Enkarterri ( Spanish: ''Las Encartaciones'') is a comarca 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 one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or districts that make up the province of

. Its administrative centre is Balmaseda. Historically a larger region ( merindad), Enkarterri stretched from the mountains that form its southern border with

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

and Castile-Leon in the west and south, to the river Nervión and the Estuary of Bilbao in the east – including the industrial municipalities of Gallarta, Muskiz, Ortuella, Portugalete,

Santurtzi Santurtzi (; ) is a port of Bilbao, port town in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is located in the Bilbao Abra bay, near the mouth of the Nervión river, on it ...

, Sestao, Trapagaran and Zierbena. Nowadays the name usually refers only to the rural western part of the historical territory, while the eastern urban area is known as the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

(''Margen Izquierda'' / ''Ezkerraldea'') and is part of the Greater Bilbao comarca (together with

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

, which used to belong to the neighbouring merindad of Uribe).

Geography

Enkarterri is located at the northwest of the province of

. It borders the community of

to the west, and the

Province of Burgos The province of Burgos is a Provinces of Spain, province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia (p ...

(

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

) and the province of

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, also in the Basque Country, to the south. The river Kadagua crosses the region and drains most of it.

Municipalities

External links

Official regional web site (in Basque and Spanish)
Comarcas of Biscay {{basque-geo-stub