Schools By Region
Category
News Archives
Schools, Colleges and Universities in Philippines
Philippine Education - Schools Online Directory
The
people of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Majority of them are of Malay
ethnicity who migrated to the islands long before the Christian era. The most
significant ethnic minority group is the Chinese, who have played an important
role in commerce since the ninth century, when they first came to the islands to
trade. As a result of intermarriage, many Filipinos have some Chinese and
Spanish ancestry. Americans and Spaniards constitute the next largest alien
minorities in the country. Small forest tribes live in the more remote areas of
Luzon and Mindanao.
The vast majority of the people are Christians (Roman Catholic 83% 9%) and
most were converted and Westernized to varying degrees during nearly 400 years
of Western rule. A large Muslim minority (5%) exists predominantly on the island
of Mindanao and Buddhism and other faiths make up the remainder.
A total of one hundred seventy-two native languages and dialects are
spoken, all belonging to the Austronesian linguistic family. The eight most
spoken native languages are Tagalog (dialects: Lubang, Manila, Marinduque,
Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Tanay-Paete, Tayabas) Cebuano (also known as Visayan
or Sugbuhanon; dialects: Cebu, Boholano, Leyte, Mindanao Visayan), Ilocano,
Ilonggo (also known as Hiligaynon; dialects:(Hiligaynon, Kawayan, Bantayan),
Ilongot (dialects:Abaka, Egongot, Ibalao, Italon, Iyongut), Waray (also known as
Samarnon or Samar-Leyte), Bicolano, Kapampangan, and Pangasinense. These are
spoken natively by more than 85% of the population.
Foreign languages spoken by Filipinos include English, Chinese (Mandarin
and Hokkien), Arabic (especially among the Muslim population), and Spanish (with
its local creole, Chavacano). English is the predominant non-native language and
is spoken to a great degree by majority of Filipinos. Spanish, which ceased to
be an official language, is now only used by a very small number of Filipino
families.
Since 1939, in an effort to develop national unity, the government has
promoted the use of the official national language, Filipino, which is based on
Tagalog. Filipino is taught in all schools and is gaining acceptance,
particularly as a second language for a diverse population. While Filipino is
the national languages, both Filipino and English are considered the official
languages of the country according to its constitution and are used extensively
in government, education, and commerce.
Despite this multiplicity of languages, the Philippines has one of the
highest literacy rates in the East Asian and Pacific area. About 90% of the
population 10 years of age and older are literate.