Galicia (Spain)

Galicia or Galiza (, ;, or ; ; جليقية), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain, with the official status of a nationality. 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, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and to the north. It had a population of 2,778,913 in 2012, and has a total area of 29574 km2. Galicia has over 1660 km of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada, and—the largest and the most populated one—Arousa Island.

The area now called Galicia was first inhabited by humans during the Middle Palaeolithic 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 of our era. 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 Adelantado Maior, 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 del 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 grew the demand 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 2000 m 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 twentieth century. In 2012 the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity was of €56,375 millions, with a nominal GDP per capita of € 20,723. 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 297,332 inhabitants and the second most populous city with 206,411 inhabitants; while A Coruña is the most populous city with 220,581 inhabitants and the second most populous municipality with 246,056 inhabitants in its municipality. Both cities are the cores of the two major metropolitan areas.

Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia, the native Galician, a Romance language closely related to Portuguese with which it shares the common Galician-Portuguese medieval literature, and the Spanish language, usually known locally as Castilian. 56.4% of the Galician population always speaks in Galician or speaks more in Galician than in Castilian, while 42.5% speaks always in Castilian or more in Castilian than in Galician.

Etymology
The name Galicia derives from the Latin toponym Callaecia, later Gallaecia, related to the name of an ancient Celtic tribe that resided north of the Douro river, the Gallaeci or Callaeci in Latin, or Kallaikói (καλλαικoι) in Greek. These Callaeci were the first tribe in the area to help the Lusitanians against the invading Romans. The Romans then applied their name to all the other tribes in the north west who spoke the same language and lived the same life.

Although the etymology of the name has been studied since the 7th century by authors like Isidore of Seville —who wrote that "Galicians are called so, because of their fair skin, as the Gauls", relating the name to the Greek word for milk—, currently scholars derive the name of the ancient Callaeci either from Proto-Indo-European *kal-n-eH2 'hill', through a local relational suffix -aik-, so meaning 'the hill (people)'; or either from Proto-Celtic *kallī- 'forest', so meaning 'the forest (people)'. In any case, Galicia, being per se a derivation of the ethnic name Kallaikói, would mean 'the land of the Galicians'.

The name evolved during the Middle Ages from Gallaecia, sometimes written Galletia, to Gallicia. In the 13th century, with the written emergence of the Galician language, Galiza became the most usual written form of the name of the country, being replaced during the 15th and 16th centuries by the current form, Galicia, which coincides with the Castilian Spanish name. The historical denomination Galiza became popular again during the end of the 19th and the first three-quarters of the 20th century, being still used with some frequency today, although not by the Xunta de Galicia, the local devolved government. The Royal Galician Academy, the institution responsible for regulating the Galician language, whilst recognizing it as a legitimate current denomination, has stated that the only official name of the country is Galicia.

Prehistory and antiquity
The oldest attestation of human presence in Galicia has been found in the Eirós Cave, in the municipality of Triacastela, which has preserved animal remains and Neanderthal stone objects from the Middle Paleolithic. Besides, the earliest culture to have left significant architectural traces is the Megalithic culture which expanded along the western European coasts during the Neolithic and Calcolithic eras; thousands of Megalithic tumuli are distributed throughout the country, but mostly along the coastal areas. Within each tumulus is a stone burial chamber known locally as anta (dolmen), frequently preceded by a corridor. Galicia was later fully affected by the Bell Beaker culture, while its rich mineral deposits - tin and gold - led to the development of Bronze Age metallurgy, and to the commerce of bronze and gold items all along the Atlantic façade of Western Europe, where a common elite's culture evolved during the Atlantic Bronze Age.

Dating from the end of the Megalithic era, and up to the Bronze Age, there are numerous stone carvings (petroglyphs) in open air. They usually represent cup and ring marks, labyrinths, deer, Bronze Age weapons, and equitation and hunting scenes. Large number of these stone carvings can be found in the Rías Baixas regions, at places such as Tourón and Campo Lameiro.

The Castro culture ('Culture of the Castles') developed during the Iron Age, and flourished during the second half of the first millennium BCE. It is usually considered a local evolution of the Atlantic Bronze Age, with later developments and influences and overlapping into the Roman era. Geographically, it corresponds to the people Roman called Gallaeci, which were composed by a large series of nations or tribes, among them the Artabri, Bracari, Limici, Celtici, Albiones and Lemavi. They were capable fighters: Strabo described them as the most difficult foes the Romans encountered in conquering Lusitania, while Appian mentions their warlike spirit, noting that the women bore their weapons side by side with their men, frequently preferring death to captivity. According to Pomponius Mela all the inhabitants of the coastal areas were Celtic people.

Gallaeci lived in castros. These were usually annular forts, with one or more concentric earthen or stony walls, with a trench in front of each one. They were frequently located at hills, or in seashore cliffs and peninsulas. Some well known castros can be found, in the seashore, at Fazouro, Santa Tegra, Baroña and O Neixón, and inland at San Cibrao de Lás, Borneiro, Castromao, and Viladonga. Some other distinctive features, such as temples, baths, reservoirs, warrior statues and decorative carvings have been found associated to this culture, together with rich gold and metalworking traditions.

The Roman legions first entered the area under Decimus Junius Brutus in 137–136 BC, but the country was only incorporated into the Roman Empire by the time of Augustus (29 BC-19 BC). The Romans were interested in Galicia mainly for its mineral resources, most notably gold. Under Roman rule, most Galician hillforts began to be -sometimes forcibly- abandoned, and Gallaeci served frequently in the Roman army as auxiliary troops. Romans brought new technologies, new travel routes, new forms of organizing property, and a new language; latin. The Roman Empire established its control over Galicia through camps (castra) as Aquis Querquennis, Ciadella camp or Lucus Augusti (Lugo), roads (viae) and monuments as the lighthouse known as Torre de Hércules, in A Coruña, but the remoteness and lesser interest of the country since the 2nd century of our era, when the gold mines stop being productive, led to a lesser degree of Romanization. In the 3rd century it was made a province, under the name Gallaecia, which included also northern Portugal, Asturias, and a large section of what today is known as Castilla y León.

Early Middle Ages
In the early 5th century, the deep crisis suffered by the Roman Empire allowed different tribes of Central Europe (Suebi, Vandals and Alani) to cross the Rhine and penetrate into the rule on 31 December 406. Its progress towards the Iberian peninsula forced the Roman authorities to establish a treaty (foedus) by which the Suebi would settle peacefully and govern Galicia as imperial allies. So, from 409 Galicia was taken by the Suebi, forming the first medieval kingdom to be created in Europe, in 411, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, being also the first Germanic kingdom to mint coinage in Roman lands. During this period a Briton colony and bishopric (see Mailoc) was established in Northern Galicia (Britonia), probably as foederati and allies of the Suebi. In 585, the Visigothic King Leovigild invaded the Suebic kingdom of Galicia and defeated it, bringing it under Visigoth control.

Later the Muslims invaded Spain (711), but the Arabs and Moors never managed to have any real control over Galicia, which was later incorporated into the expanding Christian Kingdom of Asturias, usually known as Gallaecia or Galicia (Yillīqiya and Galīsiya) by Muslim Chroniclers, as well as by many European contemporaries. This era consolidated Galicia as a Christian society which spoke a Romance language. During the next century Galician noblemen took northern Portugal, conquering Coimbra in 871, thus freeing what were considered the southernmost city of ancient Galicia.

