The Basque Country (pdf, 4,3Mb) - Kultura Saila - Euskadi.net

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A number of festivities and events
take place in support of Euskara.
Ibilaldi 07 (Ikastola festival,
Bizkaia).
Basque Government stand
displaying the status of Euskara at
Expolingua, the language trade fair
in Berlin.
6.2. The Basque-speaking community
When determining the command of language skills in Euskara,
bilingual people are defined as those who speak Euskara well or
quite well; passive bilinguals are those who at least understand it;
and monolingual erdaldunes are those who do not speak Euskara.
6.2.1. In Euskal Herria
The most recent survey published in 2005 by the Department of
Culture of the Basque Government has the advantage of gathering
data from all Euskal Herria. The disadvantage, however, is that it
includes only people over 16 years of age, and thus does not
include 4-16 year olds, where there is the greatest percentage of
bilinguals, given the nature of the education system.
Linguistic competence in people over 16 years of age in
Euskal Herria and in Euskadi. 1991 and 2001
1991 2001 Increase
in the
Amount % Amount % decade
EUSKAL HERRIA
Total inhabitants
over 16 years
2.371.078 100 2.497.016 100
Bilinguals 528.520 22,3 633.934 25,4 +3
Passive Bilinguals 182.736 7,7 263.498 10,6 +2,9
Erdaldunes 1.659.822 70 1.599.584 64 -6
EUSKADI
Total inhabitants
over 16 years
1.741.470 100 1.806.690 100
Bilinguals 419.221 24,0 530.946 29,4 +5,4
Passive Bilinguals 148.717 8,5 206.133 11,4 +2,9
Erdaldunes 1.173.532 67,4 1.069.611 59,2 -8,2
Source: Deputy Ministry for Language Policy of the Basque Government. 2005
While in Euskadi knowledge of Euskara has undergone a qualitative
increase in recent years, the progress in Navarre is much more
limited, although the situation is improving thanks to schooling.
There is a growing esteem and appreciation for Euskara, witnessed by
the increasing number of children who study in Basque, despite the
limited public support for Euskara from the UPN-led governments.
In Iparralde, which historically had the highest percentage of Euskaraspeaking
population, there is now a constant and disturbing decline
in the use of the language. At the end of the nineteenth century
Basque speakers represented 65% of the population compared
to 24.7% today, most of whom are concentrated in Zuberoa and
Behenafarroa. However, a new awareness is emerging in this area,
especially among young people.
Approximately 700,000 people speak Euskara around the world
(including Basque immigrants in America), and about another
300,000 are passive bilinguals (they understand it but are not
fluent speakers). Together, the number stands at almost a million
people.
6.2.2. In the Autonomous Community of Euskadi
The Basque Department of Culture also publishes the Sociolinguistic
Map (2005), which refers only to Euskadi and includes
data on children aged 4 to 16. The bilingual group – who speak
Euskara correctly – is almost a third (32.2%), and the group
of monolingual erdaldunes – those who neither speak nor
understand Euskara – represents practically half of the population
(49.6%). The rest, 18.2%, are passive bilinguals. Thus, 50.4% of
the population has total or partial knowledge of Euskara.
Bilingual people have gone from a fifth of the population in 1981
to practically a third in 2001. In 20 years 200,000 new people
have joined the ranks of Euskara speakers, the vast majority of
them young people. The bilingual population consists of young
city dwellers, but for the most part their families and social
environment are not Euskara-speaking. Most bilinguals live in the
metropolitan areas of the three capital cities – although Euskara
speakers are a minority in each of these cities and thus speakers
do not use Euskara regularly – and in larger municipalities.
By Historic Territory, bilingual population in Araba and Bizkaia
is lower than the average, with 16% and 24.8% respectively.
The group of passive bilinguals is similar in both territories.
In Gipuzkoa, the distribution is very different, the group of
bilinguals accounting for more than half of the population. The
municipalities in which the Euskara-speaking population exceeds
65% – the most euskaldun areas – are in the fishing area or in the
interior of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia.
The use of Euskara in social settings and the ease with which
people express themselves are decisive factors. It is here where
Euskara has not yet reached the point at which its survival as a
living language is assured, despite the popular support and the
enormous human, educational, economic efforts that have been
made since the 1970s. This is why it needs to be promoted in the
media, and become a language of public communication, service
and work.