Towards the later period of the Middle Ages, and in spite of the inclusion of Galicia as part of the Castilian Crown, the use of Galician was widespread in every ambit. However, as of the second half of the 14th century the influence of Spanish increased, both in literature as well as in the administration.

At the same time, written Galician gradually diminished until, in the mid 16th century, it had practically disappeared altogether. During that era, on the other hand, a divergent linguistic evolution had already distanced Galician dialects from those of Portugal. Late 19th century Romanticism led to the renaissance of the Galician language and to the present movement of linguistic revival, which, throughout the 20th century, has striven to standardise the language.

By law, the Galician Royal Academy (Real Academia Galega or RAG) was given jurisdiction over the linguistic rules applicable to Galician in 1983. The Academy itself was officially established on 30 September 1906.

The most recent version of the orthographic and morphological rules of Galician dates back to December 2003. The rules in question alter and unify the criteria that had been in place since 1982, when the previous version of the rules in question was approved.

There are three dialectal subgroups of Galician (western, central and eastern subgroups).

Legal Status

Official language in Galicia.
Legally recognised in Asturias and Castile and León.

Number of speakers

Approximate total number: 2,500,000.

Galicia: 2,400,000.
Western Asturias: approx. 50,000.
Northwestern Castile and León: between 25,000 and 40,000 (data from 2006).