BASQUE COUNTRY

PROVINCES: Álava, Guipúzcoa, Viscaya

Basque Country (Pais Vasco) is a region (autonomous community) on the north coast of Spain. It borders the Bay of Biscay to the north and the regions of Cantabria to the west, Navarra to the east, La Rioja and Castilla y León to the south. Also to the northeast it shares a border with France. The port city of Bilbao is it's largest city, claiming nearly half of the regions population.

The Basque mountains form the water divide and mark also the distinct climatic areas of the region: The northern valleys, in Biscay and Gipuzkoa and also the valley of Ayala in Álava, are part of the Green Spain, where oceanic climate is predominant, with its wet weather all year round and moderate temperatures. The middle section has a more Continental Mediterranean climate, but with some influence of the northern oceanic one, this causes dry and warm summers and cold and snowy winters.

Spanish and Basque are co-official languages of the region.