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The Basque Diaspora is a name given to describe the dispersion of the Basque People throughout the world. The Basques do not have an independent country to call their own, being divided between the Spanish and French states. Many Basques have left the Basque Country for other parts of the globe for economical or political reasons, including Argentina , Chile , Mexico and the United States . BASQUES IN MEXICO The largest concentrations of Basque people in Mexico were found in the kingdoms of Nuevo León and Nueva Viscaya (today the state of Durango ), where Garza a Basque surname is today one of the most common in that state, as well as the neighboring states of Coahuila and Texas . Durango and Viscaya are Basque names. BASQUES IN THE UNITED STATES There are about 40,000 people of Basque descent living in the United States , according to the 1990 census. This number is highly disputed, however, since before the 1980 census there had never been a federally recognized category for Basques. As a result, Basques were usually categorized as Spanish or French. It is speculated that there are many more Americans of Basque descent who still classify themselves as Spanish, French or South American. The largest concentration of Basques in the United States is in the in northern Spain {Link without Title} . Other significant Basque populations in the United States are located in Reno , Nevada , and the Central Valley region of California . Reno is home to the nation's only Basque Studies Department at the University Of Nevada . There has been a Basque presence in the Americas from the age of Columbus. Basques under the crown of Castile were among the explorers, priests and Conquistador s of the Spanish Empire . Placenames like Durango and Biscayne Bay remember their foundations. Basques began to come to English-speaking America during the Gold Rush . The first wave of Basques were already part of the diaspora who were living in Chile and Argentina and came when they heard word of the discovery of gold. When the goldrush did not pan out for most Basque immigrants, the majority turned to Ranching and Sheep-herding in California's Central Valley, and later in northern Nevada and southern Idaho. Many more Basques arrived from the Basque Country upon hearing of the success of their comrades in America. Basque immigration was effectively cut off by the 1921 National Origins Quota Act . Basque immigration was restored by Nevada Senator McCarran's 1952 immigration act, which allowed a quota of 500 Basques (technically 'Spanish Sheep Herders'). SEE ALSO : The category
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