Basque Country (Concert of Europe)

The Basque Country (Spanish: País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herria) is a province of northeastern, bordered by to the east, the  to the north,  to the west, and  to the south. Once part of the kingdom of Navarre, it was made into a province in the 19th century following repeated demands from the Basques, the ethnnolinguistic group native to the region: later, it was expanded with the Basque-speaking French provinces of Labourd, Lower Navarre and Soule after the.

The region is home to the Basques, an ethnic group which speaks a language unrelated to all other known languages of the world: over the centuries, this contributed to create a strong Basque national identity. The territory of the Basque Country is mostly mountainous and forested, dominated by the Pyrenees. Large urban and industrial centres are located on the shores, which are also important Atlantic ports, while the inlands are predominantly rural, with agriculture and forestry being the most important economic activities.