Galicia is in the far north-west of the Iberian peninsula. It was an independent kingdom, until the mid-14th century, was Galician the language of the whole society. Since it had no native nobility or bourgeoisie, Galicia fell under permanent Castilian domination in the 13th century, with a significant influence on the use of the Galician, reduced exclusively for a private life in rural areas. In the 1950s begun the expansion of the education system and of the Castilian-language media, facilitated the generalized penetration of Castilian. Since 1981 it has possessed the status of an autonomous community within Spain. The autonomous government (Xunta) adopted a number of measures designed to promote the knowledge and use of Galician, but the effectiveness of the measures of Xunta is often questioned.
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