar Euskal Herria or Iparralde for the northern part (under France).

Hego Euskal Herria or Hegoalde for the southern part (under Spain).

You will find more information about Euskal Herria and the Basques at that same page.

.... ... .