BASQUE PROVINCES. A district in the northern part of Spain, comprising the prov inces of Vizcaya (Biscay), Guipazeoa, Alava, and a portion of Navarre, which constituted the ancient Cantabria. The total area of the dis trict is about 7000 square miles. The surface is very mountainous, particularly in the Prov ince of Alava, which is everywhere cut up into deep, narrow valleys by offsets front the main chain of mountains. The rivers of Vizcaya and Guipezcoa empty, after a short course, into the Bay of Biscay; those of Alava flow down the opposite slopes into the Ebro, which car ries their waters to the Mediterranean. The climate is, on the whole, mild and salubrious. The general aspect of the country is very pic- • turesque. the hills in most cases being covered to the summit with forests of oak, beech, and chestnut. The soil in the valleys and plains, while not very rich, has been rendered pro ductive by the energy of the people, although agricultural methods in the heart. of the Basque
provinces are of the most primitive kind. The farms are small, usually only about four or five acres, and rarely more than can be managed by the farmer and his family. The products are barley, maize, flax, hemp, and some wheat. Iron is found in abundance; also copper and tin, marble, porphyry, and jasper. The fisheries on the coast are productive. The population of the district, including the entire Province of Navarre, was 879,644 in 1897. About one-half of this number, however, belong to the Basque race. Consult: Whitewny, "Customs of the Western Pyrenees." in English Historical Review (Lon don. : Fabii. Estudio sabre la organize chin y costumbres del pais vaseanyado (Madrid, 1897).