Busturialdea, also named ''Busturialde - Urdaibai'' is a

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of the province of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, in the Basque Country,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is the heir of "Busturia", one of the original '' merindades'' that used to compose the province of

– this should not be confused with Busturia, a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in this region. Busturialdea is a diminished portion of the same original subregion and has two capital cities; Bermeo and Gernika-Lumo. It is one of the seven ''comarcas'' that compose the province of Biscay.

History

Busturia used to be one of the ''merindades'' of

and included a larger territory than the current one of Busturialdea, as it reached the province of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

. Busturialdea was historically the core of Biscay: the capitals of the province, Bermeo and Gernika, were located in it; the village of Mundaka, also belonging to this region, had the privilege of speaking always first in the sessions of its parliament and for some time, the harbour of Bermeo was the main portuary facility, until

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

was founded in 1300. Busturialdea and its lush estuary was also important in

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. Particularly significant is its site of Santimamiñe cave, that yielded a full sequence of human habitation from

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

s to the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, and beautiful

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

cave paintings.

Geography

Busturialdea is located at the north of the province of

, limiting with the ''comarcas'' of Lea-Artibai on the east, Uribe and Greater Bilbao on the west and Durangaldea on the south. The

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

limits at north. The ''comarca'' is located along the Urdaibai estuary, which has been named

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 1984Actividades en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai
UNESO Center of the Basque Country.

Municipalities

Urdaibai Sukarrieta Pedernales Abina Sandindere Erenozar

References

External links

* {{coord, 43, 20, 52, N, 2, 41, 33, W, region:ES_type:adm3rd_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Comarcas of Biscay