Navarre

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Navarre Basque: Nafarroa Spanish: Navarra
—  Autonomous Community  —
Chartered Community of Navarre Basque: Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea Spanish: Comunidad Foral de Navarra
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Navarra
Coordinates: 42°49′N 1°39′W / 42.817°N 1.650°W / 42.817; -1.650Coordinates: 42°49′N 1°39′W / 42.817°N 1.650°W / 42.817; -1.650
Country	Spain
Capital	Pamplona
Government
• President	Yolanda Barcina (UPN)
Area(2.2% of Spain; Ranked 11th)
• Total	10,391 km2 (4,012 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Total	644,566
• Density	Bad rounding here62/km2 (Bad rounding here160/sq mi)
• Pop. rank	15th
• Percent	1.3% of Spain
ISO 3166-2	NA
Official languages	Spanish (Basque is official in the Basque-speaking areas)
Statute of Autonomy	August 16, 1982
Parliament	Cortes Generales
Congress seats	5 (of 350)
Senate seats	5 (of 264)
Website	Gobierno de Navarra

Navarre (English /nəˈvɑr/; Spanish: Navarra; Basque: Nafarroa), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre (Spanish: Comunidad Foral de Navarra [komuniˈðað foˈɾal de naˈβara]; Basque: Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea [nafaroako foɾu komunitatea]), is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France. The capital is the city of Pamplona (or Iruña in Basque).

History [edit]

Coins of Arsaos, Navarre, 150–100 BC, showing Rome's stylistic influence

During the time of the Roman Empire, the territory of the province was inhabited by the Vascones, a pre-Roman tribe who populated the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. In the northern, mountainous areas, the Vascones escaped large-scale Roman settlement but not so in the flatter areas to the south, which were amenable to large-scale Roman farming.

Castle of Xabier

The area was never fully subjugated either by the Visigoths or by the Moors. In AD 778, the Basques defeated a Frankish army in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. Two generations later, in 824, the chieftain Iñigo Arista was chosen as the King of Pamplona, laying a foundation for the later Kingdom of Navarre. That kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of Sancho III of Navarre and covered the area of the present-day Navarre, Basque country, and La Rioja, together with parts of modern Cantabria, Castile and León, and Aragon.

After Sancho III died, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided between his sons and never fully recovered its importance. The army of Navarre fought beside other Christian Spanish kingdoms in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, after which the Muslim conquests in the Iberian Peninsula were slowly reduced to the small territory of Granada in 1252.

In 1515 the bulk of Navarre south of the Pyrenees—Upper Navarre—was at last absorbed into the incipient Kingdom of Spain but retained some exclusive rights. The small portion of Navarre lying north of the Pyrenees—Lower Navarre—later came under French rule when its Huguenot sovereign became King Henry IV of France; with the declaration of the French Republic and execution of Louis XVI, the last King of France and Navarre, the kingdom was merged into a unitary French state.

Community [edit]

The community ceremonies, education, and social services, together with housing, urban development, and environment protection policies are under the responsibility of its own institutions.

Unlike most other autonomous communities of Spain (but like the Basque Country), Navarre has almost full responsibility for collecting and administering taxes which must follow the overall guidelines established by the Spanish government but may have some minor differences.

Geography and climate [edit]

Bardenas Reales

Pottoks on Lakhura mountains

Navarre consists of 272 municipalities and has a total population of 601,874 (2006), of which approximately one-third live in the capital, Pamplona (195,769 pop.), and one-half in the capital's metropolitan area (315,988 pop.). There are no other large municipalities in the region. The next largest are Tudela (32,802), Barañáin (22,401), Burlada (18,388), Estella - Lizarra (13,892), Zizur Mayor (13,197), Tafalla (11,040), Villava/Atarrabia (10,295), and Ansoáin (9,952).

Despite its relatively small size, Navarre features stark contrasts in geography, from the Pyrenees mountain range that dominates the territory to the plains of the Ebro river valley in the south. The highest point in Navarre is Hiru Erregeen Mahaia, with an elevation of 2,428 metres (7,965 feet). Other important mountains are Txamantxoia, Kartxela, the Larra-Belagua Massif, Sierra de Alaiz, Untzueko Harria, Sierra de Leyre, Sierra del Perdón, Montejurra, Ezkaba, Monte Ori, Sierra de Codés, Urbasa, Andia, and the Aralar Range.

