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west, is officially included in the province of Santander. Biscay is one of the Basque Provinces, and its name is occasionally employed as geographically See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent to Basque, in that See also:

case including the three provinces of Biscay proper, Guipuzcoa and Alava. The See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast-See also:

LINE

line, which extends from Ondarroa to a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short distance See also:

east of See also:

Castro Urdiales, is bold and rugged, and in some places is deeply indented. The See also:

SURFACE

surface of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country is for the most See also:

PART

part very mountainous, being traversed towards the See also:

south by the See also:

GREAT

great Cantabrian See also:

CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain; but at the same See also:

time it is diversified with numerous narrow valleys and small plains. Some of the mountains are almost entirelycomposed of naked calcareous See also:

rock, but most of them were formerly covered to their summits with forests of oaks, chestnuts or See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine trees, now destroyed to provide See also:

FUEL (O. Fr. feuaile, popular Lat. focalia, from focus, hearth, fire)

fuel. See also:

HOLLY (Ilex Aquifolium)

Holly and arbutus are See also:

COMMON

common, and See also:

FURZE, GORSE

furze and See also:

heath abound in the poorer parts. The only See also:

RIVER

river of any See also:

SIZE

size is the Nervion, See also:

ANSA (from Lat. ansa, a handle)

Ansa or Ibaizabal, on which See also:

BILBAO

Bilbao is situated; the others, which are numerous, are merely large See also:

mountain streams. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate is rather inclement and variable; but the thermometer seldom drops below freezing-point, nor does See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow fall frequently in See also:

winter except on the highest summits. The rainfall is on an See also:

AVERAGE

average greater than in any province except those of the extreme See also:

north-west.

The See also:

SOIL

soil, though not very fertile, except in some of the valleys and sheltered hillsides, produces See also:

wheat, See also:

MAIZE, or INDIAN CORN

maize, See also:

BARLEY (Hordeum sativum)

barley, See also:

rye, See also:

FLAX

flax, grapes, peaches, apples and other fruits. The mountainous slopes of Biscay are studded with the traditional Basque caserio, or farmhouse, in which the peasantry live on the metayer See also:

SYSTEM

system, dividing the profits of the soil with absentee landlords. The farms are generally small, and are for the most part tilled by See also:

MANUAL

manual labour. The See also:

FISHERIES

fisheries are actively prosecuted along the coast by a See also:

hardy See also:

RACE

race of fishers, who were the first of their See also:

CRAFT (a word common to Teutonic languages for strength, or power; cf. Ger. Kraft)

craft in See also:

EUROPE

Europe to pursue the See also:

WHALE

whale, formerly abundant in the Bay of Biscay. See also:

Cod, See also:

BREAM (Abramis)

bream, See also:

TUNNY (Thunnus thynnus)

tunny and See also:

ANCHOVY (Engraulis encrasicholus)

anchovy are the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

fish taken. The fishing See also:

FLEET

fleet consists of several See also:

HUNDRED

hundred boats, manned by nearly 5000 men and boys. Biscay is very See also:

rich in minerals. See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

Iron of the finest quality is found in almost every part, and forms a See also:

main See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of export. At the beginning of the 20th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century an average of about 5,000,000 tons was produced every See also:

YEAR

year, and many large foundries were at See also:

WORK

work. See also:

Lead and See also:

ZINC

zinc are See also:

MINED

mined in much smaller quantities, See also:

ALUM

alum and See also:

SULPHUR

sulphur are also See also:

PRESENT

present, and See also:

MARBLE (from Lat. marmor, Gr. pApµapos, shining stone)

marble, See also:

lime and See also:

SANDSTONE

sandstone are abundant. Another very important See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry is the manufacture of See also:

DYNAMITE (Gr. S6eaµis, power)

dynamite and other See also:

EXPLOSIVES

explosives at See also:

BARACALDO

Baracaldo, closely connected with the See also:

MINING

mining interests. There are also See also:

POTTERIES, THE

potteries, See also:

paper, See also:

SOAP

soap and See also:

SHOE (a word appearing in the Teutonic languages in various forms, as Ger. Schuh, Swed. and Dan. sko, sometimes supposed to come from an unknown root ska or sku, cover)

shoe factories, See also:

FLOUR

flour See also:

mills and breweries, and the many See also:

MINERAL

mineral springs and spas are frequented by See also:

PEOPLE

people from all parts of Spain.

The mining and See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial interests of Biscay were very materially assisted by the See also:

QUICK

quick and important development of means of communication of every See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind. The provincial and See also:

PARISH (Gr. irapouda, district, neighbourhood; 7r&poucos, one dwelling near or beside, from crap&, OtKOS, house; Lat. paroecur, Late Lat. parochia; cf. Fr. paroisse)

parish roads, kept up by the See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

government, are excellent. No province in Spain had at the beginning of the loth century such a See also:

COMPLETE

complete network of See also:

RAILWAYS

railways, all built since 187o. Bilbao (pop. 83,306), the See also:

capital and principal See also:

PORT

port, and Baracaldo (15,013), an important industrial See also:

TOWN

town, are described in See also:

SEPARATE

separate articles. Sestao (10,833) is the only other town of more than 1o,000 inhabitants; the port of Bermeo (9061) is the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief fishing station; See also:

DURANGO

Durango (4319), on the river of the same name, was founded by the See also:

early See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings of See also:

NAVARRE (Span. Navarra)

Navarre in the loth century, obtained the See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank of a countship in 1153, and contains one of the See also:

OLDEST

oldest churches in the Basque Provinces, See also:

San Pedro de See also:

TAVIRA

Tavira; Guernica (325o), a picturesque See also:

VILLAGE

village on the river Mondaca, was until 1876 the See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting-See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the provincial See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament. The deputies assembled under an old See also:

OAK (O. Eng., (lc)

oak-See also:

tree, celebrated by the Basque poet, Jose Maria Iparraguirre, in a See also:

SONG

song which is regarded by the See also:

SPANISH

Spanish See also:

BASQUES

Basques almost as a See also:

NATIONAL

national See also:

ANTHEM

anthem. For the See also:

HISTORY

history of the Basques, see BASQUE PROVINCES; for their origin, See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language and customs, see BASQUES. The inhabitants of Biscay are intelligent, enterprising and well-educated; and, owing to the uniformly high See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth-See also:

RATE

rate, See also:

low See also:

DEATH

death-rate, and very slight loss by See also:

EMIGRATION (from Lat. emigrare; e, ex, out of, and migrare, to depart)

emigration, their See also:

numbers increased rapidly during the latter part of the 19th century, until in 1900 the See also:

DENSITY (Lat. densus, thick)

density of See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population (372.4 per sq. m.) was greater than in any other Spanish province.

End of Article: BISCAY (Vizcaya)

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