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The
Basque Country lies in the north of Spain and basks on the Cantabrian
coast. It borders the Cantabrian sea in the north, Navarre in the east, La
Rioja in the south, and Castile and Leon and Cantabria in the west.
The
Basque coast has abundant cliffs and sheer rock faces. The most important
feature of its orography is formed by the so-called Montes Vascos (Basque
Mountains), to the south of which stretches the plain called the Vitoria
Plain or the Concha de Álava (Shell of Álava). The northern part of the
region has numerous valleys that run parallel with the coast. The final
spurs of the Pyrenees can be found in the north east of the region on the
border with France. The Montes Vascos connect the Pyrenees with the first
few spurs of the Cantabrian mountain range in the west, where the first
sierras of the range start to appear. In spite of the many mountains in
the region, the altitude of its peaks is relatively low. The most
significant is Gorbea Peak at 1,544 metres high, and is the highest summit
in the Basque country. Most of the Basque Country´s water supply comes
from Cantabria. The most notable rivers in the region include Bidasoa,
Urumea, Oria, Urola, Deva, Ibaizabal and el Nervion, that are all
generally short with copious amounts of water flowing along their banks
and ending up in deep estuaries. In the south the Bayas and the Zadorra
rivers are tributaries of the river Ebro.
Population
The
population of this autonomous region according to figures from the Spanish
National Statistics Institute (INE) as of the 1st of January 2001, after
having reviewed the Inhabitants register, is 2,101,478.
The
breakdown by province is as follows: Alava: 288,793 inhabitants,
Guipuzcoa: 680,069 inhabitants and Biscay: 1,132,616 inhabitants. This
autonomous region experienced a population boom throughout the twentieth
century. The increase was most notable during the fifties. The Basque
Country is noted for having a high population density, which can be
clearly seen in the coastal provinces of Biscay and Guipuzcoa.
Administration
This
is comprised of three provinces that include: Alava (Araba), Guipuzcoa
(Gipuzkoa) and Biscay (Bizkaia). The Basque political administration is
organised in two different ways: Regional administration and historic
administration. The capital is Vitoria or Gasteiz as it is known in
Basque.
The
Regional Administration is made up of the Basque Government and the Basque
Parliament, while the historic administration is made up of general
councils within the region that include: Biscay, Alava and Guipuzcoa, that
also have there own historic councils. The Basque Autonomy Statute was
approved in December 1979, and states that the autonomous region is made
up of “historic territories” that include Alava, Guipuzcoa and Biscay.
It also states that the native language of the Basques (Euskera), must be
officially recognised along with Spanish. The Basque parliament is made up
of 75 seats, and 25 of these seats correspond to each of the
aforementioned historic territories. The members of the Basque parliament
are elected every four years.
Weather
The
Basque Country is characterised by its Atlantic climate, although inland
the climate is continental.
The
general characteristics of the Atlantic climate are dominant, being damp
and with mild temperatures, becoming somewhat more extreme inland and in
the mountainous areas, where snowfall is frequent in the winter months.
Infrastructures
The
Basque infrastructure is extremely well developed for all types of
transport: including all kinds of road, rail, air and sea journeys.
The
road network is renowned for its peninsular intersection connecting the
north with the south (Irun-Madrid) and east with west
(Barcelona-Zaragoza-Cantabria), as well as the N-I road that crosses the
whole region. The large merchant ports of the Basque Country are located
in Bilbao and Pasajes. There are also another fifteen smaller ports in the
region. Passenger and freight air traffic can be found on the outskirts of
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián. The train network is
linked to the rest of Spain by RENFE. Regional railways are run by FEVE
and Eusko Tren.
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