High and Low Middle Ages
In the 9th century, the rise of the cult of the Apostle James in Santiago de Compostela gave Galicia a particular symbolic importance among Christians, an importance it would hold throughout the Reconquista. As the Middle Ages went on, Santiago became a major pilgrim destination and the Way of Saint James a major pilgrim road, a route for the propagation of Romanesque art and the words and music of the troubadors. During the 10th and 11th centuries, a period during which Galician nobility become related to the royal family, Galicia was at times headed by its own native kings, while Vikings (locally known as Leodemanes or Lordomanes) occasionally raided the coasts. The Towers of Catoira (Pontevedra) were built as a system of fortifications to prevent and stop the Viking raids on Santiago de Compostela.

In 1063, Ferdinand I of Castile divided his realm among his sons, and the Kingdom of Galicia was granted to Garcia II of Galicia. In 1072, it was forcibly annexed by Garcia's brother Alfonso VI of León; from that time Galicia was united with the Kingdom of León under the same monarchs. In the 13th century Alfonso X of Castile standardized the Castilian language and made it the language of court and government. Nevertheless, in his Kingdom of Galicia the Galician language was the only language spoken, and the most used in government and legal uses, as well as in literature.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the progressive distancing of the kings from Galician affairs left the kingdom in the hands of the local knights, counts and bishops, who frequently fought each other to increase their fiefs, or simply to plunder the lands of others. At the same time, the deputies of the Kingdom in the Cortes stopped being called. The Kingdom of Galicia, slipping away from the control of the King, responded with a century of fiscal insubordination.

On the other hand, the lack of an effective royal justice system in the Kingdom led to the social conflict known as the Guerras Irmandiñas ('Wars of the brotherhoods'), when leagues of peasants and burghers, with the support of a number of knights, noblemen, and under legal protection offered by the remote king, toppled many of the castles of the Kingdom and briefly drove the noblemen into Portugal and Castile. Soon after, in the late 15th century, in the dynastic conflict between Isabella I of Castile and Joanna La Beltraneja, part of the Galician aristocracy supported Joanna. After Isabella's victory, she initiated an administrative and political reform which the chronicler Jeronimo Zurita defined as "doma del Reino de Galicia": 'It was then when the taming of Galicia began, because not just the local lords and knights, but all the people of that nation were the ones against the others very bold and warlike'. These reforms, while establishing a local government and tribunal (the Real Audiencia del Reino de Galicia) and bringing the nobleman under submission, also brought most Galician monasteries and institutions under Castilian control, in what has been criticized as a process of centralisation. At the same time the kings began to call the Junta or Cortes of the Kingdom of Galicia, an assembly of deputies or representatives of the cities of the Kingdom, to ask for monetary and military contributions. This assembly soon developed into the voice and legal representation of the Kingdom, and the depositary of its will and laws.

In the late years of the 15th century the Galician language began a slow decline which would culminate in the Séculos Escuros ("the Dark Centuries"), roughly the 16th through mid-18th centuries, when written Galician practically disappeared except for private or occasional uses, and the language survived only orally.

Early Modern
The modern period of the kingdom of Galicia began with the murder or defeat of some of the most powerful Galician lords, such as Pedro Pardo de Cela, called Pedro Madruga, and Rodrigo Henriques Osorio, at the hands of the Castilian armies sent to Galicia between the years 1480 and 1486. Isabella I of Castile, considered a usurper by many Galician nobles, eradicated all armed resistance and definitively established the royal power of the Castilian monarchy. Fearing a general revolt, the monarchs ordered the banishing of the rest of the great lords like Pedro de Bolaño, Diego de Andrade or Lope Sánchez de Moscoso, among others.

The establishment of the Santa Hermandad in 1480, and of the Real Audiencia del Reino de Galicia in 1500—a tribunal and executive body directed by the Governor-Captain General as a direct representative of the King—implied initially the submission of the Kingdom to the Crown, after a century of unrest and fiscal insubordination. As a result, from 1480 to 1520 the Kingdom of Galicia contributed more than 10% of the total earnings of the Crown of Castille, including the Americas, well over its economic relevance. Still, the 16th century was marked by populational and economic growth up to 1580, when the war with England and with the Low Countries hampered or interrupted Galician Atlantic commerce, which consisted mostly in the exportation of wine, cattle, wood, sardines, and some manufactures.

From that moment Galicia, which participated to a minor extent in the American expansion of the Spanish Empire, found itself at the center of the Atlantic wars fought by Spain against the French and the Protestant powers of England and the Netherlands, whose privateers attacked the coastal areas, but major assaults were not common as the coastline was difficult and the harbors easily defended. The most famous assaults were upon the city of Vigo by Sir Francis Drake in 1585 and 1589, and the siege of A Coruña in 1589 by the English Armada. Galicia also suffered occasional slave raids by Barbary pirates, but not as frequently as the Mediterranean coastal areas. The most famous Barbary attack was the bloody sack of the town of Cangas do Morrazo in 1617. At the time, the king's petitions for money and troops became more frequent, due to the human and economic exhaustion of Castile; the Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia (the local Cortes or legislative assembly) was initially receptive to these petitions, raising large sums, accepting the conscription of the men of the kingdom, and even commissioning a new naval squadron which was sustained with the incomes of the Kingdom.

After the rupture of the wars with Portugal and Catalonia, the Junta changed its attitude, this time due to the exhaustion of Galicia, now involved not just in naval or oversea operations, but also in an exhausting war with the Portuguese, war which produced thousands of casualties and refugees and was heavily disturbing to the local economy and commerce. So, in the second half of the 17th century the Junta frequently denied or considerably reduced the initial petitions of the monarch, and though the tension didn't rise to the levels experienced in Portugal or Catalonia, there were frequent urban mutinies and some voices even asked for the secession of the Kingdom of Galicia.

Late Modern and Contemporary
During the Peninsular War, Galicia was one of the most affected areas. However, organisation between local people and the British Army led to a very short six-month period of French control.

The 1833 territorial division of Spain put a formal end to the Kingdom of Galicia, unifying Spain into a single centralized monarchy. Instead of seven provinces and a regional administration, Galicia was reorganized into the current four provinces. Although it was recognized as a "historical region", that status was strictly honorific. In reaction, nationalist and federalist movements arose.

The liberal General Miguel Solís Cuetos led a separatist coup attempt in 1846 against the authoritarian regime of Ramón María Narváez. Solís and his forces were defeated at the Battle of Cacheiras, 23 April 1846, and the survivors, including Solís himself, were shot. They have taken their place in Galician memory as the Martyrs of Carral or simply the Martyrs of Liberty.

Defeated on the military front, Galicians turned to culture. The Rexurdimento focused on recovery of the Galician language as a vehicle of social and cultural expression. Among the writers associated with this movement are Rosalía de Castro, Manuel Murguía, Manuel Leiras Pulpeiro, and Eduardo Pondal.

In the early 20th century came another turn toward nationalist politics with Solidaridad Gallega (1907–1912) modeled on Solidaritat Catalana in Catalonia. Solidaridad Gallega failed, but in 1916 Irmandades da Fala (Brotherhood of the Language) developed first as a cultural association but soon as a full-blown nationalist movement. Vicente Risco and Ramón Otero Pedrayo were outstanding cultural figures of this movement, and the magazine Nós ('Us'), founded 1920, its most notable cultural institution, Lois Peña Novo the outstanding political figure.

The Second Spanish Republic was declared in 1931. During the republic, the Partido Galeguista (PG) was the most important of a shifting collection of Galician nationalist parties. Following a referendum on a Galician Statute of Autonomy, Galicia was granted the status of an autonomous region, starting the path for the constitution of a Galician state into a Spanish federal republic. However, because of the Spanish Civil War, this was never put into practice.

