The

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of the Basque Country within Spain contains several ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

s'' or ''eskualdeak'' in the Basque language, referring to local districts, grouped into its three long-established

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. The

Basque Government The Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritza, es, Gobierno Vasco) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the ''Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque P ...

's statistics department ''Eustat'' has divided the districts using a 20-comarca model (seven in

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. B ...

, seven in

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

and six in

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its c ...

) in its reports relating to the local economy and demographic trends on a consistent basis since at least 1999:

List of comarcas

Alternative definitions

As the comarca boundaries are not defined in law, various other broadly similar combinations have been published depending on the date, range and purpose of the data collection. Examples include: BIZKAIA (Municipios y comarcas)

Biscay province: the conurbations on either side of the

Estuary of Bilbao The Estuary of Bilbao (Spanish: ''Ría de Bilbao'' / Basque: ''Bilboko Itsasadarra'') lies at the common mouth of the rivers Nervion, Ibaizabal and Cadagua, which drain most of Biscay and part of Alava in the Basque Country, Spain. In this inst ...

within the

Greater Bilbao Greater Bilbao ( Basque: ''Bilboaldea'', Spanish: ''Gran Bilbao'') is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven comarcas of Biscay and the most populated one. The capital city of ...

comarca, known as the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terra ...

and the

Right Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

, are sometimes counted separately both from one another and from the city of

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

itself. Less commonly, the

Getxo Getxo () is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in Spain. It is part of Greater Bilbao, and has 77,946 inhabitants (2019). Getxo is mostly an affluent residential area, as well as being the ...

area on the Right Bank and the adjacent suburban Txorierri valley are grouped in a Uribe-Kosta district along with those in

Mungialdea Mungialdea, also known as Uribe-Butroe, with the term Uribe-Bertoe also used), while the Left Bank and the , the area's former mining zone, is merged into the mainly rural western Enkarterri comarcaTerritorio de Comarcas
omarcas Territory Nirea (in Spanish) which previously governed the districts as a larger

merindad ''Merindad'' () is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term for a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. The officer in charge of a merindad was called a merino, roughly equivalent to the English ''count'' or ...

, as was the case for the Right Bank in the Uribe merindad. The Hego Uribe area south of Bilbao tends to remain grouped with the city when other adjustments are made, or is linked with Arratia-Nervión if counted as an outlying zone. Gipuzkoako eskualdeak

Gipuzkoa province: the southern portion of the

Urola Kosta The Urola is a river and valley in Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebast ...

comarca (primarily

Azpeitia , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , ...

and

Azkoitia , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , u ...

) has been listed separately as (Mid-Urola). Similarly, the western part of Goierri (around Zumarraga) has been recorded as the separate (Upper Urola) district. In the

Donostialdea Donostialdea is one of the eight regions of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Autonomous Community, corresponding to the basin of the lower Urumea River, along with a strip of basin corresponding to the Oria River, the region borrowing its name from Dono ...

comarca (by far the most heavily populated, containing the city of San Sebastián and its satellite towns), the eastern part centred on

Errenteria Errenteria ( eu, Errenteria/Orereta, es, Rentería) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, in the north of Spain, near the French border. The river Oiartzun (rive ...

and

Pasaia Pasaia ( es, Pasajes) is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community of northern Spain. It is a fishing community, commercial port and the birthplace of the famous admiral Blas de Lezo. Pasaia ...

has been referred to as Oarsoaldea, and in some cases this has been combined with neighbouring

Bidasoaldea Bidasoaldea ( eu, Bidasoaldea, es, Bajo Bidasoa) is one of the eight eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Basque Autonomous Community, corresponding to the basin of the lower Bidasoa extending in Gipuzkoan soil and named after the river, in Spain. ...

, with the Oarsoaldea name even being adopted by some for this larger area. Less commonly, the name has been used to refer collectively to the cluster of towns south of San Sebastián (

Lasarte-Oria Lasarte-Oria is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national ...

, Hernani,

Astigarraga Astigarraga is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is famous for its hard cider and the cider houses. References External links Official Website Informationavailabl ...

, Andoain). ALAVA-ARABA (Municipios-Udalerriak 2017)

Álava province: the main deviation from the Eustat comarcas (known here as ''cuadrillas'') is in the representation of the capital

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ), also alternatively spelled as Vittoria in old English-language sources, is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country and of the province of Álava in northern Spain. It holds the autonomous community' ...

, which alternatively has its own district comprising its urban municipality alone. In this alignment the western part of the rump comarca is assigned to Gorbeialdea.La cuadrilla de Zuya se rebautiza como Gorbeialdea
uya's zone is renamed Gorbeialdea Gasteiz Hoy, 17 May 2016 (in Spanish), The territory of Treviño is entirely surrounded by Álava, but is an exclave of the

Province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladoli ...

and does not figure in the Basque considerations (its future status is a matter of dispute between the administrations).

Population contrasts

As with the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

across Spain, the populations of each comarca vary widely; rural sectors of Álava cover only a few thousand residents each, while its capital

(which is also a single municipality) is considered either to be in its own comarca or by far the most prominent component of the wider , containing over 250,000 residents under either arrangement. In Gipuzkoa, the

comarca (population 330,000) includes not only the provincial capital San Sebastián (municipality population 185,000) but many of the smaller towns surrounding the city, leading to two further subdivisions being created in some contexts to represent these communities in a more balanced way. The most striking contrast is in Biscay, where the capital city Bilbao (again a single municipality with approximately 350,000 residents) is just one part of the

comarca which has 850,000 within its boundaries. Bilbao's eight city districts are comparable in population to four of the province's other more rural comarcas, despite in theory being two administrative levels below.

References

Comarcas of the Basque Country {{Basque-geo-stub

List of comarcas

Alternative definitions

Population contrasts

See also

References