Galicia-Minho: el cuestionamiento de una frontera. Debates en el discurso geográfico ibérico

Abstract

Since the second half of the 19th century, Spanish, Portuguese and other geographers have described and discussed the similarities and differences (in terms of relief, climate, vegetation, settlement, etc.) between Galicia and Northern Portugal. The aim of this paper is to discuss the artificial characterof this political boundary, which was neither clearly defined nor delimited until the beginning of the 20th century. It should then be better understoodas an area of transition where the continuity between Galicia and Minho has been more prevalent than the line drawn on the map. We also analyse the evolution and confrontation of different discourses defining the territories of Galicia and Minho in the scientific works of geographersat the end of the 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century.