Navarre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other uses, see Navarre (disambiguation).

Comunidad Foral de
Navarra / Nafarroako
Foru Komunitatea


Capital	Pamplona/Iruña
Official languages	Castilian; Basque co-official in some areas
Area – Total – % of Spain	Ranked 11th 10 391 km² 2,2%
Population – Total (2003) – % of Spain – Density	Ranked 15th 569 628 1,4% 54,82/km²
Demonym – English – Spanish – Basque	Navarrese navarro/a nafar
Statute of Autonomy	August 16, 1982
ISO 3166-2	NA
Parliamentary representation – Congress seats – Senate seats	5 1
President	Miguel Sanz Sesma (UPN)
Gobierno de Navarra

Navarre (Spanish Navarra, Basque Nafarroa) is an autonomous community and province of Spain. Its official Spanish-language name is Comunidad Foral de Navarra (for an explanation of foral, see fuero).

1 Community
2 People and culture
3 History
4 See also

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Community

It is bordered on the west by the autonomous communities of the Basque Country (the provinces of Bizkaia (Vizcaya), Guipúzcoa and Álava), on the south by La Rioja, on the east Aragonese provinces of Zaragoza/Saragossa, Teruel and Huesca, and on the north by the countryFrance.

There are 272 municipalities in Navarre. See List of municipalities in Navarre. One-third of the population lives in the capital, Pamplona (Basque Iruñea or Iruña).

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People and culture

Navarre is a mixture of the Basque influence from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean influences coming from the Ebro. The Ebro valley is amenable to wheat, vegetables, wine, and even olive trees, as in Aragon and la Rioja. It was occupied by the Roman Empire and later the taifa kingdom of Tudela. During the Reconquista, the Northerners extended southwards. In the Middle Ages, Pamplona was a crossroads for Basques, Gascons from beyond the Pyrenees and Romance speakers.

The Basque language has been losing ground for centuries. Often feelings of "Basqueness" are linked to use of the language. For example, a person from a place where Basque was lost decades ago might say that they are not Basque, but that their grandfather was. Feelings of Basqueness often are carried onto politics with Basque nationalism being stronger in the North, either within Navarrese branches of Basque parties like Batasuna, or as homegrown movements like Batzarre. Among the parties that downplay links to the Basque Country, there are local branches of Spanish parties such as the PSOE, as well as local movements such as Convergencia de Demócratas Navarros.

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History

For a fuller account of the history of Navarre, see Kingdom of Navarre.

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Autonomous Communities of Spain
Andalusia \| Aragon \| Asturias \| Balearic Islands \| Basque Country \| Canary Islands \| Cantabria \| Castile–La Mancha \| Castile–Leon \| Catalonia \| Extremadura \| Galicia \| Madrid \| Murcia \| Navarre \| La Rioja \| Valencia \| Ceuta \| Melilla \| Plazas de soberanía