Basque Country

(Vascongadas; Vasconia; Euzkadi in Basque), a historic national district in northern Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It was an autonomous region in Spain in 1936–37. Area, 7,260 sq km. Population, 1,834,500 in 1969, most of whom are Basques. It includes the provinces of Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, and Álava. The chief city and port is Bilbao. The Basque country occupies the lower eastern portion of the Cantabrian Mountains (elevation to 1,475 m) and the coastal hills rising above the Bay of Biscay. The climate is temperate maritime. The forests consist of broad-leaved trees (beech, oak, chestnut).

The Basque country is a major heavy industry region, which accounts for almost one-sixth of the gross value of output of the manufacturing industry in Spain. Despite depleted deposits and diminishing yields, the Basque country (province of Vizcaya) produces more than one-fourth of the total iron ore output in Spain (1.7 million tons in 1963). Lead and zinc ore deposits are also exploited (in the province of Guipúzcoa and, to some extent, in Vizcaya). The Basque country provides only one-fifth of its own electric power requirements—that is, 729 million kilowatt-hours, 41.5 percent of which is supplied by a thermal electric power plant (1966). The chief manufacturing industries are metallurgy (17.5 percent of the total work force and 40 percent of the gross value of output of the manufacturing industry of the region) and metalworking and machine-building (55 percent of the total work force and 30 percent of the gross value of output). The Basque country accounts for more than one-fourth of the total production of cast iron and more than one-third of the production of steel and rolled metal in Spain. Metallurgical production is concentrated in the Bilbao area; steel foundries and rolling mills are also located in the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Álava. Shipbuilding (approximately one-third of all dockyards in the country, including the two largest shipyards in Bilbao), the machine tool industry, the production of railroad equipment, electrical equipment, hoists, weapons, and so forth are well-developed. Bilbao and San Sebastián are the principal machine-building centers. Other industries include chemicals (production of acids and fertilizers, plastics, coke by-products), paper (approximately one-fourth of the total output in Spain), cement, and food. The agricultural specialty of the maritime provinces is the raising of meat and dairy livestock; farming is the principal activity of the province of Álava. Viticulture and wine making are carried on in all areas. The fishing industry is centered at the port of Pasajes. Seaside health resorts are concentrated mainly in the area around San Sebastián.