Languages of the Basque Country & Bayonne

Basque (Euskara) and Bayonne are not the same language.

  • Basque (Euskara) – Language isolate (no known relatives). Spoken by ~750,000 in the Basque Country: Spain (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Araba, Nafarroa) and France (Labourd, Basse-Navarre, Soule). Ancient, pre-Indo-European.
  • Bayonne (Baiona) – A city in Labourd (French Basque Country). The local Romance variety is Gascon (Occitan), specifically the Labourdin dialect. Basque is also spoken there; the city is bilingual.

So: Basque = isolate; Bayonne = city where both Basque and Gascon (Occitan) are spoken.

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