Demographics of the Philippines
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According to the 2000 Census, the population of the Philippines was 76,504,077
The Aeta, who are genetically akin to Andamanese islanders and are known as the aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines, constituting a distinct stock, number somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people (<0.03%). The overwhelming majority of the population (95%), known as ethnic Filipinos, are made up of various ethnolinguistic groups descended from later Austronesian-speaking migrants who arrived in successive waves to the archipelago from Taiwan and admixed with other sporadic migrations from the Asian mainland (what is today southern China). The most significant foreign ethnic minority are the Chinese, who have played an important role in commerce since the 9th century when they first arrived in the Philippines for trade. Mestizos, those of mixed race, form a tiny but economically and politically important minority.
The most widely spoken language is Filipino, which is based on Tagalog, although thirteen regional languages are spoken as vernaculars throughout the Philippines. English serves as the primary lingua franca and as the language of commerce and the professions. Christianity is the main religion in the archipelago, with Roman Catholicism making up the majority. A small but significant minority profess Islam, particularly in the southern Philippines.
The people of the Philippines are known as Filipinos. Throughout the colonial era the term "Filipino" originally referred to only the Spanish and Spanish-mestizo minority. The definition, however, was later changed to include the entire population of the Philippines regardless of ethnic origin. Ironically, the term now somewhat excludes the Spanish-mestizo minority who are perceived by some Filipinos, and by many Spanish-mestizos themselves, to be foreign.
Religion
Religion in the Philippines plays a very important role in the Filipino Society. The Majority of the people belong to the Christian religion which makes up (94%) of the population.
The majority of Christians are Roman Catholic with (83%); followed by Protestant with (9%); Islam with (5%); Buddhism and Hinduism make up the remainder with (3%).
Roman Catholics and Protestants were converted during 425 years of Western domination by Spain and the United States. 377 years of Spanish rule was responsible for converting the majority of the people to Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholicism still subsists as a major religion. Often still, Catholic Filipinos mix Catholic beliefs and traditions with beliefs in ghosts and other spirits. Protestant denominations were introduced to the Philippines primarily during the 37 years of American occupation. The current Philippine Protestant churches are linked with North American Churches. American minorities, living in the Philippines are mostly Protestant missionaries.
Islam was brought to the Sulu Archipelago in the 9th century by Makhdum Karim, an Arab trader, and to Mindanao island by Rajah Kabungsuwan, a Malaccan nobleman. From then onwards, Muslim princes carried on expeditions to propagate Islam. Simultaneously, the Spaniards arrived, under Ferdinand Magellan, and arrested the growth of the Islamic religion in the Philippines. Islam was displaced from Luzon and Visayas, their people yet being in the first stages of proselytization to Islam, but in Mindanao and Sulu, the religion had gained a stronghold. The Spaniards never made inroads in Mindanao. Most of Mindanao island remained independent of Spanish rule, and to this day remains mostly Muslim.
Other religions include Mahayana Buddhism, followed by many Filipinos of Chinese descent. It is often mixed with Taoist and Confucianist beliefs, and Hinduism and Sikhism, followed by Filipinos of Indo-Aryan descent.
Animism is still prevalent among the highland peoples of Cordillera and Mindanao.
Language
A total of one hundred seventy-two native languages and dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Austronesian linguistic family. Since 1939, in an effort to develop national unity, the government has promoted the use of the official national language, Tagalog. English is the predominant non-native language. Other foreign languages spoken are Chinese ( Hokkien) and Cantonese Chinese, among the Chinese and Chinese-mestizo population; Arabic and Malay among some members of the Muslim population; and Spanish preserved and spoken by some families within the Spanish-mestizo minority.
Ethnic Groups
Aboriginal Filipinos
Negritos, (in Filipino, Ita or Aeta): the Aetas are descended from the Negritos and Australoid-Sakais who first settled the archipelago during the Ice Age. They are the poorest and most disadvantaged class of the Filipino population. Their numbers have been decreasing rapidly and are thought to number between 20,000 and 30,000, or 0.03% of the population. Most speak their tribal languages and have little or no understanding of Filipino. They are also known by other names.
Ethnic Filipinos
Ethnic Filipinos (in Filipino, Filipino or Pilipino): Ethnic Filipinos form the bulk of the population, accounting for 95%. Invading Austronesian-speaking migrants, arrived in successive waves over a thousand years ago and settled throughout the entire archipelago, largely displacing the aboriginal Aeta inhabitants. These Austronesians intermarried with the Chinese, which gave rise to the present-day Filipinos. Many live in the cities, although a great number still live traditional lifestyles in the mountains and rural areas. Many Filipinos are trilingual, and are able to speak one of over a hundred regional languages, the national language Filipino (based on Tagalog), and English.
Chinese
Chinese, (in Filipino, Intsik): the Chinese are the most significant minority in the Philippines. The Chinese are often perceived as elitists and rich by many Filipinos, however, there are middle classed and poor Chinese as well, especially among the more recent immigrants. The Chinese are perceived to have a significant portion of business transactions, which has lead to resentment by some. The Chinese take pride in their culture long history. Although the Chinese has advocated endogamy within the Chinese population for years, there exists a significant Chinese-Mestizo group in the country. Although genetic research has shown most Filipinos to have some traces of Chinese ancestry, this is not from recent migrations, and it is limited to the pre-history migrations that joined the various Austronesian-speaking ethnolinguistic groups which came to formed the majority "ethnic Filipino" population.
