Denise Fooks, age 11, of Medicine Hat., Alberta, Canada, for her question:

What are Basques?

The two million or so Basques are remarkable people of Europe. Maps of Europe show where the Pyrenees Mountains form a wall between France and Spain. But they frequently fail to note that part of this region belongs to the Basques, who are neither French nor Spanish. Anthropologists say that these proud and courageous people are most likely descended from ancient Iberians, who once inhabited much of southern Europe and northern Africa.

At some time in the dim past, the Basques retired to make their homes on the slopes of the Pyrenees and on lowlands around the Bay of Biscay. Several times in recorded history they have defended their territory with fierce courage. They referred to their three provinces as "tierra apartada," the land apart. Though most Basques speak Spanish or French, their native tongue is not related to either of these languages. Experts suspect that it may be related to a very ancient language of North Africa.