The Southern Basque Country (Basque: Hegoalde, Hego Euskal Herria; Spanish: País Vasco sur, País Vasco peninsular), also known as the Spanish Basque Country (Basque: Espainiako Euskal Herria; Spanish: País Vasco español), is the Basque territories southside of the Pyrenees, within the Iberian Peninsula.
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👉 Southern Basque Country in the context of Carlist Wars
The Carlist Wars (Spanish: guerras carlistas, Basque: karlistadak) were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 1876 the Carlists—followers of Don Carlos (1788–1855), an infante, and of his descendants—rallied to the cry of "God, Country, and King" and fought for the cause of Spanish tradition (Legitimism and Catholicism) against liberalism, and later the republicanism, of the Spanish governments of the day. The Carlist Wars had a strong regional component (Basque region, Catalonia, etc.), given that the new order called into question region-specific law arrangements and customs kept for centuries.
When King Ferdinand VII of Spain died in 1833, his widow, Queen Maria Cristina, became regent on behalf of their two-year-old daughter Queen Isabella II. The country splintered into two factions known as the Cristinos (or Isabelinos) and the Carlists. The Cristinos supported Queen Maria Cristina and her government, and were the party of the Liberals. The Carlists advocated for Infante Carlos of Spain, Count of Molina, a pretender to the throne and brother of the deceased Ferdinand VII. Carlos denied the validity of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 that abolished the semi Salic Law (he was born before 1830). The Carlists wanted a return to autocratic monarchy.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Southern Basque Country
- 👉 Southern Basque Country in the context of Carlist Wars
- Southern Basque Country in the context of Atlantic Europe
- Southern Basque Country in the context of French Basque Country
- Southern Basque Country in the context of Navarre
- Southern Basque Country in the context of Basque Country (autonomous community)
- Southern Basque Country in the context of Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
Southern Basque Country in the context of Atlantic Europe
Atlantic Europe encompasses the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region.
It comprises Ireland, Great Britain, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the central and northern regions of Portugal, northwestern and northern Spain (including Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Southern Basque Country, and some portions of Castile and León), the southwestern and western portion of France (Northern Basque Country), western Scandinavia as well as western and northern Germany.
Southern Basque Country in the context of French Basque Country
The French Basque Country (French: Pays basque français; Occitan: País Basc francés; Basque: Frantses Euskal Herria), or Northern Basque Country (French: Pays basque nord; Occitan: País Basc nòrd; Basque: Ipar Euskal Herria, or Iparralde, lit. 'the Northern Region'), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (Basque: Euskal Hirigune Elkargoa; French: Communauté d'Agglomeration du Pays Basque) presided over by Jean-René Etchegaray.
It includes three former historic French provinces in the north-east of the traditional Basque Country totalling 2,967 km (1,146 sq mi): Lower Navarre (French: Basse-Navarre; Basque: Nafarroa Beherea), until 1789 nominally Kingdom of Navarre, with 1,284 km (496 sq mi); Labourd (Lapurdi), with 800 km (310 sq mi); Soule (Zuberoa), with 785 km (303 sq mi). The population included in the Basque Municipal Community amounts to 309,723 inhabitants distributed in 158 municipalities.
Southern Basque Country in the context of Navarre
Navarre (/nəˈvɑːr/ nə-VAR; Spanish: Navarra [naˈβara] ; Basque: Nafarroa [nafaro.a]), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France. The capital city is Pamplona (Basque: Iruña). The present-day province makes up the majority of the territory of the medieval Kingdom of Navarre, a long-standing Pyrenean kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost part, Lower Navarre, located in the southwest corner of France.
Navarre is in the transition zone between the green Cantabrian Coast and semi-arid interior areas and thus its landscapes vary widely across the region. Being in a transition zone also produces a highly variable climate, with summers that are a mix of cooler spells and heat waves, and winters that are mild for the latitude. Navarre is considered by Basque nationalists to be one of the historic Basque provinces: its Basque features are conspicuous in the north, but virtually absent on the southern fringes. The best-known event in Navarre is the annual festival of San Fermín held in Pamplona in July.
Southern Basque Country in the context of Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community (/bæsk, bɑːsk/), also officially called Euskadi ([eus̺kadi]), is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava (Araba), Biscay (Bizkaia), and Guipúzcoa (Gipuzkoa). It surrounds two enclaves, Treviño and Valle de Villaverde.
The Basque Country was granted the status of nationality, attributed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The autonomous community is based on the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, a foundational legal document providing the framework for the development of the Basque people on Southern Basque Country. Parallelly, Navarre, which narrowly rejected a joint statute of autonomy in 1932, was granted a separate chartered statute in 1982.
Southern Basque Country in the context of Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 (Basque: Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko Estatutua; Spanish: Estatuto de Autonomía del País Vasco), widely known as the Statute of Gernika (Basque: Gernikako Estatutua; Spanish: Estatuto de Guernica), is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' (Basque: Euskadiko Autonomi Erkidegoa) which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Statute was named "Statute of Gernika" after the city of Gernika, where its final form was approved on 29 December 1978. It was ratified by referendum on 25 October 1979, despite the abstention of more than 40% of the electorate. The statute was accepted by the lower house of the Spanish Parliament on November 29 and the Spanish Senate on December 12.
The statute was meant to encompass all the historical provinces inhabited by the Basque people in Spain, who had proved a strong will for acknowledgement of a separate identity and status, even in non Basque nationalist circles. A draft statute for the Spanish Basque Country was then drawn up to provide for that urge with a view to comprising all the historically Basque territories. However, the blueprint came up against much opposition in Navarre (Unión del Pueblo Navarro party founded) and rightist and nationalist circles of the still Francoist central administration. At the beginning of the 1980s the Spanish Socialist party and their regional branch too swerved to a Navarre-only stance, paving the way to a separate autonomous community.