The Basque people are a geographic and anthropologic enigma - the oldest surviving ethnic group in Europe, had lived at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains for thousands of years before the Romans invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the first century BCE. The mountainous, infertile Pyrenees have afforded them natural protection from repetitive invasions. Their supression, the result of efforts to assimilate them led to the violent ETA separatist movement, during the Spanish Civil war they resisted Francisco Franco.
Their Euskara language, written with the Latin alphabet, is not an Indo-European language - it stands alone. Spoken in the Basque regions of France and Spain, it is necessary for gaining state employment and used for educational and instructional activities in those geographic areas.
Many within their rank have pivotally contributed to history, they were noted seafarers.
No doubt due to close associations they have a unique genetic concentration of Type O and Rhesus Negative blood. Their ranks have fanned out into the world, millions have Basque roots in Chile, Argentina and Mexico.
They have survived for thousands of years in the Pyrenees preserving their linguistic and ethnic integrity - their origins remain an enigma and their geographic mystery prevails.
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