 Economically important features include the iron ore deposits of Biscay, the concentration of industry around the largest city of Bilbao, the Port of Bilbao, and a land communication route with France around the western end of the Pyrenees.Records of people and place names from Roman times indicate that the Basques occupied an area somewhat larger than that which they currently inhabit, and supported a claim by Sabino Arana, the traditional founder of Basque Nationalism, that the Basque homeland has been occupied by the Basques longer than any other part of France or Spain has been inhabited by their people.Like other northern regions, the Basque territories remained independent, Christian kingdoms, occupying a central position within Christian Iberia.