Busturialdea, also named ''Busturialde - Urdaibai'' is a comarca of the province of

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. ...

, in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, Spain. It is the heir of "Busturia", one of the original '' merindades'' that used to compose the province of

– this should not be confused with Busturia, a municipality located in this region. Busturialdea is a diminished portion of the same original subregion and has two capital cities; Bermeo and Gernika-Lumo. It is one of the seven ''comarcas'' that compose the province of Biscay.

History

Busturia used to be one of the ''merindades'' of

and included a larger territory than the current one of Busturialdea, as it reached the province of Gipuzkoa. Busturialdea was historically the core of Biscay: the capitals of the province, Bermeo and

Gernika Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the m ...

, were located in it; the village of Mundaka, also belonging to this region, had the privilege of speaking always first in the sessions of its parliament and for some time, the harbour of Bermeo was the main portuary facility, until

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

was founded in 1300. Busturialdea and its lush estuary was also important in prehistory. Particularly significative is its site of Santimamiñe cave, that yielded a full sequence of human habitation from Neanderthals to the Iron Age, and beautiful

Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...

cave paintings.

Geography

Busturialdea is located at the north of the province of

, limiting with the ''comarcas'' of Lea-Artibai on the east, Uribe and Greater Bilbao on the west and Durangaldea on the south. The

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

limits at north. The ''comarca'' is located along the

Urdaibai The Urdaibai estuary is a natural region and a Biosphere Reserve of Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. It is also referred as Mundaka or Gernika estuary. Urdaibai is located on the Bay of Biscay coast, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Urdaiba ...

estuary, which has been named Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1984Actividades en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai
UNESO Center of the Basque Country.

Municipalities

Urdaibai Sukarrieta Pedernales Abina Sandindere Erenozar

References

External links

* {{coord, 43, 20, 52, N, 2, 41, 33, W, region:ES_type:adm3rd_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Comarcas of Biscay