University of the Basque Country

The University of the Basque Country (, EHU; , UPV; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initially it was made up of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of Sarriko (1955), Medicine (1968) and Sciences (1968). Following the General Law of Education (1970), the Nautical School (1784), the School of Business Studies of Bilbao (1818) and the Technical Schools of Engineers (1897) joined in, until it grew into the complex of thirty centers that compose it presently. It has campuses over the three provinces of the autonomous community: Biscay Campus (in Leioa, Bilbao, Portugalete and Barakaldo), Gipuzkoa Campus (in San Sebastián and Eibar), and Álava Campus in Vitoria-Gasteiz. It stands out as the main research institution in the Basque Country, carrying out 90% of the basic research carried out in that territory and benefiting from the good industrial environment in the region. History Although 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 on the 19th of June 1937, the fledgling university was shut down.