Ostabarret ( eu, Oztibarre, es, Ostabares) is a central region of the traditional province of
Basse-Navarre
Lower Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa Beherea/Baxenabarre; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; french: Basse-Navarre ; es, Baja Navarra) is a traditional region of the present-day French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the ...
in the far south of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It corresponds to the valley of the upper reaches of the river
Bidouze. It is hilly, open country, characterized by low mountains and round hills between 160 and 650 metres in elevation. The region takes its name from the village of
Ostabat
Ostabat-Asme (; ), Hostavalem in the Middle Ages, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in south-western France. It was the meeting point of 4 European ways to Santiago de Compostela, 3 of them joining together there, namely ...
.
The region is first mentioned as the ''terra Ostabaressii'' in a document of the twelfth century. In one of 1247, it was called ''Ostavales''. A Navarrese charter of 1305 refers to it as the ''terra Hostebarezio in Navarra''. The forms ''Ostabarea'' (1312) and ''Hosta-Barisium'' (1351) are attested, while the
Gascon Rolls The Gascon Rolls are records from the English government of Aquitaine-Gascony and the surrounding area, running from to 1273 to 1468. Containing grants of land, oaths of treaties and other important documents, the rolls were originally stored in th ...
use ''Ostaberesium'' (1361).
The region is predominantly
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
speaking. According to the 1968 census, 2,137 out of 2,188 inhabitants spoke Basque. The dialect was classified by
Louis Lucien Bonaparte
Louis Lucien Bonaparte (4 January 1813 – 3 November 1891) was a French philologist. The third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte, he spent much of his life outside France for political reasons. After a brief politica ...
as
Lower Navarrese
Navarro-Labourdin or Navarro-Lapurdian ( eu, nafar-lapurtera) is a Basque dialect spoken in the Lower Navarre and Labourd (Lapurdi) former provinces of the French Basque Country (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''). It consists of ...
in 1869.
Sources
*Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa
"Ostabarret, Tierra de" ''Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia''.
Northern Basque Country