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Demographics
Demographics
The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country, with a population of over 90 million as of 2008.
As of 2007, 8% of Filipinos are living abroad as migrant laborers.
Roughly half of the country's population resides on the island of Luzon.
Manila, the capital, is the eleventh most populous metropolitan area in the world.
The literacy rate was 92.6% in 2003, and about equal for males and females.
Life expectancy is 71.23 years, with 73.6 years for females and 69.8 years for males.
Population growth rate in 1995-2000 is 3.21% but then dramatically fell to 1.59% for 2005-2010.
Ethnic groups
The majority of Philippine nationals are descended from the Austronesian (Malayo Polynesian) people who settled in over a thousand years ago from southern Taiwan, genetically most closely related to the Ami tribe.
The Malayo Polynesian-speaking peoples, a branch of the Austronesian-speaking peoples, migrated to the Philippines, and brought their knowledge of agriculture, and ocean-sailing technology.
Filipinos to this day are composed of various Malayo Polynesian ethnic groups, including the Visayans, the Tagalog, the Ilocano, the Moro, the Kapampangan, the Bicolano, the Pangasinense, the Igorot, the Lumad, the Mangyan, the Ibanag, the Badjao, the Ivatan, and the Palawan tribes.
The Negritos, including the Aetas and the Ati, are considered as the aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines though they are estimated to be fewer than 30,000 people (0.03%).
Filipinos of Chinese descent currently form the largest non-Austronesian ethnic group, forming 1.5% of the population.
followed by Filipinos of Spanish descent.
Other significant minorities include American, British, European, Japanese, Asian Indian, Korean, Arab, Indonesian, and other ethnic groups.
Throughout the country's history, various ethnic groups as well as immigrants and colonizers have intermarried with the native population, producing Filipino mestizos.
These mestizos, apart from being of mixed Malayo Polynesian, and European ancestry, can be descended from any ethnic foreign forebears.
The official percentage of Filipinos with foreign ancestry is unknown since there are no credible sources for the percentage of Philippine mestizos residing in the Philippines.
The number of Filipino mestizos that reside outside the Philippines is also unknown.
However, due to major historical factors, such as the Spanish colonization, the American occupation, and Chinese immigration after World War II, most Filipino mestizos that reside in the Philippines are now of Spanish, American, European, Chinese, and other foreign descent.
Languages
According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Filipino, and English are the official languages.
About 180 languages and dialects are also spoken in the islands, almost all of them belonging to the Borneo-Philippines group of the Malayo-Polynesian language branch of the Austronesian language family.
Filipino is the standard version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila, and other urban regions.
Both Tagalog, and English are used in government, education, print and broadcast media, and business.
Other major regional languages include Bikol, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Kinaray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, and Chavacano .
Other languages include Spanish, and Arabic which are recognized as auxiliary languages in the Philippine Constitution.
The use of Spanish is prevalent among Hispanic mestizos; and Arabic are used by Filipino muslims, and taught in madrasah (Muslim) schools.
Religion
The Philippines is one of two countries in Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region with Roman Catholic majorities; the other being East Timor.
The Philippines is separated into dioceses of which the Archdiocese of Manila is the main primacy.
About 90% of Filipinos identify themselves as Christians, with 81% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.
2% are composed of Protestant denominations, and 11% either to the Philippine Independent Church, Iglesia ni Cristo, and others.
The Philippines is also well-known for its Baroque-style churches.
They are a part of the long list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
These churches are: San Agustín Church in Intramuros, Manila; Paoay Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte; Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Santa María) Church in Santa María, Ilocos Sur; and the Santo Tomás de Villanueva Church in Iloilo.
Approximately 5% of Filipinos are Muslims, and are locally known as Moros, having been dubbed this by the Spaniards due to their sharing Islam with the Moors of North Africa.
They primarily settle in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu archipelago, but are now found in most urban areas of the country.
Most lowland Muslim Filipinos practice Islam, although the practices of some Mindanao's highland Muslim populations reflect a mixture with Animism.
There are also small populations of Buddhists, Bahá'í, Hindus, Sikhs, and animists, which, along with other non-Christians, non-Muslims and those with no religion, collectively comprise 2.5% of the population.
Source: CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
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