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According to the Basque tradition, the Basque Country is made up of seven traditional regions. The four regions Laurak Bat to the south, within Spain, form Hegoalde (“south zone”), while the three to the northeast, within France, form Iparralde (“north zone”). The southern Basque Country falls within the Spanish autonomous communities of the Basque Country and Navarre, and the Northern Basque Country forms part of the French département of Pyrénées Atlantiques. (More about the historical territory of the Basque Country...)  Bilbao, sometimes referred to as Bilbo (another Basque variant), in the North of Spain, is the largest city in the Basque Country and the capital of the province of Biscay (Basque: Bizkaia). The city has over 354,000 inhabitants (2006) and is the most economically and industrially active part of Greater Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the Basque Country’s population lives. Greater Bilbao’s 946,829 inhabitants are spread along the length of the Nervion River, whose banks are home also to numerous business and factories, which during the industrial revolution brought heightened prosperity to the region. In the north, Bilbao’s city edge is considered to be around the towns of Erandio, Sondika and Derio, in the east it is encompassed by Zamudio and Etxebarri. The southern border passes outside Basauri and Arrigorriaga and in the west, Barakaldo and Alonsotegi are the furthest extremes. The urban area is enclosed by two small mountain ranges called Pagasarri (to the south) and Artxanda (to the north), this fact gives the city its nickname, "el botxo", "the hole".  Saint Ignatius of Loyola, (December 24, 1491 – July 31, 1556), was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church professing direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. Members of the order are called Jesuits. He was born in the municipality of Azpeitia, 16 miles southwest of Donostia/San Sebastian in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa, Spain. The youngest of 13 children, Ignatius was only seven years old when his mother died. In 1517, he took service in the army, defending the small town of Pamplona against the recently expelled (1512) Navarrese monarchy. Highly outnumbered, the Spaniards wanted to surrender, but Ignatius persuaded them to fight on. One leg wounded, the other broken by a cannonball, Ignatius was returned to his castle by the Navarrese. He was compiler of the Spiritual Exercises and a gifted spiritual director, Ignatius has been described by Pope Benedict XVI as being "above all a man of God, who gave the first place of his life to God...a man of profound prayer." He was very active in fighting the Protestant Reformation and promoting the subsequent Counter-Reformation. He was beatified and then canonized to receive the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. His feast day is July 31, celebrated annually. He is the patron saint of Guipúzcoa as well as of the Society of Jesus. (continued...) 
Miguel de Unamuno, Basque philosopher, Del Sentimiento Trágico de la Vida (The Tragic Sense of Life) (1913) 
 Credit: Andy Roberts Basque people • Basque language • Basque Country • Basque nationalism • Basque mythology • Duchy of Vasconia • Kingdom of Navarre • Basque music • Basque cuisine Category:Basque • Category:Basque Country (autonomous community) • Category:Basque language • Category:Basque mountains • Category:Basque politics • Category:Comarcas of the Basque Country • Category:Basque companies • Category:Basque culture • Category:Basque history • Category:Lapurdi • Category:Nafarroa Beherea • Category:Navarre • Category:Basque people • Category:Basque sport
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