Basque American
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
Basque Americans |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| California, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, Oregon | |
| Languages | |
| American English, Basque, Spanish, French | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Basque people and other groups of the Basque diaspora |
Basque Americans
57,793
Basque Americans (Basque: euskal estatubatuarrak) are Americans of Basque descent. According to the 2000 US census, there are 57,793 Americans of full or partial Basque descent, but the real number of Basque Americans could easily reach 100,000 people. Of them, 41,811 people claimed be simply Basque American, 9,296 claimed be originating from Spanish Basque Country, and the other 6,686 claimed be originating from the French Basque Country. The states with the largest Basque-American populations are California (20,868), Idaho (6,637), Nevada (6,096), Washington (2,665) and Oregon (2,627).
Referring to the historical ties that existed between the Basque Country and the United States, some authors stress the admiration felt by John Adams, second president of the US, for the Basques' historical form of government. Adams, who on his tour of Europe visited Biscay, was impressed. He cited the Basques as an example in A defense of the Constitution of the United States, as he wrote in 1786:
"In a research like this, after those people in Europe who have had the skill, courage, and fortune, to preserve a voice in the government, Biscay, in Spain, ought by no means to be omitted. While their neighbours have long since resigned all their pretensions into the hands of kings and priests, this extraordinary people have preserved their ancient language, genius, laws, government, and manners, without innovation, longer than any other nation of Europe. Of Celtic extraction, they once inhabited some of the finest parts of the ancient Boetica; but their love of liberty, and unconquerable aversion to a foreign servitude, made them retire, when invaded and overpowered in their ancient feats, into these mountainous countries, called by the ancients Cantabria…"
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