Álava – ES211

EU regions: Spain > Noreste > Basque Autonomous Community > Álava

More on wikipedia wikidata Q81801 on OpenStreetMap Álava slovensky: ES211

Demographics

From Wikipedia: Álava (IPA: [ˈalaβa] in Spanish) or Araba (IPA: [aˈɾaba] in Basque, dialectal: [aˈɾaβa]), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see.

Its capital city, Vitoria-Gasteiz, is also the seat of the political main institutions of the autonomous community. It borders the Basque provinces of Biscay and Gipuzkoa to the north, the community of La Rioja to the south, the province of Burgos (in the community of Castile and León) to the west and the community of Navarre to the east. The Enclave of Treviño, surrounded by Alavese territory, is however part of the province of Burgos, thus belonging to the autonomous community of Castile and León, not Álava.

It is the largest of the three provinces in the Basque Autonomous Community in geographical terms, with 2,963 km², but also the least populated with 328,868 inhabitants (2018).

Etymology

Built around the Roman mansion Alba located on the road ab Asturica Burdigalam (possibly the current village of Albéniz near Agurain), it has sometimes been argued the name may stem from that landmark. However, according to the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, the origin may be another: The name is first found on Muslim chronicles of the 8th century referring to the Alavese Plains (Spanish Llanada Alavesa, Basque Arabako Lautada), laua in old Basque (currently lautada) with the Arab article added (al + laua), developing into Spanish Álava and Basque Araba (a typical development of l to r between vowels).

Demography and rural landscape

The province numbers 51 municipalities, a population of 315,525 inhabitants in an area of 3,037 km² (1,173 sq mi), with an average of 104.50 inhabitants/km². The vast majority of the population clusters in the capital city of Álava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, which also serves as the capital of the Autonomous Community, but the remainder of the territory is sparsely inhabited with population nuclei distributed into seven counties (kuadrillak or cuadrillas): Añana; Ayala; Campezo; Laguardia; Salvatierra; Vitoria-Gasteiz; Zuya.

Physical and human geography

Álava is an inland territory and features a largely transitional climate between the humid, Atlantic neighbouring northern provinces and the dry and warmer lands south of the Ebro River.

Other: Basque Autonomous Community, Álava, Gipuzkoa, Biscay

Neighbours: La Rioja, Province of Burgos, province of Navarra, Gipuzkoa, Biscay

Suggested citation: Michal Páleník: Europe and its regions in numbers - Álava – ES211, IZ Bratislava, retrieved from: https://www.iz.sk/​PES211, ISBN: 978-80-970204-9-1, DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10200164