University of the Basque Country

The University of the Basque Country is the public university of the Basque Country. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initially was composed of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of Sarriko, Medicine and Sciences, with the General Law of Education were joined the Nautical School, the School of Business Studies of Bilbao and as well as the Technical Schools of Engineers, until arriving at the thirty centers that compose it at the present time. It has campuses over the three provinces of the autonomous community: Biscay Campus, Gipuzkoa Campus, and Álava Campus in Vitoria-Gasteiz. It is the main research institution in the Basque Country, carrying out 90% of the basic research made in that territory and taking advantage of the good industrial environment that the region constitutes.HistoryAlthough there have been numerous institutes of learning in the Basque country over the centuries, starting with the Universidad Sancti Spiritus de Oñati, it was not until the 20th century that serious efforts were made to create an official university for the Basque people. The first of these opened its doors in Bilbao in 1938, largely thanks to the zeal of the Basque president (lehendakari) at the time, José Antonio Aguirre, an alumnus of the University of Deusto. However, this was during the Spanish Civil War, and an inopportune moment to open a centre of learning. The northwest of the Basque region mostly sided with the Republican movement at this time, earning the wrath of General Francisco Franco. Thus, when Franco's armies entered Bilbao in 1939, the fledgling university was shut down.