Vigo 42°14′14.12″N, 8°43′17.86″W is the largest city in Galicia, Spain and is located in the province of Pontevedra. According to the 2005 census, the population of the city of Vigo proper was 293,725, and the population of the entire metropolitan area was estimated to be 420,672, ranking as the 14th-largest metropolitan area of Spain. The city is well known for its fishing industry, food, cultural and night life, and football (soccer) team Celta de Vigo. The asteroid 127870 Vigo is named in its honour.

1 History
- 1.1 World War II
2 Economics
3 Demography
4 Higher education
5 Cultural movements and the arts
6 Museums
7 Miscellaneous
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

Pontevedra Province Population c. 1900
District	population
City of Vigo	23,259
City of Pontevedra	22,330
Towns, Vilages and Hamlets	411,673
All the Province (Total):	457,262
(Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911) [1]

Vigo has a long history. The urban area of Vigo is built over both a hill-fort (Castro) and a Roman settlement. In fact, it is generally accepted that the name Vigo comes from the latin word Vicus. During Middle Ages the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of neighbouring towns, mainly Tui, and suffered several Viking attacks.

However, the number of inhabitants was so small that, historically, Vigo is not considered to be a real village until around the 15th century, when the earliest records began.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was attacked several times. In 1585 and 1589 Francis Drake raided the city and temporally occupied it, leaving many buildings burnt. Several decades later a Turkish fleet tried to attack the city. As a result the walls of the city were built in 1656 during the reign of Felipe IV. They are still partially preserved.

During this time, and in spite of the attacks, the city of Vigo developed its earliest commerce, and was given several privileges from the kings of Spain.

In 1702 the Battle of Rande occurred, and in 1719, because a Spanish fleet which departed from Vigo attempted to invade Scotland, the city was temporarily seized by an English fleet.

Image:Vigo98.jpg

In 1808 the French Army annexed Spain into the Napoleonic Empire, although Vigo remained unconquered until January, 1809. Vigo was also the first city of Galicia to be freed from French rule in what is now celebrated every 28th of March as the Reconquista (reconquest).

The city grew very rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. This resulted in continuous urban planning changes, making Vigo less structured than other Galician towns.

[edit] World War II

The Following German U-Boats have been reported as sunk somewhere near the Port of Vigo:

Unterseeboot 523 Sunk 25 Aug, 1943 in the North Atlantic west of Vigo. 17 dead and 37 survivors.
Unterseeboot 506 Sunk at 1550hrs on 12 July, 1943 in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain. 48 dead and 6 survivors.

[edit] Economics

Vigo is the leading industrial area in Galicia, with automotive plants, shipyards, and auxiliary industry. Situated in Vigo is Galicia's leading employer, PSA Peugeot Citroën, which in 2003 produced a total of 473,000 vehicles, of which more than 88% were sold outside Spain.

Vigo is the largest fishing port in Europe, and the home port of the world's largest fishing company, Pescanova. Vigo has been chosen to be, in the nearest future, the headquarter of the European Fisheries Agency.

[edit] Demography

Demographic evolution of Vigo between 1991 and 2005
1991	1996	2001	2004	2005
276,109	286,774	280,186	292,059	293,725

[edit] Higher education

University of Vigo], is situated in a mountainous area outside the city,it has an important activity in investigation, specially in relation with sea industry.The University has another campus in Pontevedra and Orense,that are part of the Vigo university. Campus of vigo is a modern proyect of Enric Miralles architecht.

web:www.uvigo.es

[edit] Cultural movements and the arts

"A movida viguesa" was a hedonistic cultural movement that took place in Vigo during the '80s triggered by the explosion of liberties after the death of dictator Francisco Franco. The most important artists of this postmodern movement were musicians; particularly punk and new wave bands such as Siniestro Total, Golpes Bajos, Aerolineas Federales, Semen Up or Os Resentidos.

At the moment, the city still has notorius bands like Ivan Ferreiro and Mon.

