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Comarcas of the Basque Country

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The 20 Eskualdeak/Comarcas of the Basque Country as defined by the Eustat statistical institute

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 model[1] (seven in Biscay, seven in Gipuzkoa and six in Álava)[2] in its reports relating to the local economy and demographic trends on a consistent basis since at least 1999:

List of comarcas

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Comarca name Province Population
(January 2020)[3]
English Spanish Basque
Añana /
Alava Valleys 		Cuadrilla de Añana /
Valles Alaveses[4] 		Añanako Koadrila /
Arabako Haranak 		Álava 6,159
Ayala /
Cantabrian Alava 		Cuadrilla de Ayala /
Cantábrica Alavesa 		Aiarako Koadrila /
Kantauri Arabarra 		34,704
Riojan Alava Cuadrilla de Rioja Alavesa Arabako Errioxako Eskualdea 11,624
Plain of Alava Llanada Alavesa Arabako Lautada 265,868
Alava Mountains Montaña Alavesa Arabako Mendialdea 3,023
Lands of Gorbea Cuadrilla de la Estribaciones del Gorbea/
Cuadrilla de Zuia 		Gorbeialdeko Kuadrilla/
Zuiako Eskualdea 		8,831
Arratia-Nerbioi Arratia-Nervión Arratia-Nerbioi Biscay 24,024
Lands of Busturia-Urdaibai/
Guernica-Bermeo 		Guernica-Bermeo/
Busturialdea-Urdaibai[5] 		Gernika-Bermeo/
Busturialdea-Urdaibai 		45,973
Lands of Durango Duranguesado Durangaldea 100,052
Enkarterri Las Encartaciones Enkartazioak 32,021
Greater Bilbao Gran Bilbao Bilbo Handia 863,090
Lea-Artibai/
Markina-Ondarroa 		Lea Artibai/
Marquina-Ondárroa 		Lea-Artibai/
Markina-Ondarroa 		26,217
Lands of Mungia/
Plentzia-Mungia/
Lands of Uribe-Butroe 		Mungialdea/
Plencia-Mungia/
Uribe-Butroe[6] 		Mungialdea/
Plentzia-Mungia/
Uribe-Butroe 		57,667
Lower Bidasoa Bajo Bidasoa Bidasoa Behea Gipuzkoa 77,192
Lower Deba Bajo Deva Debabarrena 55,870
Upper Deba Alto Deva Debagoiena 63,313
Lands of San Sebastián Comarca de San Sebastián Donostialdea 329,086
Goierri Goyerri Goierri 68,719
Lands of Tolosa Zona de Tolosa Tolosaldea 49,546
Urola Coast Urola Costa Urola Kosta 76,732

Alternative definitions

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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.[7] Examples include:

Alternative arrangement in Biscay with 10 divisions, as defined by the Euskaltzaindia in 2016

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.[8] 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,[3] with the term Uribe-Bertoe also used), while the Left Bank and the Meatzaldea [eu], the area's former mining zone, is merged into the mainly rural western Enkarterri comarca[9][5] 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.

Alternative arrangement in Gipuzkoa with 10 divisions

Gipuzkoa province: the southern portion of the Urola Kosta comarca (primarily Azpeitia and Azkoitia) has been listed separately as Urola Erdia [eu] (Mid-Urola).[10] Similarly, the western part of Goierri (around Zumarraga) has been recorded as the separate Urola Garaia [eu] (Upper Urola) district.[11] 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 Buruntzaldea [eu] has been used to refer collectively to the cluster of towns south of San Sebastián (Lasarte-Oria, Hernani, Astigarraga, Andoain).[12]

Alternative arrangement in Álava with 7 divisions

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.[13][14] 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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ La 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)
  2. ^ 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)
  3. ^ a b Population of the Basque Country by province, according to place of birth. 01/01/2020, Eustat; retrieved 28 March 2021
  4. ^ Valles Alaveses, Basque Country Tourism
  5. ^ a b Territorio de Comarcas [Comarcas Territory], Nirea (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Gobernanza sostenible | Búsqueda por Comarca [Sustainable governance | Search by Region], Provincial Council of Bizkaia - Diputación Foral de Bizkaia (in Spanish)
  7. ^ La crisis económica va por comarcas [The economic crisis goes by regions], EL Diario], 10 January 2015 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ 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)
  9. ^ Bizkaia mira a sus comarcas para ser más competitiva [Bizkaia looks to its regions to be more competitive], El Correo, 29 April 2017 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Natural Areas of Urola Erdia, Basque Nomads, 30 March 2020
  11. ^ Bomberos/as, [Firefighters], Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa - Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Planificación energética de Gipuzkoa, [Gipuzkoa energy planning], Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa - Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish)
  13. ^ 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)
  14. ^ La cuadrilla de Zuya se rebautiza como Gorbeialdea [Zuya's zone is renamed Gorbeialdea], Gasteiz Hoy, 17 May 2016 (in Spanish),


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