The Basques (Basque: euskaldunak, Spanish: vascos, French: basques) as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria), a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.

The Basques are known in the local languages as:

The English word Basque comes from French Basque (pronounced /bask/), which itself comes from Gascon Basco (pronounced /ˈbasku/) and Spanish Vasco^{[citation needed]} (pronounced /ˈbasko/). These, in turn, come from Latin Vasco (pronounced /wasko/), plural Vascones (see History section below). The Latin labial-velar approximant /w/ generally evolved into the bilabials /b/ and /β̞/ in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and Aquitanian, a language related to old Basque and spoken in Gascony in Antiquity (similarly the Latin /w/ evolved into /v/ in French, Italian and other languages).

Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, (Ph.D.) is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by William Petersen. Grissom was a forensic entomologist and the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI (forensics) team, investigating crimes in and around the city of Las Vegas. He was the show's protagonist from seasons 1 to 9, when Petersen left the show as a regular, and was replaced by Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Raymond Langston (M.D.).

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation producer and writer Carol Mendelsohn considers Grissom the center of the show, and in the first seven years of the show he appeared in every episode, with the exception of "Hollywood Brass", from season five, "Gum Drops" and "The Unusual Suspect" from season six, and "Sweet Jane" and "Redrum" from season seven. In late season 6 it is revealed that he has become romantically involved with subordinate CSI Sara Sidle.

Grissom has received positive responses from critics, ranking number 82 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters list, along with Catherine Willows. Grissom's final episode as a regular drew over 23 million viewers.

William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor and producer, best known for playing Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom on the hit CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and as Will Graham in the film Manhunter.

Petersen was born in Evanston, Illinois, the youngest of six children of June (née Hoene; 1909–2006) and Arthur Edward Petersen, Sr. (1907–2004), who worked in the furniture business. He is of Danish and German descent. He has two brothers, Arthur, Jr. and Robert, plus three sisters: Anne, Mary Kay, and Elizabeth. He graduated from Bishop Kelly High School in Boise, Idaho, in 1972. He was accepted to Idaho State University on a football scholarship. While at Idaho State, Petersen took an acting course which changed the direction of his life. He left school along with his wife, Joanne, in 1974 and followed a drama professor to the Basque country where he studied as a Shakespearean actor. Petersen was interested in Basque culture and he studied the Basque language, Euskara, and gave his daughter the Basque name Maite Nerea (meaning My Beloved); she was born in Arrasate - Mondragón 1975. Petersen returned to Idaho intent on being an actor. Not wanting to work a non-acting job in Idaho, he returned to the Chicago area, living with relatives. He became active in the theater and earned his Actors' Equity card. He performed with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, of which he has been an ensemble member since 2008, and was a co-founder of the Remains Theater Ensemble which also included other prominent Chicago actors Gary Cole and Ted Levine.