Along the coast of the Bay of Biscay in Spain and France live people known as Basques. The earliest Basques settled in this rugged region of Europe long before Spain and France gained individual identities. Currently, most Basques live in Spain, but some live in France.

Early Basques

Basques are the most ancient surviving ethnic group in Western Europe. Their origin, however, remains unclear.

Farming was very important to early Basques. A family tended to own a small piece of farmland in a valley as well as slopes of grass. Though often far from one another, the farmhouses were loosely grouped into villages.

Early Basques were also known for their ability to build ships. As early as the 14th and 15th centuries, they sailed to far places on whaling and fishing voyages.

Development

The Basque people have become increasingly involved in activities besides farming. The region has come to include large industrial towns in which they produce lumber, furniture, iron, and steel. As a result of the Basque region becoming more urban, however, much of Basque culture has been lost.

Language

The Basque language is known as Euskara. Many languages of Europe are similar to one another, but Euskara stands out as being very different. Though Euskara is still spoken in some mountain areas and is used in some schools in Spain's Basque Country, most Basques speak either Spanish or French.

Religion

During the 10th century, Basques were converted to Christianity. Most Basques in the 21st century practice Roman Catholicism.

Separatist movement

For many years, there have been Basques living in Spain who do not like being under that nation's control. These people are known as separatists because they want to separate from Spain and form an independent Basque nation.

During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, separatists created an independent Basque republic. The new government, however, did not last very long. Some Spanish Basques chose to leave Spain to move to other places, including the French Basque Country.

When the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975, new efforts began to make a separate nation. In 1978, Spain's constitution gave Spanish Basques some of the freedom they wanted. Some people, however, still felt complete control was necessary and were willing to use violence against the government. Many of these Basques belonged to a terrorist group known as the ETA. Local support for the group went up and down in the last decades of the 20th century, with new interest coming in the late 1980s when other areas of Europe were making political changes.