Cultural heritage [edit]

Palacio Real de Olite

Navarre is a mixture of its Vasconic tradition, the Trans-Pyrenean influx of people and ideas and Mediterranean influences coming from the Ebro. The Ebro valley is amenable to wheat, vegetables, wine, and even olive trees as in Aragon and La Rioja. It was a part of the Roman Empire, inhabited by the Vascones, later controlled on its southern fringes by the Muslims Banu Qasi, whose authority was taken over by the taifa kingdom of Tudela in the 11th century.

During the Reconquista, Navarre gained little ground at the expense of the Muslims. Starting in the 11th century, the Way of Saint James grew a very important milestone for the territory and source of European cultural influence. Gascons and Occitanians altogether from beyond the Pyrenees (called Franks^{[citation needed]}) were granted privileges to foster their settlement in Navarrese towns, causing them to bring along their craft, culture and Romance languages.

Jews and Muslims were not able to escape the drastic measures imposed on them and were expelled for the most part during the late 15th century to the early 16th century. After Navarre was seized by Castile-Aragon, their expulsion was complete.

Energy policy [edit]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2012)

Navarre leads Europe in its use of renewable energy technology and was planning to reach 100% renewable electricity generation by 2010. By 2004, 61% of the region's electricity was generated by renewable sources consisting of 43.6% from 28 wind farms, 12% from over 100 small-scale water turbines, and 5.3% from 2 biomass and 2 biogas plants. In addition, the region had what was then Spain's largest photovoltaic power plant at Montes de Cierzo de Tudela (1.2 MWp capacity) plus several hundred smaller photovoltaic installations.

Developments since 2004 have included further photovoltaic plants at Larrión (0.25 MWp)^[1] and another at Castejón (2.44 MWp), also once the largest in Spain.^[2]

Languages [edit]

Map showing density of Basque speakers, including second-language speakers

Spanish is the official language throughout Navarre. Basque also has official status in the Basque-speaking area.^[3] The northwestern part of the community is largely Basque-speaking, while the southern part is entirely Spanish-speaking. The capital, Pamplona, is in the mixed region. Navarre is divided into three parts linguistically: regions where Basque is widespread (the Basque-speaking area), regions where Basque is present (the mixed region), and regions where Basque is absent (the Spanish-speaking area).^[3] In 2006 11.1% of people in Navarre were Basque speakers, 7.6% were passive speakers and 81.3% were Spanish-speaking monolinguals, an increase from 9.5% Basque speakers in 1991.^[4] The age distribution of speakers is unequal, with the lowest percentages in the above‑35 age group, rising to 20% amongst the 16-24 age group.^[4]

See also [edit]

Sanfermines in Pamplona, Navarre  Joaldunak feast in January

• Basque language
• Euskadi
• Kingdom of Navarre
• Kings of Navarre
• Lower Navarre
• Parliament of Navarre
• Renewable energy in the European Union

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Navarre

• Official website (in Basque/English/French/Spanish)
• History of Navarre
• (LAS BARDENAS, CAVERN, GROTTE VALTIERRA, CUEVAS DE VALTIERRA)
• Bardenas Reales desert (Navarra)
• Northern Spanish region leads way on renewable energy
• Navarra: Electricity from renewable energy sources PDF (211 KB)
• Euskara Kultur Elkargoa-Basque Cultural Foundation
• Navarra en Fotos^{[dead link]}
• Guide to the Navarra Pyrenees mountains.

v t e Autonomies of Spain Autonomous communities  Andalusia  Aragon  Asturias  Balearic Islands  Basque Country  Canary Islands  Cantabria  Castile–La Mancha  Castile and León  Catalonia  Extremadura  Galicia  La Rioja  Madrid  Murcia  Navarre  Valencia Autonomous cities  Ceuta  Melilla Places of Sovereignty Alhucemas Chafarinas Vélez de la Gomera Perejil

v t e Provinces of Spain A Coruña Álava Albacete Alicante Almería Asturias Ávila Badajoz Balearic Islands Barcelona Biscay Burgos Cáceres Cádiz Cantabria Castellón Ciudad Real Córdoba Cuenca Girona Granada Guadalajara Gipuzkoa Huelva Huesca Jaén Las Palmas León Lleida Lugo Madrid Málaga Murcia Navarre Ourense Palencia Pontevedra La Rioja Salamanca Segovia Seville Soria Tarragona Santa Cruz de Tenerife Teruel Toledo Valencia Valladolid Zamora Zaragoza

v t e Traditional provinces of the Basque Country Southern Basque Country Basque Autonomous Community Gipuzkoa Álava Biscay Navarre French Basque Country Labourd Lower Navarre Soule