One hears about the Basques from time to time here in Canada in news items about Basque separatists setting off bombs in northern Spain. So this Nov. 4, 2011 news item on Nanowerk offers a different kind of Basque story,
The Basque Department of Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism has released a new website – nanoBasque.
The department has also produced a nanoBasque strategy (from the news item),
The strategy is an open and integrative proposal that covers three main action areas:
- business development
- knowledge generation
- sector dynamization These activities are undertaken in the following four strategic areas, which are considered to be key concepts for roll-out of the strategy:
- materials
- micro-nano-bio convergence
- facilitatory tools and techniques
- environment, health and safety
I searched for information about the Basque region as I know there are Basques in Spain and France. From there, it got more complicated. Here’s a description from a Wikipedia essay about the Basque Country (greater region),
The Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria) is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast.
It comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France.
You’ll note that the description includes another Basque Country this one, an autonomous community in Spain. Based on the fact that the nanoBasque website is Spanish language, I’m assuming the initiative is being launched by Basque Country in northern Spain.
I was fascinated to find out that the Basques may be a paleolithic people. From the Wikipedia essay,
According to some theories, Basques may be the least assimilated remnant of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Western Europe (specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region) to the Indo-European migrations. Basque tribes were mentioned by Roman writers Strabo and Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani and others. There is considerable evidence to show their Basque ethnicity in Roman times in the form of place-names, Caesar’s reference to their customs and physical make-up, the so-called Aquitanian inscriptions recording names of people and gods (approx. 1st century, see Aquitanian language), etc.