Galicia - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, located in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. It was created in 1978 in the process of adoption of a new Constitution that marked the end of the dictatorship of General F. Franco and the beginning of the democratization process in the country. Since Galicia was a region that implemented the initiative to obtain self-government even during the Second Republic (1931-1939), autonomy in 1978 was obtained through a simplified scheme in a referendum (the so-called "fast track").

Economically, the region is rather poor and subsidized, almost 50% of the population is employed in agriculture.

The titular ethnic group is Galician, which makes up about 50-60% of the region's population, while 40-50% are Spaniards. Language is the key distinguishing marker for a titular ethnic group. The Galician language is close to the Castilian, they both belong to the Oxitano-Romance sub-group of the Romance languages. The ethnolinguistic situation in the region is associated with the dominance of the Spanish (Castilian) language over the Galician language. Although the regional education system stipulates that half of the school subjects should be taught in Galician, in reality, a bias in favor of the Spanish language is visible (especially in urban schools).

The modern ethnopolitical situation in the region is characterized by relative stability and the absence of pronounced conflicts. Although Galicia is also called a nationalist autonomous community, consolidated autonomists' or, especially, secessionist voices are hardly audible there. Galician nationalist party "The Galician Nationalist Bloc" loses significantly to its national competitors, not receiving strong support in regional elections and not participating in the distribution of ministerial portfolios. The key reason for the weakness of the nationalist movement in Galicia is the lack of internal unity. Some nationalists believe that cultural autonomy should be advocated, some express their need for independence, and others cannot decide how to develop the Galician language.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer