About Basque Studies
In 1967, a small Basque studies program was established within the social sciences division of the Great Basin Institute. Originally established to study the Basques as an integral part of the sheep industry that had influenced the development of the Intermountain West, over time (and since being officially incorporated into the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø), the Center for Basque Studies has become the leading research and educational institute of its kind outside the European Basque homeland.
The primary mission of the Center for Basque Studies is to conduct research on the Basques and to disseminate the results of interdisciplinary research on the Basques to a local, national and international audience through publications (including those produced by the ), conference presentations, lectures for the general public and creative activities. Research and outreach have been the highest priorities of the Center since its founding. Service constitutes an important mission in promoting knowledge about the Basques through a range of academic and non-academic initiatives in cooperation with other departments at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, as well as at other American and foreign universities, and in collaboration with the University Studies Abroad Consortium to provide a quality educational experience for students desirous of studying and living in the Basque Country of Europe.
Visiting the Center
Visitors are always welcome to the Center for Basque Studies.
The Basque Library is available for use by any interested persons, although if you are conducting research, it is recommended that you first contact the to determine if the collection has sufficient materials available on your research topic and to verify dates and hours of operation. The library phone number is (775) 682-5590.
The Center for Basque Studies is located on the third floor (north entrance) of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.
Center for Basque Studies (CBS) Press
The Center for Basque Studies Press publishes outstanding scholarship in the interdisciplinary field of Basque Studies — a field that draws on history, language, culture and the social sciences to examine a people and culture whose presence spans continents and whose language stands apart from any other on Earth.
What we publish
We publish academic and trade books focused on all aspects of Basque culture, including politics, history, children's books and novels. If it relates to Basque, there is a good chance the Center has published a book on it, or that we have one in the works.
Series published by the Center for Basque Studies Press include Basque classics, Basque politics, Basque literature in translation, Basque originals, Basque diaspora and migration studies, and occasional papers. New series are in development.
Our titles are published in English. Many are translated from the original Basque, Spanish, or French, and are intended for audiences in the Basque diaspora, a global community that stretches from Reno, Boise, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chino, and Bakersfield to Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Australia.
Find out more about the Press, including submission guidelines, formatting requirements, featured titles and more on .
Frequently asked questions
Find answers to frequently asked questions about Basque origins, culture and language.
The Basques are a people who live in a small region (about the size of Rhode Island) that straddles the border of Spain and France from the sea in the west into the Pyrenees in the east. This area is called Euskal Herria (comprising seven provinces, historically: Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Navarra on the Spanish side; Laburdi, Zuberoa and Behe-Nafarroa on the French side). Basques speak a language called Euskara, but today only about 25% of the population is fluent in that tongue. Even so, the word for a Basque person, euskaldun, means "possessor of the Basque language." The Basque population is distinguished physically by a high incidence of Rh Negative factor in the blood.
No one knows exactly where the Basques came from. Some say they have lived in that area since Cro-Magnon man first roamed Europe. Estimates of how long they have lived there vary from 10,000 to 75,000 years. Some say they are descended from the original Iberians. More fanciful theories exist, as well. One is that the Basques are the descendents of the survivors of Atlantis.
Just as no one is sure about the origins of the Basques themselves, linguists are not in agreement over the origins of Euskara, the Basque language, either. (In Basque, the word euskara is not capitalized, but when using it in English, it is customary to capitalize it, just as we capitalize the names of other languages.) Although there are theories (none of them proven beyond a doubt) that Basque is related to other languages (such as the Georgian family of languages in the Caucasus, or the Berber language family of Africa, or even the Quechua language of Latin America), so far the only thing most experts agree on is that Euskara is in a language family by itself. That is, it is not related to any other language in the world. It is, therefore, not an Indo-European language (the large group to which English, French, Spanish and Russian belong).
There are less than 600,000 fluent speakers in the autonomous community of Euskadi (Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa) and about 400,000 more who have learned some Basque but are not considered fluent. Since most of the Basque speakers of the world live in that area, these numbers give us a close estimate of the number worldwide. There are perhaps 15,000 speakers in Iparralde (the three provinces on the French side of the border) and it is estimated that about 10% of the people in Navarre speak Basque. There are also pockets of Basque speakers in Latin America and in North America. Basque speakers are called Euskaldunak, possessors of Euskara, and those who learn the language later in life are called Euskaldun berriak, "new Basques."
Yes, indeed! A Basque book series (all in English) is published by the University of Nevada Press. You can see them and order them. You can also visit the Basque Library online and search the library catalog for titles in English.