French Basque Country

The ancient Roman Lapurdum, from which the toponyms Labourd and Lapurdi originate, is a part of the Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne agglomeration community (BAB) alongside Biarritz and Anglet (Basque: Angelu), the most populated urban space in the territory.

These are based on the notion of a country in the traditional sense, as a society belonging to a place, culture, etc., promoting the organization and development of the territory in a global manner.

[12] On 1 January 2017, the Agglomeration Community of Basque Country,[13][14] was created: an intercommunal cooperation movement (EPCI), which promotes a greater level of autonomy, with the French administrative categorization as an official territorial administrative structure with greater abilities than a pays, but fewer than a French department, and that is made up of a union of ten commonwealths and 157 of the 159 Basque communes, plus one Béarnese community.

When Caesar conquered Gaul, he found all the region south and west of the Garonne inhabited by a people known as the Aquitani, who were not Celtic and are nowadays assumed to have been early Basques (see Aquitanian language).

In the year 418, the Visigoths moved to the region in accordance with a federation pact or foedus made with Rome, but they were forced to leave in 507 as a consequence of their defeat against the Merovingians led by King Clovis I at the battle of Vouillé.

[16] After Clovis I's death in 511, the heirs to his throne consolidated their northern possessions centered on Neustria and Austrasia, placing them under the direct control of the sovereign, while the rest of their territories were organized into autonomous entities led by powerful officials of the kingdom: counts, dukes, patricians, and vice chancellors, in accordance with the Merovingian tradition of decentralizing power.

Count Sans Sancion detached from the Franks and became the independent commander of Vasconia, but got involved in the Carolingian dynastic wars over succession after taking over Bordeaux (844), supporting the young Pepin II to the throne of Aquitaine.

Beginning in the 9th century, and in part due to the peregrination to Santiago de Compostela, a stable and long-lasting ecclesiastic organization was established in the region.

Meanwhile, Soule (Zuberoa) was constituted as an independent viscounty, generally supported by Navarre against the pretensions of the Counts of Béarn, though at times also it admitted a certain Angevin overlordship.

[21] With the end of the Hundred Years' War, Labourd and Soule passed to the Crown of France as autonomous provinces (pays d'état).

The three Basque provinces still enjoyed considerable autonomy until the French Revolution suppressed it radically, as it did elsewhere in France, eventually creating the department of Basses-Pyrénées, half-Basque and half-Gascon (Béarn, a former sovereign territory).

Third estate representatives of the Basque provinces attending the Estates-General of 1789 and the following national assemblies in Paris rejected the imposition of an alien political-administrative design, regarding the events with a blend of disbelief and indignation.

[citation needed] The mutual hostility and lack of trust between the new regime and the European monarchies led to the creation of the First Coalition against revolutionary France.

The political situation after the mass-deportation of civilians improved when General Moncey led the French to a counterattack in June 1794, expelling the Spanish, and even entering Gipuzkoa.

[clarification needed] On July 22, the Treaty of Basel was signed and the conflict ended, giving rise to a period of relative peace and prosperity.

In Soule, the emigration trend was mitigated by the establishment circa 1864 of a flourishing espadrille industry in Mauleon that attracted workers from Roncal and Aragon too.

The Basques were divided into Republicans, laicist Jacobins (but for a nuanced position held by Xaho), and Royalists (traditional Catholics), with the latter eventually prevailing in the area.

[28] Shepherding and small-scale mining and agriculture were the main economic activities, and were accompanied by the increased presence of customs officials, both locals and non-Basques.

The railway arrived at Hendaye in 1864 (Mauleon in 1880), increasing the flow of freight and people from outside the Basque Country, resulting in the growth of the non-Basque population especially on the coast, with Biarritz the most noteworthy case, in a colonie de peuplement type of settlement (Manex Goihenetxe, Eneko Bidegain).

), as the high nobility (e.g., Eugénie de Montijo) chose to take healing baths at spa resorts and sought to be closer to nature.

In 1851, the first Lore Jokoak took place in Urruña (restored floral games tradition) organized by a scholar of Basque-Irish origin, Antoine d'Abbadie (Anton Abbadia), followed by several more editions up to 1897.

While across the border Gipuzkoa and Biscay thrived on their shipbuilding and steel processing industry supplying the European war effort,[29] continental Basques under the age of 49 were required to travel to the front in north-east France.

[32] It also produced strengthened the notion in the Basque psyche that it is an integral part of the French nation, fostered by the above weekly Eskualduna on the grounds that "God champions France.

Over the last 200 years, the territory has shown a slow demographic rise: 126,493 (in 1801); 162,365 (1851); 226,749 (1979) (79% in Labourd, 13% in Lower Navarre, 8% in Soule); 259,850 (1990) (81%; 13%; 6% respectively); 262,000 (1999 census).

It ends in the Amikuze or Mixe Country region and the Soule province, where a dialect with great cohesion and defined traits can be found: Souletin.

The Navarro-Lapurdian dialect and Souletin have common characteristics that distinguish them from other Basque dialects, such as the pronunciation of /h/ (according to Koldo Mitxelena, it was lost around the 13th century in the Pyrenees territories due to Aragonese influence and became extinct on the Labourd coast around the 19th century, according to Louis Lucien Bonaparte), the differences in speech in the grammatical cases of Nor (absolutive) and Nork (ergative), and the use of the root *eradun in front of *edun used in speech on the other side of the Bidasoa (deraut vs. diot).

Below is an extract from the report of the Observatory of Linguistic Rights of Euskal Herria:[40]In the French State (Labourd, Lower Navarre, and Soule provinces).

Although Article 2.1 the Constitution proclaims the beginning of equality, it only recognizes legal protection for French, leaving the rest of the languages of the Republic in a state/environment of tolerance.

And thus no guaranteed linguistic rights.Since 1994, the ikastolas (Basque-medium schools) are recognized as educational establishments, with an association model, although they don't receive any state aid.

Thanks to the participation of individuals, companies, and communities, Herri Urrats, in collaboration with Seaska, has allowed for the opening of 20 elementary schools, three highschools and an institution for secondary education since 1984.