Navarre

(nah - vahr',) [Sp. Navarra,] an anc. kingdom of Spain, now forming one of the Basque Provs., b. N. by the Pyrenees, separating it from France, and E. and S. by Aragon and Old Castile. Surface mountainous, with fertile valleys watered by the Ebro, Bid as so a, and other rivers. Among its minerals are iron, copper, and rock-salt. C. Pampluna. N. was originally peopled by the Vascones, a race driven out of it by the Romans. After invasions by the Visigoths and Saracens, it became an indep. state in 855, and in 1035 was divided into the 3 kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, and Castile. From 1285 to 1328, N. belonged to France, and was finally incorporated with Castile in 1515, save a small territory on the N. side of the Pyrenees, which was anbsequently united to the crown of France by Henri IV. Pop. 310,944. [s. 633]