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As Barandiaran pointed out, "the distribution of the human settlements of a country is influenced by its hydrographic network and, taking that further, we could argue that the manifestations of human life on the land are mirrored by the distribution of the means of livelihood, or in other words, on the geography of basic necessities. It has quite rightly been said, therefore, that any human settlement is the amalgamation of a little humanity, a little land and a little water".
Habitation is one of the manifestations of human activity that is most closely linked to geographical phenomena, but housing is a complex aspect, where not only geographical, but also social and historical factors come into play<ref>José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. “Los establecimientos humanos en el Pirineo vasco” in ''Revista de la Academia de Ciencias Exactas ''XVI (1932) pp. 38-62 and in ''Obras Completas''. Volume V. Bilbao, 1974, pp. 363-387. The majority of ideas set out in this chapter come from this article and from: Ander MANTEROLA. “Etxea” in ''Euskaldunak''. Tomo III. Bilbao: 1980, pp. 537-600</ref>.
== Latitudinal settlement patterns ==
Basically, two types of settlements, one dispersed with more or less isolated homes and the other concentrated, are to be found in the Basque Country as a whole. In the second case, there are no isolated houses outside the concentration. This pattern also has a north-south gradient. The houses are dispersed throughout the territory in the northernmost area, on the Atlantic side of the watershed. In other words, the population is disperse and the houses are scattered throughout the territory in northern Álava, Montaña Navarraof Navarre, the whole of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, as well as in Labourd, Baja Navarra Lower Navarre and Zuberoa.
In a large part of Álava - Llanada—Llanada, Valle de Kuartango and Montaña Alavesa -Alavesa—, in other words, in the middle part, along with the Subsub-Pyrenees and mid-NavarraNavarre, the villages are small groups of houses close together, thus offering a panorama that is both concentrated and disperse.
In the southernmost strip - Rioja —Rioja Alavesa and Ribera de Navarra -of Navarre—, the population is mainly concentrated into large towns that are far apart. It is the grouped housing system<ref>Ibidem, p. 541.</ref>.
== Historical and geographical factors ==
On the Mediterranean side of the watershed, particularly in the districts closest to the River Ebro, the geographical factors have had hardly any influence on each of the specific houses, but rather the set of them, in other words, the whole town or village, are impacted by those factors as a unit.
On the Atlantic side of the watershed, each family and, consequently, each house behaves as a whole, independently from the other houses, and adapts to the physical environment as an approach that tends to acquire the maximum degree of social autonomy and economic self-sufficiency. Therefore, each house acts as if it were a whole settlement in this system. The term ''baserria'' (''baso '' = forest + ''herria'' = village), used to identify each of these isolated houses in large areas of the Basque Country, rather suggests this.
== Dispersed settlements ==
=== Establishing new homesteads ===
There are several authors who have considered the process where new houses are created using the existing one. In general, the focus has been on the homestead.
In the northern area, particularly along the Cantabrian coast, due to its specific geographical situation, there was not such a pressing need for defence and the population continued to adapt to the land. However, over time, at the end of the Middle Ages, groups of houses also began to form there and created numerous charter towns<ref>José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. “Los establecimientos humanos en el Pirineo vasco” in ''Revista de la Academia de Ciencias Exactas ''XVI (1932) pp. 38-62.</ref>.
It was around the 12th century when a trend began to concentrate the population which led to those towns. In general, the founding of charter towns and cities began first in Navarra Navarre and Álava (12th century) and then in Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia (13th century).
=== Growth of the current settlements ===
From the second half of the 19th century and particularly during the 20th century, there was a spectacular concentration phenomenon around many of those urban centres created in the Middle Ages. The movement of the population then reversed the trend in medieval times: first in the Atlantic area (Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) and subsequently on the Mediterranean side of the watershed (Álava and NavarraNavarre). This concentration was fundamentally due to industrialisation and the ensuing new ways of life. In those housing agglomerations, the house even lost its common name; blocks, flats and apartments are the names use to refer to the dwelling and its location<ref>Ander MANTEROLA. “Etxea” in ''Euskaldunak''. Volume III. Bilbao: 1980, pp. 544-545.</ref>.
