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Provinces of the Basque Country or Euskal Herria?
Many of you ask us about the provinces of the Basque Country, well, today we are going to talk about them, about the official and cultural ones, about all of them. The Basque people are understood as all those regions that share culture, history and language, 3 axes without which the term Basque cannot be understood.
Basque official and cultural provinces.
- Official provinces: Currently and officially, the Basque Country is called the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country or Euskadi, a community formed by 3 provinces: Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba.
- Cultural provinces: If we leave officialdom aside and focus on the regions that share the same culture, we find Euskal Herria, a European cultural region located on both sides of the Pyrenees, a territory, which currently belongs to the countries of Spain and France. Euskal Herria is composed of 7 regions or provinces: Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba, Navarra, Lapurdi, Behe Nafarroa and Zuberoa.
The term Euskal Herria includes Navarre and the French Basque Country, 2 areas that, although not officially part of the Basque Country, share the same language and culture. Do you want to know more about the provinces of the Basque Country and Euskal Herria?
The provinces of the Basque Country and Euskal Herria.
As you have been able to see, when we talk about the Basque provinces we must take into account if we talk about them officially or culturally. If we do it in an official way we could say that the so loved and requested French Basque Country does not exist as such, we would be talking about a part of France in which the culture and traditions of the Basque Country are present.
From TurismoVasco.com we always like to take into account each and every one of the corners in which our culture is present, that is why we talk about the 7 regions or territories. Places with the same culture and traditions, but with very different charms.
- Bizkaia: The province that hosts the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is internationally known, but what about its charms? Do you know them? Visiting the Basque Country and not enjoying authentic jewels of our people as San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the Bizkaia Bridge, the fishing villages of the Biscayan coast, the 7 streets of Bilbao, Urdaibai, the Gorbeia Natural Park and many others is a crime.
- Gipuzkoa: San Sebastian, Donostia, La Bella Easo…there are many names with which the capital of Gipuzkoa is known, undoubtedly one of the most welcoming and charming cities in the Basque Country. A city that prepares us for the many charms that can be found in the interior of the province of Gipuzkoa. Start with the charming villages of Gipuzkoa and end with a project created by the people as Albaola, you will not be disappointed!
- Araba: Vitoria-Gasteiz, the green city of the Basque Country, one of the cities with the highest quality of life in the Basque Country. Its parks, marshes, the green ring, the historic center (old Gasteiz) and the old cathedral are well worth a visit. On the outskirts of the city, the Rioja Alavesa and the Salinas de Añana are two of the most visited places by our readers, visit them!
The 3 provinces we have mentioned are the ones that occupy the official section, while the 4 mentioned below, together with the first 3, make up the 7 Basque regions, culturally speaking.
- Nafarroa: In the 17th century, the Kingdom of Navarre occupied a large part of what today we call Euskal Herria, and the fact is that the current region of Navarre was one of the most important centers of the ancient Vasconia. The walls of Navarre together with magical places like the Bardenas Reales, the villages of the Navarrese Pyrenees or Olite will make you fall in love with them.
- French Basque Country: Coast and inland, the French Basque Country offers us authentic gifts for our sight. The department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques located in the region of Akitania forms the area known as the French Basque Country or Iparralde (Basque term used to refer to the French Basque Country and which means Iparraldeko Aldea, the northern area). The French Basque Country is made up of the provinces of Lapurdi, Behe Nafarroa and Zuberoa, 3 provinces that together with the 4 provinces, make up the 7 Basque provinces culturally speaking.
When we talk about the Basque provinces in France we always refer to charming coastal towns like Hendaye or inland as Donibane Garazi but there are many charming villages that await us.
These are the Basque provinces, now you know that there are 2 options when talking about them, the official ones and the cultural or historical ones. What do you think?
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