Galicia was spared the worst of the fighting in that war. It was one of the areas where the initial coup attempt at the outset of the war was successful, and it remained in Nationalist (Franco's army's) hands throughout the war. While there were no pitched battles, there was repression and even death: all political parties were abolished, as were all labor unions and Galician nationalist organizations. Galicia's statute of autonomy was annulled (as were those of Catalonia and the Basque provinces once those were conquered). According to Carlos Fernández Santander, at least 4,200 people were killed either extrajudicially or after summary trials. Victims included the civil governors of all four Galician provinces; Juana Capdevielle, the wife of the governor of La Coruña; mayors such as Ángel Casal of Santiago de Compostela; prominent socialists such as Jaime Quintanilla in Ferrol and Emilio Martínez Garrido in Vigo; Popular Front deputies Antonio Bilbatúa, José Miñones, Díaz Villamil, Ignacio Seoane, and former deputy Heraclio Botana); soldiers who had not joined the rebellion, such as Generals Rogelio Caridad Pita and Enrique Salcedo Molinuevo and Admiral Antonio Azarola; and the founders of the PG, Alexandre Bóveda and Víctor Casas. Many others managed to escape into exile.

General Francisco Franco — himself a Galician from Ferrol &mdash; ruled as dictator from the civil war until his death in 1975. Franco's centralizing regime suppressed any official promotion of the Galician language, although its everyday use was never proscribed. Among the attempts at resistance were small leftist guerrilla groups such as those led by José Castro Veiga ("El Piloto") and Benigno Andrade ("Foucellas"), both of whom were ultimately captured and executed. In the 1960s, ministers such as Manuel Fraga Iribarne introduced some reforms allowing technocrats affiliated with Opus Dei to modernize administration in a way that facilitated capitalist economic development. However, for decades Galicia was largely confined to the role of a supplier of raw materials and energy to the rest of Spain, causing environmental havoc and leading to a wave of migration to Venezuela and to various parts of Europe. Fenosa, the monopolistic supplier of electricity, built hydroelectric dams, flooding many Galician river valleys.

The Galician economy finally began to modernize with a Citroën factory in Vigo, the modernization of the canning industry and the fishing fleet, and eventually a modernization of small peasant farming practices, especially in the production of cows' milk. In the province of Ourense, businessman and politician Eulogio Gómez Franqueira gave impetus to the raising of livestock and poultry by establishing the Cooperativa Orensana S.A. (Coren).

During the last decade of Franco's rule, there was a renewal of nationalist feeling in Galicia. The early 1970s were a time of unrest among university students, workers, and farmers. In 1972, general strikes in Vigo and Ferrol cost the lives of Amador Rey and Daniel Niebla. Later, the bishop of Mondoñedo-Ferrol, Miguel Anxo Araúxo Iglesias, wrote a pastoral letter that was not well received by the Franco regime, about a demonstration in Bazán (Ferrol) where two workers died.

As part of the transition to democracy upon the death of Franco in 1975, Galicia regained its status as an autonomous region within Spain with the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, which begins, "Galicia, historical nationality, is constituted as an Autonomous Community to access to its self-government, in agreement with the Spanish Constitution and with the present Statute (...)". Varying degrees of nationalist or independentist sentiment are evident at the political level. The only nationalist party of any electoral significance, the Bloque Nacionalista Galego or BNG, is a conglomerate of left-wing parties and individuals that claims Galician political status as a nation.

From 1990 to 2005, Manuel Fraga, former minister and ambassador in the Franco dictature, presided over the Galician autonomous government, the Xunta de Galicia. Fraga was associated with the Partido Popular ('People's Party', Spain's main national conservative party) since its founding. In 2002, when the oil tanker Prestige sank and covered the Galician coast in oil, Fraga was accused by the grassroots movement Nunca Mais ("Never again") of having been unwilling to react. In the 2005 Galician elections, the 'People's Party' lost its absolute majority, though remaining (barely) the largest party in the parliament, with 43% of the total votes. As a result, power passed to a coalition of the Partido dos Socialistas de Galicia (PSdeG) ('Galician Socialists' Party'), a federal sister-party of Spain's main social-democratic party, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, 'Spanish Socialist Workers Party') and the nationalist Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG). As the senior partner in the new coalition, the PSdeG nominated its leader, Emilio Perez Touriño, to serve as Galicia's new president, with Anxo Quintana, the leader of BNG, as its vice president.

In 2009 the PSdG-BNG coalition lost the elections and the government went back to the People's Party (conservative), which will govern until 2013. Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP) is now Galicia's president. It must be said that the PSdG-BNG coalition actually obtained the most votes.

Geography
Galicia has a surface area of 29574 km2. Its northernmost point, at 43°47′N, is Estaca de Bares (also the northernmost point of Spain); its southernmost, at 41°49′N, is on the Portuguese border in the Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés Natural Park. The easternmost longitude is at 6°42′W on the border between the province of Ourense and the Castilian-Leonese province of Zamora) its westernmost at 9°18′W, reached in two places: the La Nave Cape in Fisterra (also known as Finisterre), and Cape Touriñán, both in the province of A Coruña.

Topography
The interior of Galicia is a hilly landscape, composed of relatively low mountain ranges, usually below 1000 m high, without sharp peaks, rising to 2000 m in the eastern mountains. There are many rivers, most (though not all) running down relatively gentle slopes in narrow river valleys, though at times their courses become far more rugged, as in the canyons of the Sil river, Galicia's second most important river after the Miño.

Topographically, a remarkable feature of Galicia is the presence of many firth-like inlets along the coast, estuaries that were drowned with rising sea levels after the ice age. These are called rías and are divided into the smaller Rías Altas ("High Rías"), and the larger Rías Baixas ("Low Rías"). The Rías Altas include Ribadeo, Foz, Viveiro, Barqueiro, Ortigueira, Cedeira, Ferrol, Betanzos, A Coruña, Corme e Laxe and Camariñas. The Rías Baixas, found south of Fisterra, include Corcubión, Muros e Noia, Arousa, Pontevedra and Vigo. The Rías Altas can sometimes refer only to those east of Estaca de Bares, with the others being called Rías Medias ("Intermediate Rías").

Erosion by the Atlantic Ocean has contributed to the great number of capes. Besides the aforementioned Estaca de Bares in the far north, separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Cantabrian Sea, other notable capes are Cape Ortegal, Cape Prior, Punta Santo Adrao, Cape Vilán, Cape Touriñán (westernmost point in Galicia), Cape Finisterre or Fisterra, considered by the Romans, along with Finistère in Brittany and Land's End in Cornwall, to be the end of the known world.

All along the Galician coast are various archipelagos near the mouths of the rías. These archipelagos provide protected deepwater harbors and also provide habitat for seagoing birds. A 2007 inventory estimates that the Galician coast has 316 archipelagos, islets, and freestanding rocks. Among the most important of these are the archipelagos of Cíes, Ons, and Sálvora. Together with Cortegada Island, these make up the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park. Other significant islands are Islas Malveiras, Islas Sisargas, and, the largest and holding the largest population, Arousa Island.

The coast of this 'green corner' of the Iberian Peninsula, some 1500 km in length, attracts great numbers of tourists, although real estate development in the 2000-2010 decade have degraded it partially.

Galicia is quite mountainous, a fact which has contributed to isolate the rural areas, hampering communications, most notably in the inland. The main mountain range is the Macizo Galaico (Serra do Eixe, Serra da Lastra, Serra do Courel), also known as Macizo Galaico-Leonés, located in the eastern parts, bordering with Castile and León. Noteworthy mountain ranges are O Xistral (northern Lugo), the Serra dos Ancares (on the border with León and Asturias), O Courel (on the border with León), O Eixe (the border between Ourense and Zamora), Serra de Queixa (in the center of Ourense province), O Faro (the border between Lugo and Pontevedra), Cova da Serpe (border of Lugo and A Coruña), Montemaior (A Coruña), Montes do Testeiro, Serra do Suído, and Faro de Avión (between Pontevedra and Ourense); and, to the south, A Peneda, O Xurés and O Larouco, all on the border of Ourense and Portugal.

