Galaxy size and number of planets and races

I would suggest either tiny or small, with only one or two other races. That way you can get your feet wet, but not be totally overwelmed. The game takes some getting used to, and that was the setup that I started on.

That is good advice, you also don't want to set habitable planets, number of planets andnumber of stars to anything less than common. You can also set anomalies and asteroids to abundant.

If you really want an easy time, manually pick yourself peaceful AIs as opponents (the good races are usually peaceful).

You could also set the difficulty level to Beginner.

Me? I said hell with it and with a huge galaxy with abundant habitable planets on Normal difficulty and 5 opponents. It was tense, but fun and I beat the AI.

This is the advice I always give when asked about settings for beginners, and it pretty much applies to any game:

Play with the default settings and learn the implications of all the variables first, so you can make educated decisions about things rather than solicitng peoples preferences...which are many and varied with no one being more or less "right".

Changing the map settings will make for completey different games which much of the strategy discussed on the boards may or may not apply to. A single game with the default settings will you you a good enough idea of things you would like to change for subsequent games.

I played a medium size galaxy with the default map settings, and 3 random opponents set to Normal difficulty. Regardless of what size games you find you like, learn to play on Tough (or harder) ASAP. The AI is handicapped on the lower settings and you'll form bad habits that can be hard to overcome.

I got my @$$ handed to me the first couple times I played on Tough, but it forced me to learn how the economy works and how to better manage my empire.