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Basque Country (autonomous community)

Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa /
Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco

Capital	Vitoria-Gasteiz
Official languages	Basque and Spanish
Area  - total  - % of Spain	Ranked 14th 7 234 km² 1,4%
Population  - Total (2003)  - % of Spain  - Density	Ranked 7th 2 108 281 5,0% 291,44/km²
Demonym  - English  - Basque  - Spanish	Basque euskal herritar, euskaldun vasco/a, vascongado/a
Statute of Autonomy	December 22, 1979
ISO 3166-2	PV
Parliamentary representation  Congress seats  Senate seats	19 3
President	Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu (PNV)

Basque Country (Basque Euskadi, Spanish País Vasco) is an autonomous community of the Spanish state whose capital is Vitoria (Basque Gasteiz). It is part of the larger Basque native lands, which are also called the ?Basque Country.?

The following Spanish provinces make up Basque Country:

• Álava (Basque Araba), capital Vitoria (Basque Gasteiz)
• Vizcaya (Basque Bizkaia), capital Bilbao (Basque Bilbo)
• Guipúzcoa (Basque Gipuzkoa), capital San Sebastián (Basque Donostia)

Before the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and its system of autonomous communities, these three provinces were known in Spanish as the Provincias Vascongadas.