Mestizos
Mestizos, (in Filipino, Mestiso or Mistiso): Filipinos of mixed race. They form a tiny but economically and politically important minority. Recent statistics indicate that the combined number of all types of mestizos constitute no more than 2% of the entire Filipino population. A recent genetic study by Stanford University, however, indicates that 3.6% of the population has at least some European ancestry. Mestizos in the Philippines may be of any race combination or ratio. Most Filipino mestizos are of the following mixtures; Filipino-Spanish/Mexican, Filipino-Chinese "Chinoys", Filipino-American or Filipino-Japanese.
Spaniards
Spaniards, (in Filipino, Kastila): Some Spanish immigrants traveled to the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Era, most of those however were Mexican-born rather than Spanish-born. The few who did not return to Mexico and Spain at the end of the colonial occupation ended up settling on the islands permanently. During 1898 and the Marcos Era, many immigrated to the United States. The most numerous Spanish group are the Castilians, followed by the Basques, and the Catalans. Most Filipinos of Spanish and Mexican descent are Manila-based, controlling many of the city's service-oriented businesses, such as Globe Telecom (mobile communications), Manila Electric Company (electricity), Maynilad Water (water), Manila Broadcasting Co. (telecommunications), San Miguel Corporation (food conglomerate), Bank of PI (international banking) and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (landline communications).
Americans
Americans, (in Filipino, Amerikano): the Americans who settled in the Philippines are overwhelmingly caucasian, but there are also few African-Americans, some of whom who have intermarried with locals. Most of them are either resident businessmen, expatriate businessmen, or missionaries They number 110,000 in Manila alone, in which 29,000 are permanent residents, excluding temporary embassy officials and U.S. Military personnel.
Others
Other smaller foreign nationality groups also reside in the Philippines, such as Indians and Pakistanis, Arabs, Japanese, Koreans, as well as other Europeans. See main article.
1903 census
In 1903 the population of the Philippines was 7,635,426, including 56,138 foreign-born. In the 100 years since the 1903 census, the population has grown by a factor of eleven.
By city or towns exceeding 10,000:
- Manila, 219,928
- Laoag, Ilocos Norte 19,699
- Iloilo, Iloilo 19,054
- Cebu, Cebu 18,330
- Nueva Caceres (Naga City), Camarines Sur 10,021
There were 13,400 villages, nearly 75% of which had fewer than 600 inhabitants.
By race or ethnicity:
- Malay: 7,539,632 (98.7%)
- Chinese: 42,097 (0.6%)
- Mestizo: 15,419 (0.2%)
- Negrito: 23,511 (0.3%)
- Caucasian: 14,271 (0.2%) [Spaniards and White US Servicemen]
- Negro: 505 (0.01%) [Black US Servicemen]
The ethnic Malay population divided by language:
- Christian (Mainly Roman Catholic)
- Visayan: 3,219,030
- Tagalog: 1,460,695
- Ilocano: 803,942
- Bicol: 566,635
- Pangasinan: 343,686
- Pampangan: 280,984
- Cagayan: 159,648
- Muslim
- Moro: 277,547
- Igorot
- Igorot: 211,520
1941
In 1941 the estimated population of the Philippines reached 17,000,000. Manila's population was 684,000.
The number of Chinese living on the island had risen to 117,000. There were also around 30,000 Japanese living in the Philippines, with some 20,000 of them residing in Davao, Mindanao, and 9,000 Americans lived in Luzon.
By then, some 27% of the population could speak English as a second language, while the number of those able to speak Spanish had further fallen to 3%. Tagalog has been the official language (since 1937), though more people spoke Cebuano at the time.
Successive Surveys
On 1960, the government of the Philippines conducted a survey on both population and housing.The population was peggedat 27,087,685. Successive surveys wereagain conducted on 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1990, which gave the population as 36,684,9486, 42,070,660, 48,098,460, and 60,703,206 respectively. On 1995, the POPCEN was launched, undertaken at the month of September, The data provided the bases for the Internal Revenue Allocation to local government units and for the creation of new legislative areas. The count was made official by then President Fidel Ramos by Proclamation No, 849 on August 14, 1996, was 68,616,536.
Education
The Philippines' literacy rate was pegged at a general average percentile of 92.28%, males at 92.10% and females at 92.47%. Literacy was defined by the Census 2000 to be a person 10years or older, having the capoability to read and write. The National Capital Region had the highest literacy rate, which was pegged at 98.14%. Other regions having a lkiteracy rate higher than the national average were Ilocos Region, 95.23%, Central Luzon, 94.80%m Southern Tagalog Region, 94.01%, Bicol Region, 92.69%, and Western Visayas, 93.02%. Two-thirs of the estimated 34,000,000 perople who are 6 to 24 years ols were attending school from June 2003 to March/April 2004.
Population, July 2005 est.
Population: 76,504,077 (2000 census)
Age structure:
- 0-14 years: 35.4% (male 15,869,636; female 15,255,588)
- 15-64 years: 60.6% (male 26,503,785; female 26,722,511)
- 65 years and over: 4% (male 1,523,213; female 1,982,740) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 22.27 years
male: 21.77 years
female: 22.8 years (2005)
Population growth rate: 1.8% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 25.31 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 5.47 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 23.51 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 26.34 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.91 years
male: 67.03 years
female: 72.92 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - People living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Filipino
adjective: Philippine
Ethnic groups: Tagalog 28.1%, Cebuano 13.1%, Ilocano 9%, Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo 7.5%, Bikol 6%, Waray 3.4%, other 25.3% (2000 census)
Religions: Roman Catholic 80.9%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christian 4.5%, Muslim 5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6%, none 0.1% (2000 census)
Languages: two official languages - Filipino (formerly Pilipino, based on Tagalog) and English; eight major regional languages - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligayno, Bikol, Waray-Waray, Kapampangan, and Pangasinense
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6%
male: 92.5%
female: 92.7% (2002 est.)