A defining element of a nation is a day set aside to commemorate that nation. For the Basques that day is celebrated in conjunction with Easter Sunday, and it is known as "Aberri Eguna:" the day of the Basque homeland. It was the creation of the founder of modern Basque nationalism Sabino Arana.

Whereas nationalism is usually the work of a committee (e.g., in the U.S. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, et.al. playing significant roles in the formulation of American nationalism), in the Basque case it was largely the work of just one man: Sabino de Arana-Goiri (1865-1903).

The Basque nation, defined as a people and culture, was not its own nation-state with borders since the southern and northern Basque country had long since been incorporated into Spain and France respectively. Arana, who seems to have intuitively understood nation-building, set about to provide the Basques with the missing elements of nationhood.


Canada Day is celebrated on July 1 to mark the anniversary of the unification of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the Dominion of Canada in 1867. In Mexico September 16 is the.....

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