Portal:Basque/Intro

The Territory of the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria) is a cultural region in the western Pyrenees mountains that spans the border of France and Spain, extending down to the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It corresponds more or less with the homeland of the Basque people and language.

According to the Basque tradition, the Basque Country is made up of seven regions. The four regions Laurak Bat to the south, within Spain, form Hegoalde (“south zone”), while the three to the northeast, within France, form Iparralde (“north zone”).

The southern Basque Country falls within the Spanish autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre, and the Northern Basque Country forms part of the French département of Pyrénées Atlantiques. (More about the historical territory of the Basque Country...)