Basque diaspora

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The Basque diaspora is the name given to describe people of Basque origin living outside their traditional homeland on the borders between Spain and France. Many Basques have left the Basque Country for other parts of the globe for economic and political reasons, with a substantial population in Chile and Colombia. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Notably, the Basque diaspora is sometimes referred to as "the eighth province", indirectly referring to the historical seven Basque provinces. [4]

South America

Argentina

Basque Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 12 May 2016 Euskal Jaiak 2016, Buenos Aires, Argentina.jpg
Basque Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 12 May 2016

People of Basque descent make up 10% of Argentina's population, [5] and it was a major destination for Basques emigrating from both Spain and France in the 19th and 20th centuries. Basques have left an indelible imprint on Argentine culture and politics, with many place names and surnames, including those of several Presidents. After several generations, a sense of Basque heritage is still strong, maintained through numerous Basque cultural centres in major cities. Argentine sportspeople with Basque surnames have frequently been nicknamed El Vasco.

Chile

The Basques arrived in Chile in the 18th century from their homeland in the Basque Country, including both the Basque Provinces in northern Spain and the ones in southwestern France, as merchants and due to their hard work and entrepreneurship, rose to the top of the social scale and intermarried into the Chilean elites of Castilian descent. This union is the basis of the Chilean elite of today. The Basque settlers also intermarried into the Mestizo population of central Chile in the middle of the colonial period to form the large Castizo population that exists in Chile today; Castizos makeup modern lower-middle and lower classes. Thousands of Basque refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War in 1939 also settled and have many descendants in the country and have even intermarried with other Spanish ethnic groups other than Castilians as well as other European ethnic groups. Population estimates of Basque-Chileans range from 30% (5,000,000) to as high as 40% (7, 700,000). [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Miguel de Unamuno stated that two things could be clearly attributed to the Basques: The Jesuits and the Republic of Chile. [14]

Colombia

Colombia was one of early focus of Basque immigration; it is estimated that at least 40% of the Coffee Axis and Antioquia's population have Basque origin (2,800,000 people). [15]

Peru

A notable percentage of Peruvian people have at least one Basque surname, with more than 6 million or 18% of the national population. [16] They trace back their presence to colonial times. [17]

Uruguay

It is estimated that up to 10% of Uruguay's population has at least one parent with a Basque surname. [18] The first wave of Basque immigrants to Uruguay came from the French side of the Basque country beginning about 1824.

Venezuela

The first wave of Basque immigration to Venezuela consisted of Conquerors and Missionaries, during the Colonization of Venezuela. [19] The second wave of Basque immigration started in 1939, as a result of the Spanish Civil War. [20]

North America

Canada

Mexico

An estimated 2% of Mexicans have some amount of Basque descent, and that community has increased in size from immigration from Spain in the early 20th century. The Spanish Civil War in the 1930s brought over tens of thousands of refugees from the Basque Country to political asylum in Mexico and Latin America. [21]

United States

A Basque center in Boise, Idaho Basque center in Boise, Idaho.JPG
A Basque center in Boise, Idaho
Christmas notice partly in Basque ("Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" in Basque), also from Boise Basque notice in Boise, Idaho.JPG
Christmas notice partly in Basque ("Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" in Basque), also from Boise
A Basque pelota in Flagstaff, Arizona. Constructed in 1926. Basque Pelota Flagstaff Arizona.jpg
A Basque pelota in Flagstaff, Arizona. Constructed in 1926.

There are about 57,000 people of Basque descent living in the United States, according to the 2000 census. This number is highly disputed, however, since before the 1980 census there had never been a federally recognized category for Basques. As a result, Basques were usually categorized as Spanish or French. It is speculated that there are many more Americans of Basque descent who still classify themselves as Spanish, French or Latin American.

The largest concentration of Basque Americans is in the Boise, Idaho, area, where approximately 15,000 Basque Americans live. [22] Boise is home of the Basque Museum and Cultural Center [23] and hosts a large Basque festival known as Jaialdi every five years. They also host a number of other Basque festivals, including the San Inazio Festival each summer [24] and there are many Basque restaurants located in Boise. [25] A large majority of the Boise Basque community traces its ancestry to Bizkaia (Vizcaya in Spanish, Biscay in English) in northern Spain. [26]

