The Basques
are an old people with a long history. The
Basque people go so far back, that they are considered to have different
genetic makeup than the Europeans that surround them, especially the
Spanish. The Basque people have been
found to have different blood type percentages.
The Basques have the highest percentage of rhesus-negative blood in
Europe at 25%. Additionally, the Basques
have a one of the highest percentages of type O blood.[1] However, it does not seem correct to say that
the Basques are of a different race.
People of the Basque Country have
come to witness and experience many exciting times in history, yet are rarely
incorporated into textbooks. For
example, in the time of exploration, one of the 17 men who survived Magellan’s
first trip around the world was a Basque man named Juan Sebastian Elcano.[2] Similarly, when Europe started to employ the
printing press, so did the Basques, printing books in their own language as
early as 1545.[3] Speaking of language, the fact that Basque
cannot be related to any other language that is still spoken on the planet,
further supports the ancientness of the Basque people and culture.
The Basque people were around at
critical times in Spain’s history, including the marriage of Isabella and
Ferdinand in 1469 which united the country,[4]
and the Civil War in the late 1930’s which tore the country apart.[5] They, in fact, have been around for longer
than Spain itself.
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