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The BasqueLanguage is a BasqueGroupLanguage of Spain. SIL code: BSQ. ISO 639-1: eu. ISO 639-2(B): baq. ISO 639-2(T): eus. Population: 580,000 in Spain (1991 L. Trask U. of Sussex). There are 2,000,000 residents of the 3 provinces of Basque territory, 25% were born outside the territory, 40% in the territory were born to Basque parents. 4,400,000 in Spain have a Basque surname, 19% live in Basque country. Population total all countries: 580,000 or more. Region: French-Spanish border, 3 Basque provinces: Alava (Araba), Biskaia (Biskay), and Gipuzkoa of the Autonomous Basque Community (CAV), in the northern area of the Autonomous Region of Navarra (Nafarroa) of north central Spain. Also spoken in Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Philippines, USA. Alternate names: VASCUENSE, EUSKERA. Dialects: GUIPUZCOAN (GUIPUZCOANO, GIPUZKOAN), ALTO NAVARRO SEPTENTRIONAL (HIGH NAVARRESE, UPPER NAVARRAN), ALTO NAVARRO MERIDIONAL, BISCAYAN (VIZCAINO), AVALAN. Comments: Batua is based on Guipuzcoan, the central and most widely known dialect. A fair amount of inherent intelligibility among all regional varieties except Souletin. Regional varieties are sometimes preferred for oral use, but in Spain there is also a fairly strong desire for the Batua unified standard. Bilingualism in Castillian, Catalan sometimes. Ages 2 to 20 and over 50 as first language, all ages as first or second language in mainly Basque-speaking areas. 'Euzkadi' is the name of the Basque region, not for the language. Official language. Dictionary. Grammar. SOV, prepositions, genitives, articles, adjectives, numerals, relatives after noun heads, question word initial, verb affix gender agreement obligatory, prefix marks causative, comparative shown lexically. Batua uses a unified orthography. Deciduous forest. Mountain slope, coastal, riverine. sea level to 1,000 meters. Christian. Bible 1855-1994.(extract from http://www.ethnologue.com/)
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