THE BASQUES: An analysis to their claim of nationhood The Basque “nation” –for lack of a better word– is composed of seven different “provinces” –for the lack of a better word– four are located within the borders of Spain and three within those of France in the triangle formed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Garonne and Ebro rivers, as shown in the map below. Euskera-Herria, is the Basque name given to these seven provinces. The Basques are the descendants of the native inhabitants of the area who are referred to as the proto-Basques and for the most part did not mix with other ethnic groups. Basque speak a language called Euskera, which has been proven to be older any other Indo-European language. It is considered by linguistic experts, as perhaps, the oldest living languages in Europe and it is unrelated to any of the families of Indo-European languages The Basques are an ancient people whose history is deeply intertwined with the people of Spain and France. Toward the end of the tumultuous period that followed the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Navarre (Nafarroa in Basque), centered in Pamplona, came into being. Originally this kingdom covered all of modern Navarre, plus the three Vascongadas, or Basque countries (Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Araba), and the modern French Basque countries, and into neighboring areas in modern Spain. When the moors invaded Spain, Navarre was never conquered, thus it retained many Basque characteristics Navarre was probably not a "Kingdom of the Basques", but it was a kingdom whose dominant ethnic group were the Basques . Through the high and late middle ages Navarre gradually lost bits of its territory through various dynastic marriages and inheritances, as well as through a move from the estates of the three Vascongadas to place themselves in allegiance to the crown of Castille. By 1500 the Basques lived in three kingdoms: Navarre, Spain, a...
