BASQUE PROVINCES (Provincias Vascongadas). The three Spanish provinces known by this name, which are distinguished from all the other divisions of Spain by the character, language, and manners of the inhabitants, and by
the enjoyment of political privileges which make the form of their government nearly republican, are Biscay (Vizcaya), Guipúzcoa, and Alava. The territory occupied by them is in the form of a triangle, bounded on the N. by the Bay of Biscay, S. by Soria, E. by Navarra and part of France, and W. by Santander and Burgos. It comprises an area of 2958 square miles; pop. in 1849, 373,149. These three provinces are more particularly described under their respective heads. The ancient French Basque provinces now form the arrondissements of Bayonne and Mauléon.