The highest point in Galicia is Trevinca or Pena Trevinca (2124 m), located in the Serra do Eixe, at the border between Ourense and León and Zamora provinces. Other tall peaks are Pena Survia (2112 m) in the Serra do Eixe, O Mustallar (1935 m) in Os Ancares, and Cabeza de Manzaneda (1782 m) in Serra de Queixa, where there is a ski resort.

Hydrography
Galicia is poetically known as the "country of the thousand rivers" ("o país dos mil ríos"). The largest and most important of these rivers is the Minho, known as O Pai Miño (Father Minho), 307.5 km long and discharging 419 m3 per second, with its affluent the Sil, which has created a spectacular canyon. Most of the rivers in the inland are tributaries of this fluvial system, which drains some 17,027 sqkm. Other rivers run directly into the Atlantic Ocean as Lérez or the Cantabrian Sea, most of them having short courses. Only the Navia, Ulla, Tambre, and Limia have courses longer than 100 km.

Galicia's many hydroelectric dams take advantage of the steep, deep, narrow rivers and their canyons. Few of Galicia's rivers are navigable, other than the lower portion of the Miño and the portions of various rivers that have been dammed into reservoirs. Some rivers are navigable by small boats in their lower reaches: this is taken great advantage of in a number of semi-aquatic festivals and pilgrimages.

Environment
Galicia has preserved some of its dense forests. It is relatively unpolluted, and its landscapes composed of green hills, cliffs and rias are generally different from what is commonly understood as Spanish landscape. Nevertheless, Galicia has some important environmental problems.

Deforestation and forest fires are a problem in many areas, as is the continual spread of the eucalyptus tree, a species imported from Australia, actively promoted by the paper industry since the mid-twentieth century. Galicia is one of the more forested areas of Spain, but the majority of Galicia's plantations, usually growing eucalyptus or pine, lack any formal management. Wood and wood products (particularly softwood pulp) figure significantly in Galicia's economy. Apart from tree plantations, Galicia is also notable for the extensive surface occupied by meadows used for animal husbandry (especially cattle), an important activity. Massive Eucalyptus (especially Eucalyptus globulus) plantation began in the Francisco Franco era, largely on behalf of the paper company Empresa Nacional de Celulosas de España (ENCE) in Pontevedra, which wanted it for its pulp.

Hydroelectric development in most rivers has been a serious concern for local conservationists during the last decades.

Fauna, most notably the European Wolf, has suffered because of the actions of livestock owners and farmers, and because of the loss of habitats, whilst the native deer species have declined because of hunting and development.

Oil spills are a major issue. The Prestige oil spill in 2002 spilt more oil than the Exxon Valdez in Alaska.

Biodiversity
Galicia has more than 2800 plant species. Plant endemics are represented by 31 taxons. A few oak forests (known locally as fragas) remain, particularly in the north-central part of the province of Lugo and the north of the province of A Coruña (Fragas do Eume).

Galicia has 262 inventoried species of vertebrates, including 12 species of freshwater fish, 15 amphibians, 24 reptiles, 152 birds and 59 mammals.

The animals most often thought of as being "typical" of Galicia are the livestock raised there. The Galician Pony is native to the region, as is the Galician Blond cow and the domestic fowl known as the galiña de Mos. The latter is an endangered species, although it is showing signs of a comeback since 2001. Galicia's woodlands and mountains are home to rabbits, hares, wild boars and roe deer, all of which are popular with hunters. Several important bird migration routes pass through Galicia, and some of the community's relatively few environmentally protected areas are Special Protection Areas (such as on the Ría de Ribadeo) for these birds. From a domestic point of view, Galicia has been credited for author Manuel Rivas as the "land of one million cows". Galician Blond and Holstein cattle coexist on meadows and farms.

Climate
The lands of Galicia are ascribed to two different areas in the Köppen climate classification: a south-east area (roughly, the province of Ourense) with tendencies to have some summer drought, classified as a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb), with mild temperatures and rainfall usual throughout the year; and the western and northern coastal regions, the provinces of Lugo, A Coruña, and Pontevedra, which are characterized by their Oceanic climate (Csf), with a more uniform precipitation distribution along the year, and milder summers.

As an example, Santiago de Compostela, the political capital city, has an average of 129 rainy days and 1362 mm per year (with just 17 rainy days in the three summer months) and 2,101 sunlight hours per year, with just 6 days with frosts per year. But the colder city of Lugo, to the east, has an average of 1,759 sunlight hours per year, 117 days with precipitations (> 1 mm) totalling 901.54 mm, and 40 days with frosts per year. The more mountainous parts of the provinces of Ourense and Lugo receive significant snowfall during the winter months.

Climate data for some locations in Galicia (average 1971-2000):

Local government
Galicia has partial self-governance, in the form of a devolved government, established on 16 March 1978 and reinforced by the Galician Statute of Autonomy, ratified on 28 April 1981. There are three branches of government: the executive branch, the Xunta de Galicia, consisting of the President and the other independently elected councillors; the legislative branch consisting of the Galician Parliament; and the judicial branch consisting of the High Court of Galicia and lower courts.

Executive


The Xunta de Galicia is a collective entity with executive and administrative power. It consists of the President, a vice president, and twelve councillors. Administrative power is largely delegated to dependent bodies. The Xunta also coordinates the activities of the provincial councils (deputacions) located in A Coruña, Pontevedra, Ourense and Lugo.

The President of the Xunta directs and coordinates the actions of the Xunta. He or she is simultaneously the representative of the autonomous community and of the Spanish state in Galicia. He or she is a member of the parliament and is elected by its deputies and then formally named by the monarch of Spain.

Legislative
The Galician Parliament consists of 75 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage under a system of proportional representation. The franchise includes even Galicians who reside abroad. Elections occur every four years.

The last election of 21 October 2012 resulted in the following distribution of seats:
 * Partido Popular de Galicia (PPdeG): 41 deputies (45.72%)
 * Partido Socialista de Galicia (PSdeG-PSOE): 18 deputies (20.53%)
 * Alternativa Galega de Esquerda (AGE): 9 deputies (13.99)
 * Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG): 7 deputies (10.16%)

Municipal governments
There are 315 municipalities (municipios) in Galicia, each of which is run by a mayor-council government known as a concello.

There is a further subdivision of local government known as an Entidade local menor; each has its own council (xunta vecinal) and mayor (alcalde da aldea). There are nine of these in Galicia: Arcos da Condesa, Bembrive, Camposancos, Chenlo, Morgadans, Pazos de Reis, Queimadelos, Vilasobroso and Beran.

National government
Galicia's interests are represented at national level by 25 elected deputies in the Congress of Deputies and 19 senators in the Senate - of these, 16 are elected and 3 are appointed by the Galician parliament.

Administrative divisions
Prior to the 1833 territorial division of Spain Galicia was divided into seven administrative provinces:


 * A Coruña
 * Santiago
 * Betanzos
 * Mondoñedo
 * Lugo
 * Ourense
 * Tui

From 1833, the seven original provinces of the 15th century were consolidated into four:


 * A Coruña
 * Pontevedra
 * Ourense
 * Lugo

Galicia is further divided into 53 comarcas, 315 municipalities and 3,778 parishes. Municipalities are divided into parishes, which may be further divided into aldeas ("hamlets") or lugares ("places"). This traditional breakdown into such small areas is unusual when compared to the rest of Spain. Roughly half of the named population entities of Spain are in Galicia, which occupies only 5.8 percent of the country's area. It is estimated that Galicia has over a million named places, over 40,000 of them being communities.

