Basque Language

Basque language, also called Euskara or Euskera, language isolate, the only remnant of the languages spoken in southwestern Europe before the region was Romanized in the 2nd through 1st century bce. The Basque language is predominantly used in an area comprising approximately 3,900 square miles (10,000 square kilometres) in Spain and France. There are also significant numbers of Basque speakers elsewhere in Europe and in the Americas. Although few statistics are available, the number of speakers, who are largely bilingual, was estimated in the early 21st century to be approaching one million.

In Spain the Basque country comprises the province of Guipúzcoa, parts of Vizcaya (Biscay) and Navarra (Navarre), and a corner of Álava. The French Basque country is centred in the western region of the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The Basques derived their self-name, Euskaldunak, from Euskara, the ethnonym for the language.

The Basque language attained official status for a short period (1936–37) during the Spanish Civil War. In 1978, Basque and Castilian Spanish became the official languages of the autonomous Basque Country of Spain.