Pays Basque, France

The Basque Country or Euskal Herria (sometimes Eskual herria ) is a territory refers to the ethnic or population of tradition, culture and language Basque (the Basque language ) and the Basque history . It stretches from the Ebro to theAdour , on France and Spain , straddling the western end of the chain of the Pyrenees , and is bathed by the Bay of Biscay .

It is difficult to determine accurately the contours of Euskal Herria , the administrative boundaries do not always coincide with ethnic and cultural boundaries . According to the Academy of the Basque language , this is the Basque territories named in 1643 by writer Axular in the foreword of his book "Gero" , namely the seven traditional Basque provinces (Zazpiak Bat ): the Labourd the Soule , the Lower Navarre , the Navarre , the Biscay , the Alava and Guipuzcoa .

Based on this definition, Euskal Herria covers 20 500 km ² and has 3 million inhabitants , divided into three distinct political entities: two Spanish regions , the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (three provinces, Alava, Guipuzcoa Biscay and represent 35% of the territory and 72% of the total population) and Navarre (more than 50% of the territory and 19% of the total population) and a portion of the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques  : the French Basque Country (Lapurdi, Lower Navarre and Soule represent 15% of the territory and 9% of the population).