Galicia (
English Listeni/ɡəˈlɪsiə/, /ɡəˈlɪʃə/;
Galician: [ɡaˈliθja] ( listen), [ħaˈliθja], or [ħaˈlisja];
Spanish: [ɡaˈliθja]; Galician and
Portuguese:
Galiza, [ɡaˈliθa] ( listen), [ħaˈliθa] or [ħaˈlisa]) is an autonomous community of
Spain and historic nationality under
Spanish law. Located in the North-West of the
Iberian Peninsula, it comprises the provinces of
A Coruña,
Lugo,
Ourense and
Pontevedra, being bordered by
Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of
Castile and León and
Asturias to the east, and the
Atlantic Ocean to the west and the north. It had a population of 2,765,940 in
2013 and has a total area of 29,574 km2 (11,419 sq mi). Galicia has over 1,660 km (1,030 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them
Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora,
Cortegada, and—the largest and most populated—
A Illa de Arousa.
The area now called Galicia was first inhabited by humans during the
Middle Paleolithic period, and it takes its name from the
Gallaeci, the
Celtic peoples living north of the
Douro river during the last millennium BC, in a region largely coincidental with that of the
Iron Age local
Castro culture. Galicia was incorporated into the
Roman Empire at the end of the
Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, being turned into a
Roman province in the
3rd century AD. In 410, the
Germanic Suebi established a kingdom with its capital in
Braga (Portugal) which was incorporated into that of the
Visigoths in 585. In 711, the
Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula, taking the
Visigoth kingdom, but soon in 740 Galicia was incorporated into the
Christian kingdom of Asturias. During the
Middle Ages, the kingdom of Galicia was occasionally ruled by its own kings, but most of the time it was leagued to the kingdom of
Leon and later to that of
Castile, while maintaining its own legal and customary practices and personality. From the
13th century on, the kings of Castile, as kings of Galicia, appointed an Adiantado-mór, whose attributions passed to the
Governor and
Captain General of the
Kingdom of Galiza from the last years of the
15th century.
The Governor also presided the
Real Audiencia do
Reino de Galicia, a royal tribunal and government body. From the
16th century, the representation and voice of the kingdom was held by an assembly of deputies and representatives of the cities of the kingdom, the
Cortes or
Junta of the
Kingdom of Galicia, an institution which was forcibly discontinued in 1833 when the kingdom was divided into four administrative provinces with no legal mutual links. During the 19th and
20th centuries, demand grew for self-government and for the recognition of the personality of Galicia, a demand which led to the frustrated
Statute of Autonomy of 1936, and to the Statute of Autonomy of
1981, currently in force.
The interior of Galicia is characterized by its hilly landscape, although mountain ranges rise to 2,
000 m (6,600 ft) in the east and south. The coastal areas are mostly an alternate series of rías (submerged valleys where the sea penetrates tens of kilometres inland) and cliffs. The climate of Galicia is temperate and rainy, but it is also markedly drier in the summer, being usually classified as
Oceanic in the west and north, and
Mediterranean in the southeast
. Its topographic and climatic conditions have made animal husbandry and farming the primary source of Galicia's wealth for most of its history. With the exception of shipbuilding and food processing, Galicia was largely a semi-subsistence farming and fishing economy and did not experience significant industrialization until after the mid-20th century. In
2012, the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity was €56,000 million, with a nominal
GDP per capita of €20,700. The population is largely concentrated in two coastal areas: from
Ferrol to A Coruña in the northwest and from Pontevedra to
Vigo in the southwest.
To a lesser extent, there are smaller populations around the interior cities of Lugo, Ourense and
Santiago de Compostela. The political capital is Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña. Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is the most populous municipality with 294,997 (2014), while A Coruña is the most populous city with 215.
227 (2014).
Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia: the native Galician, a
Romance language closely related to Portuguese with which it shares Galician-Portuguese medieval literature, and the
Spanish language, usually known locally as
Castilian. 56% of the Galician population speak more in Galician than in Castilian, while 43% speak more in Castilian.
- published: 26 Jan 2016
- views: 84