Thursday, August 15, 2024

Why do Filipinos have different languages if they identify as "Filipino" and are considered one nation?

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The current population of Philippines is 119,260,978 based on projections of the latest United Nations data. The UN estimates the July 1, 2024 population at 119,106,224.

The Philippines is composed of almost 200 languages and dialects, with eight major languages and several others that are not yet recognized. There are between 100 and 150 languages spoken in the Philippines today, with thirty-two of them being spoken by different Negrito ethnolinguistic populations.

The ancestors of the vast majority of the population were of Malay descent and came from the Southeast Asian mainland as well as from what is now Indonesia. Contemporary Filipino society consists of nearly 100 culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups.

The majority of Filipinos are lowland Austronesians, while the Aetas (Negritos), as well as other highland groups form a minority. The indigenous population is related to the indigenous populations of the Malay Archipelago.

Tagalog 26%, Bisaya/Binisaya 14.3%, Ilocano 8%, Cebuano 8%, Illonggo 7.9%, Bikol/Bicol 6.5%, Waray 3.8%, Kapampangan 3%, Maguindanao 1.9%, Pangasinan 1.9%, other local ethnicities 18.5%, foreign ethnicities 0.2%

Christianity. The Philippines is the only country in Asia in which Christianity is the national religion. This is probably the result of the Spanish Catholic reign in The Philippines for more than 300 years.

Tagalog people

Negritos people

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