The Basque Country is located at Europe's point of access to the Iberian Peninsula at the western end of the Pyrenees
and occupies the stretch of coastline that looks onto the Cantabrian Sea.
With origins gong back thousands of years and linked by a common pre-Indo-European language, the Basques (a universal,
dynamic and industrious people), inhabit several political-administrative regions of the Spanish and French states.
Today, the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, which was set up after the establishment of democracy in 1979,
covers an area of 7233 square kilometres and has a population of 2,127,100 inhabitants.
The provinces of Alava, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia make up the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of Álava as well as the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
Alava is the largest of the three provinces (3037 square kilometres) but has the smallest population (284,000 inhabitants).
Today, Alava has its own local government, the provincial Council of Alava, headed by its President, who is chosen by the
General Councils or Provincial Parliament of Alava.
Alava is located at the point of access to Southern Europe for traffic coming from the Iberian Peninsula. The National
1 highway/European Route E5 and the Madrid-Irum railway cross this province, representing an excellent land link with
the Ebro Valley, Aragon and Catalonia, with the provinces bordering the Cantabrian Sea and with the centre of the Iberian
peninsula towards Madrid, Lisbon and North Africa.
Vitoria-Gasteiz airport, with its modern installations is one of the main cargo ports of Southern Europe, with links to
America and South Africa. The sea ports of Bilbao and Pasajes are just a short distance from Vitoria-Gasteiz.
In a privileged geographical setting, with mountain areas and plateaus, watered by the rivers Zadorra, Nervión and Ebro,
Alava shares common boundaries with Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Navarra, La Rioja and Burgos.
Economic information
Strategic information
