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Vigo [vee-goh; for 1 also Fr. vee-goh; for 2, 3 also Sp. bee-gaw]

Vigo

[vee-goh; for 1 also Fr. vee-goh; for 2, 3 also Sp. bee-gaw]

Vigo, Francis, 1747-1836, American frontier trader and merchant, supporter of the American Revolution. He was born at Mondovi, Italy, and originally named Giuseppe Maria Francesco Vigo. Having enlisted in the Spanish army, he was sent to Cuba and to New Orleans, where he became interested in the fur trade. After his military service, he went to St. Louis and was secretly an agent of the Spanish governor while he built up a successful business among the Native Americans. After George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia (1778), Vigo took up the American cause, and his assistance with money, supplies, and information helped make possible Clark's recapture of Vincennes. In 1783, Vigo settled in Vincennes, where he became an American citizen. His claims for his advances to Clark were not honored until long after his death.

See biography by B. Roselli (1933).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Vigo

Vigo, Jean, 1905-34, French movie director, whose original name was Jean Almereyda. His reputation is based on two superb films: Zéro de Conduite (1933) and L'Atalante (1934, uncut release 1989). Zéro de Conduite is a surrealistic depiction of Vigo's years in boarding school and shows a poetic expressiveness and a marked feeling for the strange and unexpected. L'Atalante is a haunting evocation of life on a Paris river barge and in the city's river-front districts.

See biography by P. E. S. Gomes (1971); J. and H. Feldman, An Index to the Films of Jean Vigo (1976).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Vigo

Vigo, city (1990 pop. 279,986), Pontevedra prov., NW Spain, in Galicia, on an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. A naval base and one of the most active ports of Spain, it has the country's most important fishing fleet. It also has shipyards, canneries, petroleum and sugar refineries, and various light industries. In 1702 a Franco-Spanish fleet, escorting galleons loaded with American gold and precious stones, was destroyed in the Bay of Vigo by the British and the Dutch; several galleons were sunk, and it is believed that much of the treasure is still at the bottom of the bay. The port was captured by the British in 1719.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Vigo, Jean

(born April 26, 1905, Paris, France—died Oct. 5, 1934, Paris) French film director. The son of a militant anarchist who died in prison under suspect circumstances, he spent an unhappy childhood in boarding schools. His first film was the satiric social documentary À propos de Nice (1930). He explored the subject of freedom versus authority in his celebrated Zero for Conduct (1933), which was branded “anti-French” by the censors and withdrawn from theatres. His last film, L'Atalante (1934), tells the story of an unhappy marriage and is also regarded as a masterpiece. Vigo's films blend lyricism with realism and Surrealism and distinguished him as an original talent.

Learn more about Vigo, Jean with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Jean Vigo

Learn more about Vigo, Jean with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Vigo

For other meanings, see Vigo (disambiguation)

Vigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain, in terms of population, located in the province of Pontevedra. Vigo also is the largest non-capital city in Spain.

According to the 2007 census, the population of the city of Vigo itself was 294,772; and the population of the entire metropolitan area was estimated to be 420,672. This makes Vigo the 14th-largest metropolitan area of Spain. The city is well known for its fishing industry, shipyards, food, cultural and night life, and football (soccer) team, Celta de Vigo.

History

The urban area of Vigo is built over both a hill-fort (Castro) and a Roman settlement.It is generally accepted that the name Vigo comes from the Latin word vicus#Latin. During the Middle Ages the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of neighbouring towns, particularly 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.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was attacked several times. In 1585 and 1589 Francis Drake raided the city and temporarily 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 by 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 in support of the Jacobites, the city was temporarily seized by an English fleet.

In 1808 the French Army annexed Spain to 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 as the Reconquista (reconquest from French in the context of the Peninsular War) on the 28th of March each year.

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.

World War II

The following German U-Boats are reported to have been 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 15:50 hrs on 12 July, 1943 in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain. 48 dead and six survivors.

