Alava, 49% of which is woodland, has a population of 278,000. Of this population, 212,000 live in Vitoria, while Llodio is the second most important demographic concentration with 21,000 inhabitants. The highway designated Nacional 1, European Highway E5, crosses Alava diagonally from north to south, as does the railway, and connects the border at Irún with access to Madrid and the interior, the Cantabrian coast and the Ebro valley. The airport at Vitoria - Foronda- is one of the most important in Europe as regards freight transport and distribution.

There is a large rail freight centre at the Júndiz Industrial Estate, close to Vitoria. The port of Bilbao -63 km- can be reached by motorway in little more than half an hour, while the 125 kilometres to the border at Irún and the neighbouring sea port of Pasajes take somewhere over an hour by car. Modern highways connect Vitoria to Pamplona, the capital of Navarre (89 km), to Burgos (115 km) and to Logroño (78 km).

The famous wines of the Rioja Alavesa are made in Alava, which is also an important producer of potatoes, cereals... Its industrial base makes use of high technology in the production of tyres, aeronautical components, electricity and lighting, electronics, electrical appliances, steel, chemicals, screwthread products, extruded plastics, chemical compounds, foundry products, agro-alimentation, machine tools, components for the automotive industry, etc.

Alava offers extensive industrial floor space in the form of modern industrial estates, together with substantial resources and back-up for the generation and establishment of modern, environmentally- friendly industries. There is a Technology Park at Miñano, close to Vitoria.

The Historical Territory or Region of Alava has its roots in the so-called "Cofradía de Arriaga" (Arriaga Brotherhood), a secular form of government involving people from Alava who met to resolve their affairs some 900 years ago in the fields of Arriaga, where a nearby hermitage was used to swear in fueros, or special privileges, and various kings and lords. Arriaga is a mile or two north of Vitoria city centre.

The "Cofradía de Arriaga" was replaced by the "Juntas Generales" (a form of parliament), which consisted of representatives from each "Hermandad" (Brotherhood) or from groups of "Concejos" (Councils). These Councils are local administrative bodies dependent upon a township. There are 324 Councils in Alava, 64 of which are included in the township of Vitoria.

The "Juntas Generales" currently constitutes the real Parliament of Alava. Every four years the people of Alava elect their councillors and 51 mayors as well as their representatives in the Provincial Parliament. This Parliament, in turn, elects the President of the Provincial Council.

The 51 representatives forming the parliament of Alava are elected proportionally under three administrative areas, although there are seven "Cuadrillas", which are groups of town or village councils. The seven are: Vitoria, Ayala, Añana, Salvatierra,   Montaña Alavesa, Rioja Alavesa and Zuya.

Due mostly to pressures from basque terrorism during the Spanish transition towards democracy, Alava was integrated into de Basque Country in 1978, regardless of the opinion of the people living there. Never until then had Alava been in a common project with the Basque provinces of Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya.

The Basque Country is a region situated in Northern Spain, actually formed by Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya and Alava. Although part of Spain, it has great autonomy, it´s own Parlament (placed in Alava for political reasons) and police. Extremist Basque Nationalists are now ruling this basque government.

Most voters in Alava are against Basque nationalism, and actually  the Parlament of Alava (Juntas Generales) and it´s Capital (Vitoria) are ruled by anti-nationalist groups. Despite of this, people from Alava is suffering a real colonization from Basques:

    Basque language is required to get a job in the Public Administration. Since less than 10% of the people in Alava speaks Basque, those jobs are given to workers from Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya.

    The Alavesan police (Miñones) has been substituted by Basque police (Ertzaintza), because of the policy homogeneization carried out by the Basque Government.

    The rich Alavesan traditions, influenced by castilian and basque cultures, are in danger, because they are being substituted by "only-basque traditions".

    Because of  the "Fueros" (foral rights) Alava should have it´s own Goverment. Alava collects it´s own taxes, but later on those are controlled by the Basque Government. Their final destination of that money are proyects in other Basque provinces, like the Guggenhein in Bilbao, Bilbao´s subway... more loyal to the "basque beliefs".

    Local councils with nationalist governments are more likely to receive subsidies from the Basque Government.

    The educational policy is to implicate children with nationalist ideas. They are tought that they are not Spanish but basques and they learn to hate everything related to Spain. In some Ikastolas (Basque Schools) they are instructed into violence. Many children end up knowing nothing about what happens more than 100 miles away.