Editing Basques (section)

===Language===
{{Main|Basque language}}

The identifying language of the Basques is called Basque or ''Euskara'', spoken today by 25%-30%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eke.eus/en/kultura/euskara-the-basque-language/basque-sociolinguistics|title=Basque sociolinguistics|publisher=Eke.eus|access-date=2019-10-21|archive-date=2019-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802142337/https://www.eke.eus/en/kultura/euskara-the-basque-language/basque-sociolinguistics|url-status=live}}</ref> of the region's population. An idea of the central place the language has in cultural terms is given by the fact that Basques identify themselves by the term ''euskaldun'' and their country as ''Euskal Herria'', literally "Basque speaker" and "Country of the Basque Language" respectively. The language has been made a political issue by official Spanish and French policies restricting its use either historically or currently; however, this has not stopped the teaching, speaking, writing, and cultivating of this increasingly vibrant minority language. This sense of Basque identity tied to the local language does not only exist in isolation. For many Basques, it is juxtaposed with a sense of either Spanish or French identity tied with the use of the Spanish and [[French language]]s among other Basques, especially in the French Basque Country. Regarding the Spanish Basque Country, Basques that don't have a sense of Spanish identity make up an important part of the population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.noticiasdenavarra.com/2019/01/06/politica/navarra/navarra-es-la-comunidad-con-menor-sentimiento-de-espanolidad|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202214354/https://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/2019/01/06/politica/navarra/navarra-es-la-comunidad-con-menor-sentimiento-de-espanolidad|archive-date=2 February 2019|title=Navarra es la comunidad con menor sentimiento de españolidad}}</ref> As with many European states, a regional identity, be it linguistically derived or otherwise, is not mutually exclusive with the broader national one. For example, Basque [[France national rugby union team|rugby union]] player for France, [[Imanol Harinordoquy]], has said about his national identity:<blockquote>"I am French and Basque. There is no conflict, I am proud of both. ... I have friends who are involved in the political side of things but that is not for me. My only interest is the culture, the Euskera language, the people, our history and ways."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/2431544/France-look-to-Basque-prodigy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/france/2431544/France-look-to-Basque-prodigy.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=France look to Basque prodigy |first=Brendan |last=Gallagher |work=[[telegraph.co.uk]] |date=27 February 2002 |access-date=6 May 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref></blockquote>

As a result of state language promotion, school policies, the effects of mass media and migration, today virtually all Basques (except for some children below school age) speak the official language of their state (Spanish or French). There are extremely few Basque monolingual speakers: essentially all Basque speakers are bilingual on both sides of the border. Spanish or French is typically the first language of citizens from other regions (who often feel no need to learn Basque), and Spanish or French is also the first language of many Basques, all of which maintains the dominance of the state tongues of both France and Spain. Recent Basque Government policies aim to change this pattern, as they are viewed as potential threats against mainstream usage of the minority tongue.<ref>{{cite web|first=Xabier|last=Aierdi Urraza|url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07/en_integraz/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07.html|title=Routes to linguistic and cultural integration for immigrants in the Basque Autonomous Community|publisher=euskara.euskadi.net|date=24 July 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302214808/http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07/en_integraz/artik9_1_integrazioa_06_07.html|archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref>

The Basque language is thought to be a [[genetic (linguistics)|genetic]] [[language isolate]] in contrast with other European languages, vast majority of which belong to the broad [[Indo-European language family]]. Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has probably been spoken continuously ''[[in situ]]'', in and around its present territorial location, for longer than most other modern European languages, which are typically thought to have been introduced in historic or prehistoric times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission.<ref name="Trask1997">{{cite book |last=Trask |first=Robert Lawrence |author-link=Larry Trask |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiemTo_t5r8C |title=The History of Basque |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-13116-2 |pages=8-9 |access-date=3 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519060306/https://books.google.com/books?id=OiemTo_t5r8C |archive-date=19 May 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

However, popular stereotypes characterizing Basque as "the oldest language in Europe" and "unique among the world's languages" may be misunderstood and lead to erroneous assumptions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Moreno Cabrera|first=Juan Carlos|url=http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10/en_aurreiri/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10.html|title=Misconceptions about Basque|publisher=euskara.euskadi.net|date=19 October 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302214757/http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-3693/en/contenidos/informacion/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10/en_aurreiri/artik12_1_aurreiritziak_06_10.html|archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref> Over the centuries, Basque has remained in continuous contact with neighboring western European languages with which it has come to share numerous lexical properties and typological features; it is therefore misleading to exaggerate the "outlandish" character of Basque. Basque is also a modern language, and is established as a written and printed one used in present-day forms of publication and communication, as well as a language spoken and used in a very wide range of social and cultural contexts, styles, and registers.