The autonomous community of the Basque Country within Spain contains several comarcas or eskualdeak in the Basque language, referring to local districts, grouped into its three long-established provinces.
The Basque Government's statistics department Eustat has divided the districts using a 20-comarca modelLa actividad industrial registró caídas generalizadas en prácticamente todas las comarcas vascas en 2012 [Industrial activity registered generalized falls in practically all the Basque regions in 2012], Eustat, 19 May 2014 (in Spanish) (seven in Biscay, seven in Gipuzkoa and six in Álava)Cuatro comarcas de Gipuzkoa superan la media de población inmigrante de la CAV [Four regions of Gipuzkoa exceed the average immigrant population of the BAC], Noticias de Gipuzkoa, 2 February 2020 (in Spanish) in its reports relating to the local economy and demographic trends on a consistent basis since at least 1999:
List of comarcas Comarca nameProvincePopulation(January 2020)Population of the Basque Country by province, according to place of birth. 01/01/2020, Eustat; retrieved 28 March 2021EnglishSpanishBasqueAñana /Alava Valleys Cuadrilla de Añana /Valles AlavesesValles Alaveses, Basque Country TourismAñanako Koadrila /Arabako HaranakÁlava6,159Ayala /Cantabrian AlavaCuadrilla de Ayala /Cantábrica AlavesaAiarako Koadrila /Kantauri Arabarra34,704Riojan Alava Cuadrilla de Rioja AlavesaArabako Errioxako Eskualdea11,624Plain of Alava Llanada AlavesaArabako Lautada265,868Alava Mountains Montaña AlavesaArabako Mendialdea 3,023Lands of GorbeaCuadrilla de la Estribaciones del Gorbea/Cuadrilla de ZuiaGorbeialdeko Kuadrilla/Zuiako Eskualdea8,831Arratia-NerbioiArratia-NerviónArratia-NerbioiBiscay24,024Lands of Busturia-Urdaibai/Guernica-Bermeo Guernica-Bermeo/Busturialdea-UrdaibaiGernika-Bermeo/Busturialdea-Urdaibai45,973Lands of DurangoDuranguesadoDurangaldea100,052EnkarterriLas EncartacionesEnkartazioak32,021Greater BilbaoGran BilbaoBilbo Handia863,090Lea-Artibai/Markina-OndarroaLea Artibai/Marquina-OndárroaLea-Artibai/Markina-Ondarroa26,217Lands of Mungia/Plentzia-Mungia/Lands of Uribe-ButroeMungialdea/Plencia-Mungia/Uribe-ButroeGobernanza sostenible Búsqueda por Comarca [Sustainable governance Search by Region], Provincial Council of Bizkaia - Diputación Foral de Bizkaia (in Spanish)Mungialdea/Plentzia-Mungia/Uribe-Butroe57,667Lower Bidasoa Bajo BidasoaBidasoa BeheaGipuzkoa77,192Lower Deba Bajo Deva Debabarrena55,870Upper DebaAlto Deva Debagoiena63,313Lands of San SebastiánComarca de San SebastiánDonostialdea329,086GoierriGoyerriGoierri68,719Lands of TolosaZona de TolosaTolosaldea49,546Urola CoastUrola CostaUrola Kosta76,732
Alternative definitions As the comarca boundaries are not defined in law, various other broadly similar combinations have been published depending on the date, range and purpose of the data collection.La crisis económica va por comarcas [The economic crisis goes by regions], EL Diario], 10 January 2015 (in Spanish) Examples include:
Biscay province: the conurbations on either side of the Estuary of Bilbao within the Greater Bilbao comarca, known as the Left Bank and the Right Bank, are sometimes counted separately both from one another and from the city of Bilbao itself.Mapa de Comarcas de Bizkaia - Año: 2010; Indicador: I4 Jóvenes de 24 a 34 años [Map of Regions of Bizkaia - Year: 2010; Indicator: I4 Young people between 24 and 34 years old], Diputación Foral de Bizkaia (in Spanish) Less commonly, the Getxo area on the Right Bank and the adjacent suburban Txorierri valley are grouped in a Uribe-Kosta district along with those in Mungialdea (referred to by Eustat as Plentzia-Mungia, with the term Uribe-Bertoe also used), while the Left Bank and the , the area's former mining zone, is merged into the mainly rural western Enkarterri comarcaBizkaia mira a sus comarcas para ser más competitiva [Bizkaia looks to its regions to be more competitive], El Correo, 29 April 2017 (in Spanish)Territorio de Comarcas [Comarcas Territory], Nirea (in Spanish) which previously governed the districts as a larger merindad, as was the case for the Right Bank in the Uribe merindad. The Hego Uribe area south of Bilbao tends to remain grouped with the city when other adjustments are made, or is linked with Arratia-Nervión if counted as an outlying zone.
Gipuzkoa province: the southern portion of the Urola Kosta comarca (primarily Azpeitia and Azkoitia) has been listed separately as (Mid-Urola).Natural Areas of Urola Erdia, Basque Nomads, 30 March 2020 Similarly, the western part of Goierri (around Zumarraga) has been recorded as the separate (Upper Urola) district.Bomberos/as, [Firefighters], Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa - Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish) In the Donostialdea comarca (by far the most heavily populated, containing the city of San Sebastián and its satellite towns), the eastern part centred on Errenteria and Pasaia has been referred to as Oarsoaldea, and in some cases this has been combined with neighbouring Bidasoaldea, with the Oarsoaldea name even being adopted by some for this larger area. Less commonly, the name has been used to refer collectively to the cluster of towns south of San Sebastián (Lasarte-Oria, Hernani, Astigarraga, Andoain).Planificación energética de Gipuzkoa, [Gipuzkoa energy planning], Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa - Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish)
Álava province: the main deviation from the Eustat comarcas (known here as cuadrillas) is in the representation of the capital Vitoria-Gasteiz, which alternatively has its own district comprising its urban municipality alone. In this alignment the western part of the rump Llanada Alavesa comarca is assigned to Gorbeialdea.Álava, sin capacidad de movimiento por los cierres de Navarra y La Rioja [Álava, unable to move due to the closures of Navarra and La Rioja], Noticias de Álava, 23 October 2020 (in Spanish)La cuadrilla de Zuya se rebautiza como Gorbeialdea [Zuya's zone is renamed Gorbeialdea], Gasteiz Hoy, 17 May 2016 (in Spanish), The territory of Treviño is entirely surrounded by Álava, but is an exclave of the Province of Burgos and does not figure in the Basque considerations (its future status is a matter of dispute between the administrations).
Population contrasts As with the municipalities across Spain, the populations of each comarca vary widely; rural sectors of Álava cover only a few thousand residents each, while its capital Vitoria-Gasteiz (which is also a single municipality) is considered either to be in its own comarca or by far the most prominent component of the wider Llanada Alavesa, containing over 250,000 residents under either arrangement. In Gipuzkoa, the Donostialdea comarca (population 330,000) includes not only the provincial capital San Sebastián (municipality population 185,000) but many of the smaller towns surrounding the city, leading to two further subdivisions being created in some contexts to represent these communities in a more balanced way. The most striking contrast is in Biscay, where the capital city Bilbao (again a single municipality with approximately 350,000 residents) is just one part of the Greater Bilbao comarca which has 850,000 within its boundaries. Bilbao's eight city districts are comparable in population to four of the province's other more rural comarcas, despite in theory being two administrative levels below.
See also :Category:People by comarca in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Comarcas of Spain List of municipalities in the Basque Country
References