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Basque Country (autonomous community)

Autonomous communities of SpainBasqueBasque Country (autonomous community)Green SpainNUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union
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Flag of the Basque Country
Flag of the Basque Country

The Basque Country (; Basque: Euskadi [eus̺kadi]; Spanish: País Vasco [paˈiz ˈβasko]; French: Pays Basque), also called Basque Autonomous Community (Basque: Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, EAE; Spanish: Comunidad Autónoma Vasca, CAV), is an autonomous community in northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa. It also surrounds an enclave called Treviño, which belongs to the neighboring autonomous community of Castile and León. The Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community was granted the status of nationality within Spain, attributed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The autonomous community is based on the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, a foundational legal document providing the framework for the development of the Basque people on Spanish soil. Navarre, which had narrowly rejected a joint statute of autonomy with Gipuzkoa, Álava and Biscay in 1932, was granted a separate statute in 1982. Currently there is no official capital in the autonomous community, but the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the province of Álava, is the de facto capital as the location of the Basque Parliament, the headquarters of the Basque Government, and the residence of the President of the Basque Autonomous Community (the Palace of Ajuria Enea). The High Court of Justice of the Basque Country has its headquarters in the city of Bilbao. Whilst Vitoria-Gasteiz is the largest municipality in area, with 277 km2 (107 sq mi), Bilbao is the largest in population, with 353,187 people, located in the province of Biscay within a conurbation of 875,552 people. The term Basque Country may also refer to the larger cultural region (Basque: Euskal Herria), the home of the Basque people, which includes the autonomous community.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Basque Country (autonomous community) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Basque Country (autonomous community)
Maite Zuñiga kalea/Calle Maite Zúñiga, Vitoria-Gasteiz Mendizorrotza (Aretxabaleta)

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N 42.833333333333 ° E -2.6833333333333 °
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Maite Zuñiga kalea/Calle Maite Zúñiga

Maite Zuñiga kalea/Calle Maite Zúñiga
01007 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Mendizorrotza (Aretxabaleta)
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain
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Basque Parliament
Basque Parliament

The Basque Parliament (Basque: Eusko Legebiltzarra, Spanish: Parlamento Vasco) is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament meets in the Basque capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, although the first session of the modern assembly, as constituted by the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, was held in Guernica – the symbolic centre of Basque freedoms – on 31 March 1980. Later in 1980 it started meeting at the premises of the Council of Álava. In 1982, it got its own site in a former high school. The symbol of the Parliament is an oaken sculpture by Nestor Basterretxea representing a stylized tree, an allusion to the tradition of Basque political assemblies meeting under a tree, as in Guernica. It is composed of seventy-five deputies representing citizens from the three provinces of the Basque autonomous community. Each province (Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay) elects the same number of deputies, despite their having very different levels of population. This was chosen to earn support from Álava and Navarre, less populated territories. Still, Navarre did not join the autonomous community. The elections are held using closed list proportional representation with seats allocated on a Provincial basis using the D'Hondt method of allocation. To qualify for seats in a particular province, electoral lists must receive at least 3% of the votes cast in that province, including votes "en blanco" for "none of the above." From 1984 to 2001, the election threshold was 5% in each province. Sessions of the Basque Parliament are conducted in both Basque and Spanish, with translation services. The Parliament consists of 75 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage under a system of proportional representation.