Economy
In comparison to the other regions of Spain, the major economic benefit of Galicia is its fishing Industry. Galicia is a land of economic contrast. While the western coast, with its major population centers and its fishing and manufacturing industries, is prosperous and increasing in population, the rural hinterland — the provinces of Ourense and Lugo — are economically dependent on traditional agriculture, based on small landholdings called minifundios. However, the rise of tourism, sustainable forestry and organic and traditional agriculture are bringing other possibilities to the Galician economy without compromising the preservation of the natural resources and the local culture.

Traditionally, Galicia depended mainly on agriculture and fishing. Reflecting that history, the Community Fisheries Control Agency, which coordinates fishing controls in European Union waters is based in Vigo. Nonetheless, today the tertiary sector of the economy (the service sector) is the largest, with 582,000 workers out of a regional total of 1,072,000 (as of 2002).

The secondary sector (manufacturing) includes shipbuilding in Vigo and Ferrol, textiles and granite work in A Coruña. A Coruña also manufactures automobiles, but not nearly on the scale of the french automobile manufacturing in Vigo. The Centro de Vigo de PSA Peugeot Citroën, founded in 1958, makes about 450,000 vehicles annually (455,430 in 2006); a Citroën C4 Picasso made in 2007 was their nine-millionth vehicle.

Arteixo, an industrial municipality in the A Coruña metropolitan area, is the headquarters of Inditex, world's largest textile company. Of their eight brands, Zara is the best-known; indeed, it is the best-known Spanish brand of any sort on an international basis. For 2007, Inditex had 9,435 million euros in sales for a net profit of 1,250 million euros. The company president, Amancio Ortega, is the richest person in Spain and indeed Europe with a net worth of 44.5 billion euros.

Galicia is home to the savings bank, and to Spain's two oldest commercial banks Banco Etcheverría (the oldest) and Banco Pastor, owned since 2011 by Banco Popular Español.

Galicia was late to catch the tourism boom that has swept Spain in recent decades, but the coastal regions (especially the Rías Baixas and Santiago de Compostela) are now significant tourist destinations. In 2007, 5.7 million tourists visited Galicia, an 8 percent growth over the previous year, and part of a continual pattern of growth in this sector. 85 percent of tourists who visit Galicia visit Santiago de Compostela. Tourism constitutes 12 percent of the Galician GDP and employs between 12 and 13 percent of the regional workforce.

Transportation
Galicia's principal airport is the Santiago de Compostela Airport, the only Galician airport with intercontinental flights. With 1,943,900 passengers in 2009, it connects to cities in Spain as well as several major European cities – a scheduled transcontinental service to Caracas and Buenos Aires has been proposed. There are two other commercial-aviation airports in Galicia: Vigo-Peinador Airport which connects to three cities in Spain and to Paris. A Coruña Airport connects to six cities in Spain, to Lisbon andLondon. The most important international airport of the northwest Iberian peninsula is Porto in Portugal.

The most important Galician fishing port is the Port of Vigo; It is one of the world's leading fishing ports, second only to Tokyo, with an annual catch worth 1,500 million euros. In 2007 the port took in 732951 MT of fish and seafood, and about 4000000 MT of other cargoes. Other important ports are Ferrol, A Coruña, and the smaller ports of Marín and Vilagarcía de Arousa, as well as important recreational ports in Pontevedra and Burela. Beyond these, Galicia has 120 other organized ports.

The Galician road network includes autopistas and autovías connecting the major cities, as well as national and secondary roads to the rest of the municipalities. The Autovía A-6 connects A Coruña and Lugo to Madrid, entering Galicia at Pedrafita do Cebreiro. The Autovía A-52 connects O Porriño, Ourense and Benavente, and enters Galicia at A Gudiña. Two more autovías are under construction. Autovía A-8 enters Galicia on the Cantabrian coast, and ends in Baamonde (Lugo province). Autovía A-76 enters Galicia in Valdeorras; it is an upgrade of the existing N-120 to Ourense and Vigo.

Within Galicia are the Autopista AP-9 from Ferrol to Vigo and the Autopista AP-53 (also known as AG-53, because it was initially built by the Xunta de Galicia) from Santiago to Ourense. Additional roads under construction include Autovía A-54 from Santiago de Compostela to Lugo, and Autovía A-56 from Lugo to Ourense. The Xunta de Galicia has built roads connecting comarcal capitals, such as the aforementioned AG-53, Autovía AG-55 connecting A Coruña to Carballo or AG-41 connecting Pontevedra to Sanxenxo.

The first railway line in Galicia was inaugurated 15 September 1873. It ran from O Carril, Vilagarcía de Arousa to Cornes, Conxo, Santiago de Compostela. A second line was inaugurated in 1875, connecting A Coruña and Lugo. In 1883, Galicia was first connected by rail to the rest of Spain, by way of O Barco de Valdeorras. Galicia today has roughly 1100 km of rail lines. Several Iberian gauge (1,668 mm) lines operated by Adif and Renfe Operadora connect all the important Galician cities. A metre gauge (1,000 mm) line operated by FEVE connects Ferrol to Ribadeo and Oviedo. The only electrified line is the Ponferrada-Monforte de Lemos-Ourense-Vigo line. Several high speed rail lines are under construction. Among these are the Olmedo-Zamora-Galicia high-speed rail line that opened partly in 2011, and the AVE Atlantic Axis route, which will connect all of the major Galician Atlantic coast cities A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo to Portugal. Another projected AVE line will connect Ourense to Pontevedra and Vigo.

Population
Galicia's inhabitants are known as Galicians (galegos, gallegos). For well over a century Galicia has grown more slowly than the rest of Spain, due largely to emigration to Latin America and to other parts of Spain. Sometimes Galicia has lost population in absolute terms. In 1857, Galicia had Spain's densest population and constituted 11.49 percent of the national population. As of 2007, only 6.13 percent of the Spanish population resides in the autonomous community. This is due to the diaspora Galician people were forced into since the nineteenth century, first to South America and later to Central Europe.

According to the 2006 census, Galicia has a fertility rate of 1.03 children per woman, compared to 1.38 nationally, and far below the figure of 2.1 that represents a stable populace. Lugo and Ourense provinces have the lowest fertility rates in Spain, 0.88 and 0.93, respectively.

In northern Galicia, the A Coruña-Ferrol metropolitan area has become increasingly dominant in terms of population. The population of the city of A Coruña in 1900 was 43,971. The population of the rest of the province including the City and Naval Station of nearby Ferrol and Santiago de Compostela was 653,556. A Coruña's growth occurred after the Spanish Civil War at the same speed as other major Galician cities, but it was the arrival of democracy in Spain after the death of Francisco Franco when A Coruña left all the other Galician cities behind.

The rapid increase of population of Vigo-Pontevedra, A Coruña, and to a lesser degree Santiago de Compostela and other major Galician cities, during the years that followed the Spanish Civil War during the mid 20th century occurred as the rural population declined: many villages and hamlets of the four provinces of Galicia disappeared or nearly disappeared during the same period. Economic development and mechanization of agriculture resulted in the fields being abandoned, and most of the population has moving to find jobs in the main cities. The number of people working in the Tertiary and Quaternary sectors of the economy has increased significantly.

Since 1999, the absolute number of births in Galicia has been increasing. In 2006, 21,392 births were registered in Galicia, 300 more than in 2005, according to the Instituto Galego de Estadística. Since 1981, the Galician life expectancy has increased by 5 years, thanks to a higher quality of life.


