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The Basques ("Euskaldunak") are an indigenous people who inhabit parts of both Spain and France. They are found predominantly in four provinces in Spain and three in France. This area is to be found around the western edge of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay.

This article covers the Basques as an ethnic group or (in some people's view) nation, rather than covering all people who live in the Basque areas. Inevitably, it partly shares its focus with texts that consider the history of such regions. This article takes the particular perspective of viewing that history as it impinges on the Basques as a people.

1 History

1.1 Origin of Basques

The most important sources about the early history of the Basques are the classical writers, especially Strabo, who confirms that at about the time of the birth of Jesus, the western part of the Pyrenees were inhabited by a people known as the Vascons. This is quite identifiable as the origin of the Romance word "Basque". Further evidence for these people being BasqueBasque is the language spoken by the Basque people, who live in northern Spain and the adjoining area of southwestern France. The Standard Basque name for the language is euskara other dialectal forms are euskera eskuara and skara''. Although it is geogra-speaking Basques is provided when lists of names and place names are considered.

The pre-history of the Basques before that time is necessarily conjectural. Among the theories in contention are:

1. The Basques arrived as part of the Indo-EuropeanIndo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. By extension, it became a collective name for cultures and religions associated with these languages. Hypothetically, these cultures arose from the expansion of invasion of EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se, circa 2000 BC.
2. The Basques arrived far earlier, when the Cro-MagnonThe Cro-Magnons form the earliest known examples of Homo sapiens sapiens the subspecies to which modern humans belong. Archaeologists believe them to have lived from about 45,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic period of the Pleistocene epoch invasion displaced the Homo neanderthalensis.

In any event, it is widely believed that the Basques have occupied a single region of Europe longer than any other identifiable ethnic group. There is also considerable evidence that the Basque language was once spoken over a much wider area than the modern day Basque country. The Dark AgesThe Dark Ages is a concept invented in the early 14th Century by the poet Petrarch who used it to describe the preceding 900 years in Europe, beginning with the fall of the western Roman Empire in 410 through to the renewal embodied in the Renaissance. and the ReconquistaThe Reconquista ( Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest was the conquest of the Moorish kingdoms of Spain and Portugal by Christian rulers, culminating on January 2, 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"), expelled extended the Basque territory beyond the limits of the Roman age.

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Basque languageBasque is the language spoken by the Basque people, who live in northern Spain and the adjoining area of southwestern France. The Standard Basque name for the language is euskara other dialectal forms are euskera eskuara and skara''. Although it is geogra BasqueThis article is about the Basque people. For the article of clothing, see basque (clothing). The Basques Euskaldunak are an indigenous people who inhabit parts of both Spain and France. They are found predominantly in four provinces in Spain and three in Basque (clothing)A basque is a kind of tight bodice designed as a piece of women's clothing. Nowadays the basque is often thought of as a piece of erotic lingerie, with fetishistic overtones. See also corset Clothing. Basque Country (autonomous community)Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa Comunidad Autonoma del Pais Vasco Capital Vitoria-Gasteiz Official languages Basque and Spanish Area total % of Spain Ranked 14th 7 234 km² 1,4% Population Total (2003) % of Spain Density Ranked 7th 2 108 281 5,0% 291,44/km² Dem Basque nationalismGernika oak is a symbol of Basque freedoms. The Basque nationalist movement had its roots in the early 1876 when the Spanish government revoked the "fueros" or Basque legal system and juridical identity, which meant then the last remnants of Basque sovere Basque Nationalist PartyThe Basque Nationalist Party is a political party in the Basque region of Spain. In Basque it is called Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea (EAJ) and in Spanish it is called the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV). In Spain it is commonly referred to as EAJ-PNV. The Fre Basque music Basque Country