Galicia

"Galicia (en gallego, Galicia; también Galiza) es una comunidad autónoma española, considerada nacionalidad histórica según su Estatuto de Autonomía, situada en el noroeste de la península ibérica. Está formada por las provincias de La Coruña, Lugo, Orense y Pontevedra, que se dividen en 314 municipios agrupados en 53 comarcas. Santiago de Compostela es la capital administrativa. Geográficamente, limita al norte con el mar Cantábrico; al sur, con Portugal; al oeste, con el océano Atlántico; y al este, con Asturias y Castilla y León (provincias de Zamora y de León). Le pertenecen los archipiélagos de las islas Cíes, el de Ons y el de Sálvora, además de otras islas como Cortegada, Arosa, las Sisargas o las Malveiras. Galicia posee 2 726 291 habitantes (INE, 1 de julio de 2015), con una distribución demográfica que aglomera la mayor parte de la población en las franjas costeras comprendidas entre Ferrol y La Coruña en el noroeste y entre Villagarcía, Pontevedra y Vigo en el suroeste. Tiene una fuerte vinculación histórica con el Reino de Galicia."

"Galicia (English /lsi/, /l/; Galician: [alija] , [alija], or [alisja]; Spanish: [alija]; Galician and Portuguese: Galiza, Galician: [alia] , [alia], [alisa], Portuguese: [liz]) 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, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to 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, andthe largest and most populatedA 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 people 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, and was made 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 Islamic Umayyad Caliphate invaded the Iberian Peninsula conquering the Visigoth kingdom of Hispania by 718, but after a successful revolt against its Islamic overlords, Galicia was incorporated into the Christian kingdom of Asturias in 740. 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 culture. 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. After operating for more than 200 years, this institution 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 culture of Galicia. This resulted in the Statute of Autonomy of 1936, soon frustrated by Franco's autocratic government. After democracy was restored, the legislature passed the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, currently in force, providing Galicia with self-government. The interior of Galicia is characterized by a hilly landscape; 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, with markedly drier summers; it is 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 based on a semi-subsistence farming and fishing economy until after the mid-20th century, when it began to industrialize. 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 Galician as their first language, while 43% speak more in Castilian."