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EUSKAL HERRIA IN DEPTH: Territory

• Presentation
• Territory
• Population
• Economy and society
• Basque and education
• Culture
• Municipalities
• Euskal Diaspora

 In its origins, the concept of Euskal Herria had an extremely cultural dimension, it being the term used since the XVI century by Basque speakers to refer to the territories in which their language was actually spoken, as well as to those which, while not using the language itself, bore the mark of Basqueness. As of the end of the XIX century, it also took on a political dimension, being considered the land of the Basque nation.

The territory occupies a surface area of 20,664 km2 in the Bay of Biscay and on the western slopes of the Pyrenees. It has a language of its own, Euskera, Spanish and French also being spoken. It has a population of almost 3,000,000, of which about 2,500,000 have Spanish citizenship and the rest French. Euskal Herria is divided into seven provinces (sometimes referred to using the Basque term herrialdes):

• Bizkaia:
• Gipuzkoa
• Araba
• Nafarroa
• Nafarroa Beherea; French: Basse Navarre
• Lapurdi; Fr. Labourd)
• Zuberoa, Xiberu, Xüberoa; Fr. Soule)

Main cities:

• Bilbao, population: 353,173 (2005)
• Vitoria/Gasteiz, population: 226,490
• Iruña /Pamplona, population: 193,328
• Donostia/ San Sebastian, population: 182,930
• Barakaldo, population: 95,260
• Getxo, population: 86,435
• Irun, population: 59,557
• Portugalete, population: 50,357
• Santurce, population: 47,155
• Baiona/Bayonne, population: 44,300