| People |
|
 Population: 2,797,653
Population density: 95 per km²
Main cities (pop.):
A Coruña: 246,047
Ferrol: 73,638
Lugo: 97,635
Ourense: 108,673
Pontevedra: 81,981
Santiago de Compostela: 94,824
Vigo: 297,124
Official languages: Galician and Spanish.
Both languages flourish among a population equally at ease with either. The close similarity between Galician and Portuguese enables Galicia to communicate with the nearly 200 million Portuguese-speaking community.
Three basic factors define the Galician personality:
Its Celtic origin and numerous cultural and archaelogical affinities with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.
The thousand-year-old Pilgrim's Road to Santiago, which has been a constant source of culture and contact with the rest of Europe since the Middle Ages, and whose elements of religion and recreation continue to exert a powerful attraction for millions of tourists and pilgrims.
Emigration in the late 19th and 20th centuries, brought about by the need to survive in what was then a backward and over-populated region, was one of the most dramatic factors in Galicia's history, but also an example of universality and human solidarity.
Today there are still more than 250 charitable, educational, recreational, health and business organisations spread throughout the Americas and Europe catering to the needs of nearly 2 million Galicians or their descendants, a force that now represents an invaluable human, cultural and linguistic asset in fostering collaboration with Galician companies.
These three key factors have helped forge the Galician character: its creative, welcoming and supportive spirit, its capacity for work, and its sense of prudence. |
