Pays Basque | Aquitaine Region | South West France

Pays Basque

When we mention the Pays Basque in the South West site, we are in fact referring to the three French Basque provinces (Soule, Basse-Navarre and Labourde) of the Basque Country or Euskal-herri that includes these three "French" provinces plus four Spanish ones.

The origins of the Basque people pre-date the Indo-European settlements of Europe. The Basque language, spoken by 20% of the current population, is very different from Gaellic and European languages spoken in the rest of the world today. The Basques also have a very distinct and lively culture, sports such as Pelote and their own cuisine.

Basse-Navarre was previously the north of the Kingdom of Navarre, capital Pamplona (now in Spain), that was conquered by the Spanish Kings in 16th Century and seperated into two provinces, Basse (Low) to the North and Haute (High) to the South. Pamplona remained capital of the Haute-Navarre, while Saint-Palais became capital of the Basse-Navarre, under the control of the Bourbons. The borders of Navarre had changed over time and various attempts had been made to unify all the Basque people under the throne of Navarre. However the division of the Kingdom into two provinces eventually led to the division of Navarre between France and Spain that exists today.

Geographically, inland Pays Basque is very similar to Béarn, with foothills, valleys and mountains. The Pays Basque, however is particularly famous for the Basque Coast (Côte Basque) with the popular costal resorts of Biarritz and Saint Jean-de-Luz being the most popular holiday destinations.

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Other towns in the Aquitaine region:

The Dordogne
Bordeaux
The Bassin d'Arcachon and Arrachon
Lacanau  
Biarritz
Bayonne
Saint Jean de Luz
Dax
Pau
Pays Basque