Basque Origins | DNA, Language, and History

From the Spanish and French valleys of the Western Pyrenees to the Atlantic coast of the Bay of Biscay, the historically isolated Basque people have lived for millennia. In this diverse and fertile region, the Basque have retained their unique non-Indo-European language and dialects, Euskara, as well as their own cultural and regional identities. As the surrounding populations of Europe have shifted over the ages again and again, the Basque people remain. Known today by its inhabitants as Euskadi, País Vasco, or Euskal Herria, the Basque Country has become a region famous for its cuisine and wine of ancient grapes such as Tempranillo, of traditional fishing villages and picturesque cities. Tourism has replaced much of history’s strife. But defining Euskal Herria is as difficult as defining the word Herria itself. In Euskara its root herri can mean everything from village to population to nation. Euskal Herria is the collective identity of this ancient people. Basque Country has hist