Basques
Flag of the Basques | |
| Total population | |
| c. 3 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Spain (people living in the Basque Provinces of Spain, including some areas where most people do not identify themselves as Basque) | 2,410,000 |
| France (people living in the French Basque Country, not all of whom identify as Basque) | 239,000 |
| United States (self-identifying as having Basque ancestry) | 57,793 |
| Canada (including those of mixed ancestry) | 7,745 For more countries, see Basque diaspora |
| Languages | |
| Basque (L1 or heritage) Spanish, French, Gascon (L2 or regional L1) | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (mostly Catholicism), others | |
The Basques are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture, shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians, and are considered among the last remaining direct descendants of Neolithic European populations in Europe. Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria)—a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.