The locally produced award-winning feature movie Mondays In The Sun (original title Los lunes al sol) evocatively depicts the life of several men who have lost their work at the port.

[edit] Museums

Vigo has a number of museums scattered throughout the city:

Museo do Mar de Galicia

Av. Atlantida, 160 . Vigo . C.P 36208 .

Tlf: 986247750 . Fax : 986247748

Museo Municipal «Quiñones de León» [2]

Pazo de Lavandeira

Museo Etnográfico Liste [3]

An ethnographic museum, focusing on regional folkways

Estación marítima

Verbum - Casa das Palabras [4]

A museum exploring the world of the word (hearing, reading, alphabets, etc.), with many interactive exhibits.

Museo de Arte Contemporánea (MARCO) [5]

Rúa do Príncipe, 54 . CP: 36202 .

Vigo . Telf: 986 11 39 00/11 . Fax: 986 11 39 01

Many of works of contemporary art displayed here are multimedia and large in size.

Casa das Artes

Casa Galega da Cultura ("House of Galician Culture")

[edit] Miscellaneous

Samil Beach.

Ría de Vigo (Sight into the harbour, that takes its name from the city).

Ponte de Rande (The Rande Bridge is part of the highway that links both sides of the harbour and which runs North up to A Coruña).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Vigo

Galician cities	Image:Flag of Galicia.svg
Santiago de Compostela \| A Coruña \| Vigo
Pontevedra \| Ferrol \| Lugo \| Ourense

edit	Municipalities of Pontevedra	Image:Flag of Galicia.svg
Agolada \| Arbo \| Baiona \| Barro \| Bueu \| Caldas de Reis \| Cambados \| Campo Lameiro \| Cangas \| A Cañiza \| Catoira \| Cerdedo \| Cotobade \| Covelo \| Crecente \| Cuntis \| Dozón \| A Estrada \| Forcarei \| Fornelos de Montes \| Gondomar \| O Grove \| A Guarda \| A Illa de Arousa \| Lalín \| A Lama \| Marín \| Meaño \| Meis \| Moaña \| Mondariz \| Mondariz - Balneario \| Moraña \| Mos \| As Neves \| Nigrán \| Oia \| Pazos de Borbén \| Poio \| Ponte Caldelas \| Ponteareas \|Pontecesures \| Pontevedra \| O Porriño \| Portas \| Redondela \| Ribadumia \| Rodeiro \| O Rosal \| Salceda de Caselas \| Salvaterra de Miño \| Sanxenxo \| Silleda \| Soutomaior \| Tomiño \| Tui \| Valga \| Vigo \| Vila de Cruces \| Vilaboa \| Vilagarcía de Arousa \| Vilanova de Arousa

edit	Roman Catholic Church - The five Dioceses of Galicia [6]	Image:Cross Santiago.svg
Diocese of Ourense \| Diocese of Tui-Vigo \| Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela \| Diocese of Ferrol-Mondoñedo \| Diocese of Lugo

edit	Galician Regions	Image:Flag of Galicia.svg
Allariz - Maceda \| Los Ancares \| Arzúa \| La Baja Limia \| El Bajo Miño \| El Barbanza \| La Barcala \| Bergantiños \| Betanzos \| Caldas \| El Carballiño \| Chantada \| El Condado \| A Coruña \| El Deza \| El Eume \| Ferrol \| Finisterre \| La Fonsagrada \| La Limia \| Lugo \| La Mariña Central \| La Mariña Occidental \| La Mariña Oriental \| Meira \| El Morrazo \| Muros \| Noya \| Órdenes \| Ourense \| Ortegal \| La Paradanta \| Pontevedra \| Quiroga \| El Ribero \| El Salnés \| Santiago \| El Sar \| Sarria \| Tabeirós - Tierra de Montes \| La Terra Chá \| La Tierra de Caldelas \| La Tierra de Celanova \| La Tierra de Lemos \| La Tierra de Mellid \| La Tierra de Soneira \| La Tierra de Trives \| La Ulloa \| Valdeorras \| Verín \| Viana \| Vigo \| El Xallas