Geography of Vigo

Climate

Monthly temperature and average precipitations (Peinador winter station)
Month	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Temperature °C	10	11	13	14	15	17.3	19.4	19.4	18.0	14.6	11.3	9.2
Rainfall mm.	255	219	145	148	141	73	43	40	113	215	228	298

Demography

Vigo metropolitan area

The following villages are in the Vigo metropolitan area:

Babío (1,214 p.)
Saa (1,296 p.)
Penís (1,079 p.)
Fonte Escura (1,242 p.)
Pereiró (4,284 p.)
Ponte (1,564 p.)
Freixeiro (2,456 p.)
Mantelas (1,595 p.)
Salgueira (1,268 p.)
Bagunda (2,762 p.)
Bouciña (1,823 p.)
Barreiro (1,383 p.)
Ceboleira (2,989 p.)
Pardavila (4,128 p.)
Garrida (1,245 p.)

Population: 294,772 (2007)
average age: 41.1 years (2005)
Foreign population: 11,571 (2005)
Births: 2,632 (2005)
Deaths: 2,383 (2005)
Migratory balance: +565 (2005)

Organization of Vigo

Vigo is part of the Comarca de Vigo, which also comprises the following municipalities:

Parishes of Vigo

Parish	Inhabitants
Alcabre	3,183
Beade	5,430
Bembrive	4,290
Bouzas	5,000
Cabral	6,772
Candeán	4,699
Castrelos	7,849
Coia	30,000
Comesaña	3,031
Coruxo	5,344
Freixeiro	5,928
Lavadores	16,667
Matamá	4,247
Navia	2,190
Oia	3,910
Saiáns	1,067
San Paio	3,700
San Xoán do Monte	500
Sárdoma	1,992
Teis	2,330
Valadares	5,468
Zamáns	780
Vigo and Santiago de Vigo	207,892

Economy

Vigo is the leading industrial area in Galicia, with car factories, shipyards, and auxiliary industry. Situated in Vigo is Galicia's leading employer, PSA Peugeot Citroën, which in 2007 produced a total of 545,000 vehicles, of which more than 82% were sold outside Spain.

Vigo is the largest fishing port in Europe, and the home port of the world's largest fishing company, Pescanova. In Vigo is the headquarters of the European Fisheries Agency.

Higher education

The University of Vigo is situated in a mountainous area outside the city. It is an important center for research, with a focus on study related to ocean-based industries. The University has other campuses in Pontevedra and Ourense. The campus of Vigo is a modern project of the architect Enric Miralles.

Sailing in Vigo

The Rias Baixas offer a privileged environment for the practice of the nautical sports. Institutions as the Real Club Nautico de Vigo (founded in 1906) and the Liceo Marítimo de Bouzas (founded in 1907) are good examples of promotion of the nautical sports, especially sailing.

The Real Club Nautico de Vigo organizes important events like the Atlantic Week, that in September 2006 received the World Championship of the Platu 25 class. The RCNV also organizes every year in August one of the races with more sailboats of the Iberian peninsula: the Regata Rias Baixas, that in the 2006 edition included the participation of 130 sailboats of different nationalities.

The Liceo Marítimo de Bouzas is a yacht club that agglutinates around 400 associates. The LMB has a long and intense activity in sailing and recreational fishing. The LMB organizes two important regattas of the Galician calendar of sail: the Regata Vila de Bouzas and a Regata de Solitarios y a Dos. The Regata Vila de Bouzas honors the neighborhood where is located the LMB. The Regata de Solitarios y a Dos is sponsored by the firm Aister and is for crews of one and two members. It is a difficult race with two steps. One step consists of a race through the coastal inside the bay of Vigo and the other step is longer race around the Cies Islands (and/or Ons Islands). Likewise, the LMB has schools of sailing and fishing. Yearly it organizes a cephalopods fishing competition.

The push and enthusiasm of the local sailors did not pass unnoticed to the organization of the regatta Volvo Ocean Race that started from Vigo on November 12, 2005.

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 notorious bands like Iván Ferreiro (ex-singer of Los Piratas) 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. This film is not based on a real story. It is based on thousands.