 * Birth rate (2006): 7.9 per 1,000 (all of Spain: 11.0 per 1,000)
 * Death rate (2006): 10.8 per 1,000 (all of Spain: 8.4 per 1,000)
 * Life expectancy at birth (2005): 80.4 years (all of Spain: 80.2 years)
 * Male: 76.8 years (all of Spain: 77.0 years)
 * Female: 84.0 years (all of Spain: 83.5 years)

Urbanization
The principal cities are A Coruña, Vigo, Pontevedra, Ourense, Lugo, Ferrol and Santiago de Compostela, the political capital and archiepiscopal seat.

The largest conurbations are:
 * Vigo-Pontevedra – 660,000
 * A Coruña-Ferrol – 640,000

Migration
Like most of Western Europe, Galicia's history has been defined by mass emigration. There was significant Galician emigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the industrialized Spanish cities of Barcelona, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Madrid and to Latin America - Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil and Cuba in particular. One notable example of that emigration is that of Fidel Castro, whose father was a Galician immigrant and mother was of Galician descent.

The two cities with the greatest number of people of Galician descent outside of Galicia itself are Buenos Aires, Argentina, and nearby Montevideo, Uruguay, where immigration from Galicia was so significant that Argentines and Uruguayans now commonly refer to all Spaniards as gallegos (Galicians).

During the Franco years there was a new wave of emigration out of Galicia to other European countries, most notably to France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. There are many expatriate communities throughout the world, and many have their own groups or clubs. Galician immigration is so widespread that websites such as Fillos de Galicia were created in order to organize and inform Galicians throughout the world.

The proportion of foreign-born people in Galicia is only 2.9 percent compared to a national figure of 10 percent; among the autonomous communities, only Extremadura has a lower percentage of immigrants. Of the foreign nationals resident in Galicia, 17.93 percent are the ethnically related Portuguese, 10.93 percent are Colombian and 8.74 percent Brazilian.

Language


Galicia has two official languages: Galician (Galician: galego) and Spanish (known in Spain as castellano, "Castilian"), both of them Romance languages, the former originated locally, the latter born in Castile. Galician is recognized in the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia as the lingua propia ("own language") of Galicia.

Galician is closely related to Portuguese. Both share a common medieval phase known as Galician-Portuguese. The independence of Portugal since the late Middle Ages has favored the divergence of the Galician and Portuguese languages.

The official Galician language has been standardized by the Real Academia Galega on the basis of literary tradition. Although there are local dialects, Galician media conform to this standard form, which is also used in primary, secondary, and university education. There are more than three million Galician speakers in the world, placing Galician just barely among the 150 most widely spoken languages on earth.

Spanish was nonetheless the only official language in Galicia for more than four centuries. Over the many centuries of Castilian domination, Galician faded from day-to-day use in urban areas. The period since the re-establishment of democracy in Spain—in particular since the Ley de Normalización Lingüística ("Law of Linguistic Normalization", Ley 3/1983, 15 June 1983)—represents the first time since the introduction of mass education that a generation has attended school in Galician (Spanish is also still taught in Galician schools).

Nowadays, Galician is resurgent, though in the cities it remains a "second language" for most. According to a 2001 census, 99.16 percent of the populace of Galicia understand the language, 91.04 percent speak it, 68.65 percent read it and 57.64 percent write it. The first two numbers (understanding and speaking) remain roughly the same as a decade earlier; the latter two (reading and writing) both show enormous gains: a decade earlier, only 49.3 percent of the population could read Galician, and only 34.85 percent could write it. This fact can be easily explained because of the impossibility of teaching Galician during the Francisco Franco era, so older people speak the language but have no written competence. Galician is the highest-percentage spoken language in its region among the regional languages of Spain.

The earliest known document in Galician-Portuguese dates from 1228. The Foro do bo burgo do Castro Caldelas was granted by Alfonso IX of Leon to the town of Burgo, in Castro Caldelas, after the model of the constitutions of the town of Allariz. A distinct Galician Literature emerged during the Middle Ages: In the 13th century important contributions were made to the romance canon in Galician-Portuguese, the most notable those by the troubadour Martín Codax, the priest Airas Nunes, King Denis of Portugal and King Alfonso X of Castile, Alfonso O Sabio ("Alfonso the Wise"), the same monarch who began the process of establishing the hegemony of Castilian. During this period, Galician-Portuguese was considered the language of love poetry in the Iberian Romance linguistic culture. The names and memories of Codax and other popular cultural figures are well preserved in modern Galicia and, despite the long period of Castilian linguistic domination, these names are again household words.

Religion
Christianity is the most widely practised religion in Galicia, as it has been since its introduction in Late Antiquity, although it lived alongside the old Gallaeci religion for a few centuries. Today about 73% of Galicians identify themselves as Christians. The largest form of Christianity practised in the present day is Catholicism, however only 20% of people described themselves as active members. Part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church with full communion with the Pope, the Catholic Church in Galicia has had its primatial seat in Santiago de Compostela since the 12th century.

Since the Middle Ages, the Galician Catholic Church has been organized into five ecclesiastical dioceses (Lugo, Ourense, Santiago de Compostela, Mondoñedo-Ferrol and Tui-Vigo). While these may have coincided with contemporary 15th century civil provinces, they no longer have the same boundaries as the modern civil provincial divisions. The church is led by one archbishop and four bishops. Moreover, of five dioceses, Galicia is divided between 163 districts and 3,792 parishes, a few of which are governed by administrators, the remainder by parish priests.

The patron saint of Galicia is Saint James the Greater, whose body was discovered - according to the Catholic tradition - in 814 near Compostela. After that date, the relics of Saint James became an extraordinary centre of pilgrimage and from the 9th century have been kept in the heart of the church - the modern-day cathedral - dedicated to him. There are many other Galician and associated saints; some of the best known include: Saint Ansurius, Saint Rudesind, Saint Mariña of Augas Santas, Saint Senorina, Trahamunda and Froilan.

Other religions have begun to appear, especially since the 1960s, due to foreign immigration; in 2010 there were estimated to be 25,000 Protestants while Orthodox Christians numbered about 10,000. Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are next in number and around 20% of Galicians say that they have no religion.

Education
Galicia's education system is administered by the regional government's Ministry of Education and University Administration. 76% of Galician teenagers achieve a high school degree - ranked fifth out of the 17 autonomous communities.

There are three public universities in Galicia: University of A Coruña with campuses in A Coruña and Ferrol, University of Santiago de Compostela with campuses in Santiago de Compostela and Lugo and the University of Vigo with campuses in Pontevedra, Ourense and Vigo.

Health care
Galicia's public healthcare system is the Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS). It is administered by the regional government's Ministry of Health.

Architecture
Hundreds of ancient standing stone monuments like dolmens, menhirs and megalithics Tumulus were erected during the prehistoric period in Galicia, amongst the best known are the dolmens of Dombate, Corveira, Axeitos of Pedra da Arca, menhirs like the "Lapa de Gargñáns". From the Iron Age, Galicia has a rich heritage based mainly on a great number of Hill forts, few of them excavated like Baroña, Sta. Tegra, San Cibrao de Lás and Formigueiros among others. With the introduction of Ancient Roman architecture there was a development of basilicas, castra, city walls, cities, villas, Roman temples, Roman roads, and the Roman bridge of Ponte Vella. It was the Romans who founded some of the first cities in Galicia like Lugo and Ourense. Perhaps the best known examples are the Roman Walls of Lugo and the Tower of Hercules in A Coruña. During the Middle Ages, a huge quantity of fortified castles were built by Galician feudal nobles to mark their powers against their rivals. Although the most of them were demolished during the Irmandiño Wars (1466–1469), some Galician castles that survived are Pambre, Castro Caldelas, Sobroso, Soutomaior and Monterrei among others. Ecclesiastical architecture raised early in Galicia, and the first churches and monasteries as San Pedro de Rocas, began to be built in 5-6th centuries. However, the most famous medieval architecture in Galicia had been using Romanesque architecture like most of Western Europe. Some of the greatest examples of Romanesque churches in Galicia are the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the Ourense Cathedral, Saint John of Caaveiro, Our Lady Mary of Cambre and the Church of San Juan of Portomarín among others.

