¿Es Galicia una posible zona azul?

Introduction

The health and social improvements that have occurred in the last century have led to a prolongation of human existence in all age groups and with it the population of centenarians. The aim of this study was to map the Galician territory, identifying the areas with the highest and lowest rates of centenarians.

Method

Using the databases of the National Institute of Statistics and the Galician Institute of Statistics, the rates of centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated and represented as choropleth maps.

Results

Galicia is the second autonomous community with the second highest rate of centenarians and Ourense, together with Soria, are the provinces with the highest prevalence of centenarians. In the Galician community we observe a clear East-West contrast; the 2 Atlantic provinces, A Coruña (57.72) and Pontevedra (73.49), have significantly lower rates of centenarians than Lugo (96.61) and Ourense (127.19). The analysis at county level indicates that the highest concentration of centenarians is found in rural areas in the eastern part of Pontevedra, the south of Lugo and in the province of Ourense. There is a feminisation of the centenarian population, where the number of female centenarians is 3 times higher than the number of male centenarians.

Conclusions

Galicia is a region with a high prevalence of centenarians, with a clear contrast between coastal and inland areas and between the northern and southern areas of its territory, with rates associated with those considered «blue zone».