1) Base types in Python include integers, floats, booleans, strings, bytes, lists, tuples, dictionaries, sets, and None. These types support various operations like indexing, slicing, mathematical operations, membership testing, etc. 2) Functions are defined using the def keyword and can take parameters and return values. Functions are called by specifying the function name followed by parentheses that may contain arguments. 3) Common operations on containers in Python include getting the length, minimum/maximum values, sum, sorting, checking for membership, enumerating, and zipping containers. Methods like append, extend, insert, remove, pop can modify lists in-place.