Basques
or BISCAYANS (in their own language, Euscaldunac), a remarkable race of people dwelling partly in the S. W. corner of France, but mostly in the N. of Spain adjacent to the Pyrenees.
They are probably descendants of the ancient Iberi, who occupied Spain before the Celts. They preserve their ancient language, former manners, and national dances, and make admirable soldiers, especially in guerrilla warfare. Their language is highly polysynthetic, and no connection between it and any other language has as yet been made out. There are four principal dialects, which are not only distinguished by their pronunciafer even tion and grammatical structure, but but differ even in their vocabularies. The Basques (about 700,000) occupy in Spain the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alava; in France parts of the departments of the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, Ariége, and Upper Garonne.
Some 200,000 are said to have emigrated BASRA BASSEIN during the second half of the 19th cen- 1891. He served as a newspaper cortury to South America. BASRA. See BASSORA.