Asia

Philippines

Basque immigrants comprised a big part, if not most, of the Spanish expatriate population of the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. [27] Most of them were soldiers and sailors in the military and navy of the viceroyalty of New Spain, merchants, missionaries, and clergy. Families of Basque ancestry, over time, slowly integrated into the Philippine social landscape, developing themselves into some of the most prominent families in the country. Basque descendants in the Philippines today consider themselves to be Filipinos and remain influential in the business and political sectors of the country. They include the Aboitiz family, the Zobel de Ayala family, the Araneta family and political clans like the Zubiri and the Ozámiz families. [28] [29] [30]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Kerexeta, Jaime de; Abrisqueta, Francisco de (1985). Vascos en Colombia. Editorial Oveja Negra. ISBN   9789580609513.
  2. ↑ ¿Qué tanto heredó Colombia del País Vasco?, Señal Colombia, 16 de marzo de 2018. Consultado el 15 de junio de 2020.
  3. ↑ 3.500 apellidos vascos en Colombia. El Correo, 1 de junio de 2017. Consultado el 15 de junio de 2020.
  4. ↑ The eighth province (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ "Presente y futuro de los Centros Vascos en Argentina (I de III)". www.euskonews.eus. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  6. ↑ ""Los jóvenes vasco-chilenos están al día de todo lo que está pasando en Euskadi"". El Diario Vasco. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "entrevista al Presidente de la Cámara vasca". Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  8. ↑ vascos Ainara Madariaga: Autora del estudio "Imaginarios vascos desde Chile La construcción de imaginarios vascos en Chile durante el siglo XX".
  9. ↑ "De los vascos en Chile y sus instituciones". www.euskonews.eus. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Contacto Interlingüístico e intercultural en el mundo hispano.instituto valenciano de lenguas y culturas. Universitat de València Cita: " Un 20% de la población chilena tiene su origen en el País Vasco".
  11. ↑ (in Spanish) La población chilena con ascendencia vasca bordea entre el 15% y el 20% del total, por lo que es uno de los países con mayor presencia de emigrantes venidos de Euskadi. Archived 2010-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ El 27% de los chilenos son descendientes de emigrantes vascos. Archived 2013-08-19 at the Wayback Machine DE LOS VASCOS, OÑATI Y LOS ELORZA Waldo Ayarza Elorza.
  13. ↑ "Jon Erdozia, nuevo Delegado en Chile: 'Iniciativas vasco chilenas como Emprebask son exportables a otros países'". Euskal Kultura. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "«La Compañía de Jesús y la República de Chile son las dos grandes hazañas del pueblo vascongado», solía decir don Miguel de Unamuno". Miguel de Unamuno used to say "The Company of Jesus and the Republic of Chile are the two great achievements of the Basque people."
  15. ↑ Luis Gorostiza (1912)
  16. ↑ "Error en la dirección de la página". www.espejodelperu.com.pe. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  17. ↑ http://www.espejodelperu.com.pe/Poblacion-del-Peru/Inmigracion-Vasca-al-Peru.htm / Los vascos en el Perú
  18. ↑ Christian, Shirley (21 November 1989). "Montevideo Journal: Basques Have Lots to Boast of (and at Times Do)". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2010. A fourth of Uruguay's three million people have at least one parent with a Basque surname.
  19. ↑ Cierbide, Ricardo (1997). "The Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas and the Basques in Venezuela during the XVIII century" (PDF). Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos (in Spanish). 1 (42). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  20. ↑ "Se cumplen 70 años de la migración que dio origen a la actual comunidad vasca organizada de Venezuela" (in Spanish). Euskal kultura. 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2017. En las primeras horas del día 9 de Julio de 1939, el paquebote Cuba, de la Compagnie Générale Trasatlatique atracaba en el puerto venezolano de La Guaira,
  21. ↑ "Vascos noroccidente Mexico". www.euskosare.org. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  22. ↑ Jaialdi 2005 kicks off [ permanent dead link ], The Idaho Statesman, July 25, 2005.
  23. ↑ "Visiting the Basque Block in downtown Boise, Idaho". Dear Boise, Idaho. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  24. ↑ JaclyTravel, Boise's Basque Block & the San Inazio Festival , retrieved 16 October 2022
  25. ↑ Brandt, Jaclyn (9 August 2020). "5 of the best Basque restaurants in Boise". Dear Boise, Idaho. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  26. ↑ "The Basque Community of Boise, Idaho". Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2006.
  27. ↑ VIIème Congrès d'Etudes Basques = Eusko Ikaskuntzaren VII. Kongresua = VII Congreso de Estudios Vascos. Sociedad de Estudios Vascos. Donostia [San Sebastián]: Eusko Ikaskuntza. 2003. ISBN   84-8419-917-7. OCLC   60787017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  28. ↑ Marciano R. de Borja (2005). Basques in the Philippines. The Basque Series. University of Nevada Press. ISBN   978-0-87417-590-5.
  29. ↑ Morella, Cecil (21 March 2010). "House of Aboitiz: Basques who helped build the Philippines". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  30. ↑ Benjamin Espiritu III (29 September 2010). "The Basque Culture and its Contributions to the Philippines". School of Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
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