Gallaeci

This article is about the ancient tribe. For the Roman province they later inhabited, see Gallaecia.

The Callaeci (also Callaici in the earliest sources and Callaeci in later sources; Ancient Greek: Καλλαϊκοί) were a Late Iron Age tribal complex who inhabited the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now Galicia, the Norte Region in northern Portugal and the Spanish regions of western Asturias and western León before and during the Roman period. They spoke Indo-European dialects with Celtic and non-Celtic features, although their actual kinship is under discussion (see Callaecian language). The region was annexed by the Romans from the Lusitanian to the Cantabrian Wars, which paved the way for Romanization of the Callaeci over the following centuries.

The endonym of modern-day Galicians, galegos, derives directly from the name of this people.

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