Cuisine
Galician cuisine often uses fish and shellfish. The empanada is a meat or fish pie, with a bread-like base, top and crust with the meat or fish filling usually being in a tomato sauce including onions and garlic. Caldo galego is a hearty soup whose main ingredients are potatoes and a local vegetable named grelo (Broccoli rabe). The latter is also employed in Lacón con grelos, a typical carnival dish, consisting of pork shoulder boiled with grelos, potatoes and chorizo. Centolla is the equivalent of King Crab. It is prepared by being boiled alive, having its main body opened like a shell, and then having its innards mixed vigorously. Another popular dish is octopus, boiled (traditionally in a copper pot) and served in a wooden plate, cut into small pieces and laced with olive oil, sea salt and pimentón (Spanish paprika). This dish is called Pulpo a la gallega or in Galician "Polbo á Feira", which roughly translates as "Galician-style Octopus". There are several regional varieties of cheese. The best known one is the so-called tetilla, named after its breast-like shape. Other highly regarded varieties include the San Simón cheese from Vilalba and the creamy cheese produced in the Arzúa-Curtis area. The latter area produces also high-quality beef. A classical dessert is filloas, crêpe-like pancakes made with flour, broth or milk, and eggs. When cooked at a pig slaughter festival, they may also contain the animal's blood. A famous almond cake called Tarta de Santiago (St. James' cake) is a Galician sweet speciality mainly produced in Santiago de Compostela and all around Galicia.

Galicia has 30 products with Denominación de orixe (D.O.), some of them with Denominación de Origen Protegida (D.O.P.). D.O. and D.O.P. are part of a system of regulation of quality and geographical origin among Spain's finest producers. Galicia produces a number of high-quality wines, including Albariño, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra,  Monterrei and Valdeorras. The grape varieties used are local and rarely found outside Galicia and Northern Portugal. Just as notably from Galicia comes the spirit Aguardente—the name means burning water—often referred to as Orujo in Spain and internationally or as caña in Galicia. This spirit is made from the distillation of the pomace of grapes.

Pop and rock

 * Los Suaves: hard rock/heavy metal band active since the early 1980s, from Ourense
 * Deluxe: pop/rock band from A Coruña led by Xoel López
 * Los Limones: indie rock/indie pop/post-rock group from Ferrol led by Ferrol born Santi Santos, active since the early '80s
 * Siniestro Total: punk bands
 * Os Resentidos: led by Antón Reixa in the 1980s
 * Heredeiros da Crus: rock band singing in Galician language

Folk and traditionally based music

 * Luar na Lubre: a band inspired by traditional galician music. They have collaborated with Mike Oldfield and other musicians.
 * Carlos Núñez: he has also collaborated with a great number of artists, being notable his long-term friendship with The Chieftains.
 * Susana Seivane: virtuoso piper. She descends from a family of pipe makers and stated she preferred pipes instead of dolls during her childhood.
 * Milladoiro
 * Cristina Pato
 * Ana Quiro

Literature, poetry and philosophy
As with many other Romance languages, Galician-Portuguese emerged as a literary language in the Middle Ages, during the 12th-13th century, when a rich lyric tradition developed. However, in the face of the hegemony of Castilian Spanish, during the so-called Séculos Escuros ("Dark Centuries"), from 1530 to 1800, it fell from major literary or legal use, revived again during the 19th century Rexurdimento with such writers as Rosalía de Castro, Manuel Murguía, Manuel Leiras Pulpeiro, and Eduardo Pondal. In the 20th century, before the Spanish Civil War the Irmandades da Fala ("Brotherhood of the Language") and Grupo Nós included such writers as Vicente Risco, Ramón Cabanillas and Castelao. Public use of Galician was largely suppressed during the Franco dictatorship but has been resurgent since the restoration of democracy. Contemporary writers in Galician include Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín, Manuel Rivas, Chus Pato, and Suso de Toro.

Public holidays

 * Día de San Xosé (St. Joseph's Day) on 19 March (strictly religious)
 * Día do Traballo (May Day) on 1 May
 * Día das Letras Galegas (Galician Literature Day) on 17 May
 * Día da Patria Galega (Galicia's National Day) also known as St. James the Apostle Day on 25 July
 * Día da Nosa Señora (Day of Our Lady) on 15 August (strictly religious)

Festivals
In 2009 only 8 corridas, out of the 1,848 held throughout Spain, took place within Galicia. In addition, recent studies have stated that 92% of Galicians are firmly against bullfighting, the highest rate of the country, even more than Catalonia. Despite this, popular associations, such as Galicia Mellor Sen Touradas-Galicia Better without Bullfights, have blamed politicians for having no compromise in order to abolish it and have been very critical of local councils', especially those governed by the PP and PSOE, payment of subsidies for corridas.
 * Entroido, or Carnival, is a traditional celebration in Galicia, historically disliked and even forbidden by the Catholic Church. Famous celebrations are held in Laza, Verín, and Xinzo de Limia.
 * Festa do Corpus Christi in Ponteareas, has been observed since 1857 on the weekend following Corpus Christi (a movable feast) and is known for its floral carpets. It was declared a Festival of Touristic Interest in 1968 and a Festival of National Touristic Interest in 1980.
 * Feira Franca, first weekend of September, in Pontevedra recreates an open market that first occurred in 1467. The fair commemorates the height of Pontevedra's prosperity in the 15th and 16th centuries, through historical recreation, theater, animation, and demonstration of artistic activities. Held annually since 2000.
 * Arde Lucus, in June, celebrates the Celtic and Roman history of the city of Lugo, with recreations of a Celtic weddings, Roman circus, etc.
 * Bonfires of Saint John, Noite de San Xoan or Noite da Queima is widely spread in all Galician territory, celebrated as a welcome to the summer solstice since the Celtic period, and Christianized in Saint John's day eve. Bonfires are believed to make meigas, witches, to flee. They are particularly relevant in the city of Corunna, where it became Fiesta of National Tourist Interest of Spain. The whole city participate on making great bonfires in each district, whereas the centre of the party is located in the beaches of Riazor and Orzan, in the very city heart, where hundreds of bonfires of different sizes are lighted. Also, grilled sardines are very typical.
 * Rapa das Bestas ("shearing of the beasts") in Sabucedo, the first weekend in July, is the most famous of a number of rapas in Galicia and was declared a Festival of National Touristic Interest in 1963. Wild colts are driven down from the mountains and brought to a closed area known as a curro, where their manes are cut and the animals are marked, and assisted after a long winter in the hills. In Sabucedo, unlike in other rapas, the aloitadores ("fighters") each take on their task with no assistance.
 * Festival de Ortigueira (Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World) lasts four days in July, in Ortigueira. First celebrated 1978–1987 and revived in 1995, the festival is based in Celtic culture, folk music, and the encounter of different peoples throughout Spain and the world. Attended by over 100,000 people, it is considered a Festival of National Touristic Interest.
 * Festa da Dorna, 24 July, in Ribeira. Founded 1948, declared a Galician Festival of Touristic Interest in 2005. Originally founded as a joke by a group of friends, it includes the Gran Prix de Carrilanas, a regatta of hand-made boats; the Icarus Prize for Unmotorized Flight; and a musical competition, the Canción de Tasca.
 * Festas do Apóstolo Santiago (Festas of the Apostle James): the events in honor of the patron saint of Galicia last for half a month. The religious celebrations take place 24 July. Celebrants set off fireworks, including a pyrotechnic castle in the form of the façade of the cathedral.
 * Romería Vikinga de Catoira ("Viking Pilgrimage of Catoira"), first Sunday in August, is a secular festival that has occurred since 1960 and was declared a Festival of International Touristic Interest in 2002. It commemorates the historic defense of Galicia and the treasures of Santiago de Compostela from Norman and Saracen pirate attacks.
 * Festas da Peregrina, 2nd week of August, celebrating the Pilgrim Virgin of Pontevedra.
 * Festa de San Froilán, 4–12 October, celebrating the patron saint of the city of Lugo. A Festival of National Touristic Interest, the festival was attended by 1,035,000 people in 2008. It is most famous for the booths serving polbo á feira, an octopus dish.
 * Festa do marisco (Seafood festival), October, in O Grove. Established 1963; declared a Festival of National Touristic Interest in the 1980s.
 * Bullfighting in Pontevedra the only city where there is a permanent bullring and a big tradition during the Peregrina fiesta.

