Bilbao
[key], city (2021 est. metro area pop. 349,000), capital of Bizkaia
(Vizcaya) prov., N Spain, in the Basque Country, on both banks of the
Nervión River, near the Bay of Biscay. A leading Spanish port and
commercial center since the 19th cent., it is at the heart of an important
industrial area with iron mines nearby. Its banks make it a financial
center. Steel, chemicals, and ships are the chief manufactures, though they
have declined. Bilbao is also a center for high technology firms. It has a
subway, an opera house, and several museums, including the Museum of Fine
Art; the Basque Archaeological, Ethnographical, and Historical Museum; and
the spectacular Guggenheim
Museum (1997). Founded c.1300 on the site of an ancient
settlement, Bilbao flourished because of a wool export trade in the 15th and
16th cent. In the 19th cent. it was besieged by the Carlists three times. In the Spanish civil war, Bilbao was the seat
of the Basque autonomous government from 1936 until its capture (1937) by
the Nationalists.
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