Galego is the native language of Galicia, an autonomous region in northwest Spain. Galego, or Galician, also known by the Castilian gallego, is a codialect of Portuguese. It has the status of an official language in Spain and is the language used by the Galician government, the Xunta de Galicia.
The term codialect refers to the fact that it is not a dialect that evolved from Portuguese, but rather that it evolved in parallel with it. It's not distinct enough to be generally considered a separate language from Portuguese, but rather both are varieties of a single language, sometimes technically termed Galego-Portuguese.
Status today
Figures as to the number of speakers vary widely, perhaps due to the politics of minority languages. There are probably between 3 and 3.5 million speakers, including residents of Galicia, western Asturias, northern Portugal, a small isolated community in Extremadura where it's known Fala de Xálima, or just Fala (although this community doesn't self-identify with the Galician culture), as well as a few communities in Latin America. In Galicia, the vast majority of the population speaks the language; figures range from 85% to 98% able to understand it, with most speakers using it frequently. Almost all speakers are bilingual and very literate in Castilian; literacy in Galician is around 50%, but is rising due to its use in Galician schools. Unfortunately, its everyday use is still less frequent among city-dwellers and the young, although among the upper classes Galician literature is becoming popular.
The use of Galego is being highly encouraged by the Galician government, although in many communities outside of Galicia its use is endangered. Schools are required to teach it, and awareness of its rich literary history is increasing. A standardized dialect was created in 1983, along with a standard orthography which is heavily based on Castilian. The orthography is under great dispute, with many groups pushing a writing system more similar to its medieval form, which is very similar to Portuguese. Tensions also exist because the spoken language often uses 'Castilianisms', words or grammatical forms taken from Castilian (i.e. Spanish), which the standardizing bodies oppose.
Students in schools receive compulsory education in Galician, and upon graduation are expected to have equal facility with Galician and Castilian. Teachers are required to speak it, and it is used as the language of instruction in some subjects. At the university level, students and professors may use the language of their choice. Most students, however, receive more education in Castilian than Galician. Two of Galicia's three major universities offer degree programs in the language, and entering students are given an entrance examination that tests knowledge of Galego.
Linguistic history
Galego-Portuguese actually first evolved in Galicia. The language has been distinct from Castilian since around 1000, during the rule of the Moors. Spain at the time was ruled by Arabic speakers, except the very northern-most regions, and thus the currently spoken languages of Iberia all evolved in the north. Galego-Portuguese spread slowly downward, and began to separate into Galego and Portuguese with the political separation between Spain and Portugal as the Reconquista progressed. Galician differs from Portuguese in its lesser use of Arabic words, some verbal constructions, and some fairly minor dialectual differences in word usage and phonology. It is around 85% intelligible with Portuguese.
During the Middle Ages, Galicia was at first an independent kingdom, and with the unification of Spain fell under the rule of Castile. It was a very popular literary language during the medieval period, used by Spanish and Portuguese poets because it was considered more beautiful, and carried throughout Europe by the troubadours. In fact, it has perhaps the oldest literary tradition of any of the Romance languages.
Greater awareness of it during the nineteenth century led to a rexurdimiento, or rectification, in which it was widely used in the rebirth of Galician literature. Poets and novelists used the language greatly up until the regime of Francisco Franco, who greatly suppressed the use of all non-Castilian languages. During this period, Castilian began to expand into Galicia, even into rural areas, which before had not used it. Until the end of the Franco regime, Galego's status was in serious danger.
Conclusion
Nowadays Galician is reviving to some extent; the young are beginning to learn it again, in some cases teaching it to their parents, and although there is a widespread association between it and the elderly, it is becoming more common in the media and perhaps will again be used as widely as it was.
With the heavy encouragement of the Galician government, the language is probably not in immediate danger of extinction, but, as in many places, there are strong economic and cultural pressures encouraging the adoption of Castilian. With most of the population raised to use primarily Castilian, although it is becoming fashionable to speak Galician, the future of the language is unknown.