Galician

Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in the northwest of Spain by about 2.4 million people. It is also spoken by a small number of people in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castilla y León, as well as by Galician migrant communities in the rest of Spain, in Latin America including Puerto Rico, the United States, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.

History

The language is thought to have originated as a Latin dialect introduced to the region by the Romans during the first century. It evolved from Vulgar Latin and shares similarities with Portuguese due to the common Galician-Portuguese medieval literature.

Classification

Galician is part of the Western Ibero-Romance group of languages, which also includes Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. It is closely related to Portuguese, with the two languages having a common origin in the medieval Galician-Portuguese language.

Geographic distribution

Galician is spoken in the autonomous community of Galicia, located in the northwest of Spain. It is also spoken in the border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castilla y León, as well as by Galician migrant communities in the rest of Spain, in Latin America including Puerto Rico, the United States, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.

Official status

Galician is an official language of the autonomous community of Galicia, along with Spanish. It is taught in schools and there are also TV and radio stations that broadcast in Galician.

Dialects

There are four main dialects of Galician: Eastern, Central, Western and Northern. The most widely spoken is Central Galician.

Writing system

Galician is written using the Latin alphabet. It has a number of unique spelling conventions, some of which are shared with Portuguese.

See also

• Spanish language
• Portuguese language
• Catalan language
• Romance languages
• Languages of Spain

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