While it embodies the principles and ideals of its Gallente founders, the Federation is made up of several different peoples living within the only classically democratic empire in the New Eden cluster. Aside from the ethnic Gallente, the major member races of the Federation are the Intaki, Jin-Mei and Mannar. The Intaki and Mannar were founder members of the Gallente Federation, and are well established throughout its territories.

The Intaki in particular have a talent for administration and diplomacy in EVE Online Isk, and have produced several noted Federation Presidents. The Mannar are by temperament a loyal and determined, even stubborn, people, and provide a significant proportion of the intake of the Federal armed forces. The Jin-Mei are a more recent addition to the Federation and have had some difficulty adapting their traditional caste system to the libertarian ways of the Gallente political system. In addition to the home races  in EVE Online Isk, the Federation plays host to a very large Minmatar population and significant communities of other races. The Federation's relatively relaxed attitude to immigration and its undoubted freedoms have proved attractive to many able to make the journey from their home empires.

A considerable number of capsuleers are trained in the Gallente Federation every year and many go independent upon qualifying. Most of these capsuleers in EVE Online Isk had tended to be either Gallente or Intaki, but a large number of Jin-Mei have begun to take up the challenge of the captain's life in recent years. Capsuleers of Federation origin are very diverse indeed and while some join the Federal Defence Union militia, many take up their own affairs immediately, whether in business or in less peaceable activities.