Xunta de Galicia. Consellería de Cultura
[ http://culturaedeporte.xunta.es/ ]
The Galician Language
The Galician language is one of the principal hallmarks of Galicia
Galego is the language of Galicia. Since 1981 it has been considered an official language together with Spanish and is currently undergoing a process of normalisation within society in an attempt to recover its lost ground.
This language, which shares its linguistic base with Portuguese, has resulted in particularly close ties between Galician men and women and Portuguese speaking nations, and in particular Portugal, with whom we share major cultural manifestations, especially in the north.
The Galician language is spoken in a land inhabited by 2,800,000 people. It is the first language of 65% of the population and is understood by over 85%. It was one of the Romance languages that appeared following the dissolution of Latin into a number of vernaculars.