Berriz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Berriz
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 Berriz
Location in Basque Country
Berriz
Location in Spain
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| Country | Spain | ||
| Autonomous community | Basque Country | ||
| Province | Biscay | ||
| Comarca | Durangaldea | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 30.07 km2 (11.61 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 192 m (630 ft) | ||
| Population
(2018)
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| • Total | 4,678 | ||
| • Density | 155.57/km2 (402.93/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Berritzarra | ||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||
| Postal code |
48240
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Berriz is a small town and municipality in northern Spain. It's located in the Basque Country, a special region known for its unique language and culture. Berriz is part of an area called Durangaldea. As of 2019, about 4,623 people live there. In the Basque language, which is spoken in this region, the town is also called Berriz. In Spanish, it used to be known as Bérriz.
Contents
What's in a Name? The Story of Berriz
The name Berriz has an interesting history. Experts have a few ideas about where it came from.
Latin Roots Theory
One idea is that Berriz comes from an old Latin name. A famous historian, Julio Caro Baroja, thought that many Basque place names ending in -iz came from Latin. He believed these names often referred to the owner of the land a long time ago, perhaps during the Roman Empire or the Middle Ages.
For Berriz, he suggested it might come from the Latin name Verrius. If you added the Latin ending -icus (meaning "belonging to"), it would become Verricus. Over time, this name could have changed to Verrici and then to Verriz. The town's name in Spanish used to be Vérriz, which supports this idea.
Basque Origin Theory
Another theory suggests that the name Berriz is purely Basque and doesn't come from Latin at all. This idea proposes that Berriz might be a combination of two Basque words:
- Be(h)e, which means "under" or "below".
- Oiz, which is the name of a nearby mountain.
So, according to this theory, Berriz could mean "under Oiz" or "at the bottom of Oiz mountain". This makes sense because the town is located near the Oiz mountain.
Famous People from Berriz
- Miren Amuriza (born 1990) is a talented bertsolari and writer from Biscay. A bertsolari is someone who improvises sung poetry in Basque.
See also
In Spanish: Bérriz para niños