Television
Televisión de Galicia (TVG) is the autonomous community's public channel, which has broadcast since 24 July 1985 and is part of the Compañía de Radio-Televisión de Galicia (CRTVG). TVG broadcasts throughout Galicia and has two international channels, Galicia Televisión Europa and Galicia Televisión América, available throughout the European Union and the Americas through Hispasat. CRTVG also broadcasts a digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel known as tvG2 and is considering adding further DTT channels, with a 24-hour news channel projected for 2010.

Radio
Radio Galega (RG) is the autonomous community's public radio station and is part of CRTVG. Radio Galega began broadcasting 24 February 1985, with regular programming starting 29 March 1985. There are two regular broadcast channels: Radio Galega and Radio Galega Música. In addition, there is a DTT and internet channel, Son Galicia Radio, dedicated specifically to Galician music.

Press
The most widely distributed newspaper in Galicia is La Voz de Galicia, with 12 local editions and a national edition. Other major newspapers are El Correo Gallego (Santiago de Compostela), Faro de Vigo (Vigo), Diario de Pontevedra, El Progreso (Lugo), La Región (Ourense), and Galicia Hoxe – The first daily newspaper to publish exclusively in Galician. Other newspapers of note are Atlántico Diario in the Vigo city, the free De luns a venres (the first free daily in Galician), the sports paper DxT Campeón, El Ideal Gallego from A Coruña, the Heraldo de Vivero, the Xornal de Galicia, and the Diario de Ferrol.

Sport
Galicia has a long sporting tradition dating back to the early 20th century, when they begin to be founded the most relevant clubs, especially football teams, as the Celta de Vigo ("Celtic of Vigo") and the Deportivo de La Coruña, with the former competing in La Liga and the latter in the Segunda División.When the two sides play, it is referred to as the Galician derby. SD Compostela from Santiago de Compostela and Racing Ferrol from Ferrol were two other notable club sides, now the third team is CD Lugo currently in the second division of the La Liga (Liga Adelante). Similarly to Catalonia and the Basque Country, Galicia also periodically fields a regional team against international opposition (see Galicia national football team).The Galician NT has a huge popular support in the region.

Other popular sports in Galicia include futsal (a variety of indoor football), handball and basketball. In basketball teams stand out as the CB Breogan, Club Ourense Baloncesto, Obradoiro CAB and OAR Ferrol. Also highlights the handball teams, SD Teucro, Octavio Pilotes Posada, the HC Liceo of hockey (the most successful Galician team, with various European and world championships), and futsal teams, Lobelle Santiago (a world's TOP 10 club) and Azkar Lugo.

Galicia is also known for its tradition of water sports, both at sea and in rivers, sush as rowing, yachting, canoeing and surfing., in which sports is a regular winner of metals in the Olympics, currently the most example is David Cal, Carlos Perez Rial and Fernando Echavarri. In the field water sport Galician par excellence are the trainer, counting Galicia with representatives in the League of San Miguel trawlers.

In recent years comes from Galicia also become a power in any triathlon in the hands of Francisco Javier Gómez Noya and Iván Raña, both world champions, and Noia being one of the best athletes in the history of the specialty. In 2006 the cyclist, other Galician athlete, Oscar Pereiro, won the Tour de France after the disqualification of American Floyd Landis, snatching him the top spot on the penultimate day. Galicians are also prominent athletes in sports such as mountaineering, where stands the Chus Lago, the third woman to reach the summit of Everest without the aid of oxygen, and it also has the title of Snow Leopard.

Emerging sports
Since 2011, several Gaelic football teams have been set up in Galicia. The first was A Coruña Fillos de Breogán (A Coruña), followed Artabros (Oleiros), Irmandinhos (A Estrada), SDG Corvos (Pontevedra), and Suebia (Santiago de Compostela) with talk of creating a Galician league (Faro de Vigo, 24 October 2012) . Galicia also fielded a national Gaelic football side (recognised as national by the GAA) that beat Britanny in July 2012 and was reported in the Spanish national press.

Rugby is growing in popularity, although the success of local teams is hampered by the absence of experienced ex-pat players from English-speaking countries typically seen at teams based on the Mediterranean coast or in the big cities. Galicia has a long established Rugby Federation that organises its own women's, children's and men's leagues. Galicia has also fielded a national side for friendly matches against other regions of Spain and against Portugal. A team of ex-pat Galicians in Salvador, Brazil have also formed Galicia Rugby, a sister team of the local football club.

Symbols
A golden chalice enclosed in a field of azure has been the symbol of Galicia since the 13th century. Originated as a Canting arms due to the phonetic similarity between the words "chalice" and Galyce ("Galicia" in old Norman language), the first documentated mention of this emblem is on the Segar's Roll, an English medieval roll of arms where are represented all the Christian kingdoms of 13th century´s Europe. In following centuries, the Galician emblem was variating; diverse shapes and number of chalices (initially three y later one or five), wouldn´t be until the 16th century that its number was fixed finally as one single chalice. Centuries after, a field of crosses was slowly added to the azure background, and latterly also a silver host. Since then basically the emblem of the kingdom would be kept until nowadays.

The ancient flag of Galicia (then kingdom) was based mainly on its coat of arms until the 19th century. However when in 1833 the Government of Spain decided to abolish the kingdom and divided it in four provinces, the Galician emblem as well as flag, lost its legal status and international validity. It wouldn't be until the late 19th century that some Galician intellectuals (nationalist politicians and writers) began to use a new flag as symbol a renewed national unity for Galicia. That flag, what was composed by a diagonal stripe over a white background, was designated "official flag of Galicia" in 1984, after the fall of the Franco's dictatorship. In addition, the Royal Academy of Galicia asked the Galician Government to incorporate the ancient coat of arms of the kingdom onto the modern flag, being present in it since then.

In addition of coat of arms and flag, Galicia also has an own anthem. While it is true that the kingdom of Galicia had during centuries a kind of unofficial anthem known as the "Solemn March of the kingdom", the Galician current anthem was not created until 1907, although its composition had begun already in 1880. Titled "Os Pinos" ("The Pines"), the Galician anthem lyrics was written by Eduardo Pondal, one the greatest modern Galician poets, and its music was composed by Pascual Veiga. Performed for the first time in 1907 in Havana (Cuba) by Galician emigrants, the anthem was banned since 1927 by diverse Spanish Governments until 1977, when it was officially established by the Galician authorities.

Honour
Galicia Peak in Vinson Massif, Antarctica is named after the autonomous community of Galicia.