The Philippines had a population of 64,318,120 in 1990. The estimated population in 2007 was 91,077,287. The population is growing by about 2 percent a year, giving the Philippines one of the world’s highest population-growth rates. The high birthrate contributes to a predominantly young population; in 2001 about 57 percent of the population was under the age of 25. The average population density is 306 persons per sq km (791 per sq mi). However, the distribution of the population is uneven; some areas are virtually uninhabited, while others are densely populated. The percentage of the population living in rural areas has steadily declined in recent decades. It decreased from 68 percent in 1970 to 57 percent in 1990. By 2000 urban dwellers outnumbered rural residents, with only 42 percent of the population living in rural areas.

A. Principal Cities

Manila is the capital of the Philippines and the country’s chief port, main commercial and cultural center, and largest city. Other important cities include Quezon City, which is part of the Manila metropolitan area, and served as the country’s capital from 1948 to 1976; Davao, a provincial capital and a seaport; Cebu, a seaport and the trade center for a farming and coal-mining region; and Zamboanga, also a seaport.

B. Cultural Groups

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Filipinos are generally divided along linguistic, geographic, and religious lines. Different linguistic groups developed as a result of the original settlement patterns. As the Malayan peoples spread throughout the archipelago, they dispersed into separate groups that each developed a distinct vernacular, or regional language. The primary religious groups are Christians and Muslims.

Christian Filipinos are the largest and most politically powerful group in the Philippines. They live primarily in lowland areas, specifically coastal areas and inland plains. They speak many different regional languages and dialects and are categorized into ethnolinguistic groups. Intermarriage and internal migration have helped to reduce language barriers over the years. The largest groups are the Tagalogs, who predominate in central and southern Luzon, including Manila; the Cebuanos, who live in Cebu, Bohol, eastern Negros, western Leyte, and in some coastal areas of Mindanao; and the Ilocanos, who predominate in the coastal areas of northern Luzon. Other major groups are the Ilongos, who speak Hiligaynon; the Bicolanos, who speak Bicol; the Waray-Waray; the Pampangans; and the Pangasinans.

Muslim Filipinos, also known as Moros or Moro Muslims, constitute the second largest group with a common cultural identity, although there are many linguistic and cultural differences among them. The Moros are of Malayan or Indonesian descent and comprise ten major ethnolinguistic groups, the largest of which are the Maguindanao, Maranao, Tau Sug, and Samal. The Maguindanao, who live mainly on Mindanao, are the largest Muslim group in the country. The Maranao, meaning “people of the lake,” live principally around Lake Lanao on Mindanao. The Tau Sug and Samal live in the Sulu Archipelago. Although the majority of Muslim Filipinos live in the southern islands, communities of Muslims live in other areas of the country as well.

The upland tribal groups are the third largest cultural group in the Philippines. The islands include more than 100 upland tribes, ranging in size from 100,000 to fewer than several hundred members. The members of the Aeta and Agta tribes are considered to be the indigenous people of the Philippines. They are descendents of perhaps the first humans who settled the islands during prehistoric times, before the Malayan migrations. They are commonly known as Negritos (a term assigned to them during the Spanish colonial period) and are one of the world’s few remaining Pygmy people, who are characterized by shorter-than-average height. Their communities are located mainly on northeastern Luzon. Although most of them were absorbed into the Malay population through intermarriage, some retreated to the mountains as the Malayan settlers increased in number. Those who retreated retained a hunting-and-gathering way of life augmented by a type of nomadic farming known as slash-and-burn agriculture, whereby they created temporary crop fields by clearing and burning small areas of forest. Other upland peoples of Malayan descent followed a similar settlement pattern. Through centuries of relative isolation, these groups have preserved their traditional ways of life and distinct cultures. They are engaged in subsistence hunting, fishing, and farming. Most maintain indigenous belief systems based on animism (the worship of nature deities and other spirits).

People of Chinese descent comprise the largest non-Malay group, making up about 1 percent of the population. Chinese people have settled in the Philippines for centuries. They originally came as traders, and during the colonial period they began to form an important merchant class. Many recent arrivals from China live in the Philippines as semipermanent residents, while others become Philippine citizens. Intermarriage between Chinese and lowland Filipinos is common. People of mixed Malay and Chinese descent are known as mestizos. Unlike Chinese who do not intermarry or become citizens, mestizos have always been readily accepted in Philippine society. They formed the first Filipino elite during the colonial period, and today they continue to form an economically and politically important minority.

C. Religion

The Philippines has the only predominantly Christian population in Asia, reflecting Spain’s colonization of the islands in the 16th century. About 94 percent of the people are Christians, about 5 percent are Muslims, and the remainder are Buddhists, animists, or nonbelievers.

About 84 percent of all Filipinos are Roman Catholic. Another 10 percent belong to other Christian denominations, most notably the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church), an independent Catholic church whose adherents are known as Aglipayans. Founded by Filipino priest Gregorio Aglipay and formally organized in 1902, this church broke from Rome’s authority as part of the Filipino struggle for clerical equity. Smaller groups of nearly every Christian denomination also exist, notably Protestants and revivalist groups. Another Filipino-founded church, the evangelical Iglesia ni Kristo (Church of Christ), was founded in 1914 by Felix Y. Manalo and began to attract a significant membership after World War II.

The Muslim population of the Philippines lives mostly in the southern islands of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Islam predated Christianity in the region, spreading to the Sulu Archipelago in the 14th century and Mindanao in the 15th century. Islam had some adherents as far north as Manila by the time the Spanish arrived. After 1571, when Spanish forces defeated the Muslim ruler of Manila, Muslims were largely confined to the south.

Spanish colonial authority depended on locally based Catholic religious orders to help maintain political control, and this interdependency made the church a powerful institution in the islands. Although there is an official separation of church and state in the Philippines, the Roman Catholic Church continues to have an influential role in political life.

D. Language

More than 80 indigenous languages and dialects are spoken in the Philippines. These languages and dialects belong to the Malayo-Polynesian group of the Austronesian language family. The most widely spoken are Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicol, Waray-Waray, Pampangan, Pangasinan, and Maranao.

English and Filipino (formerly spelled Pilipino) are the official languages. Filipino is largely based on Tagalog, with many words adopted from other languages, including English and Spanish. It was made the national language in 1987 in an attempt to address the fact that no two of the indigenous languages are mutually comprehensible. Filipino is a required subject in schools, but English is more commonly used in higher education. English is also commonly used in government and commerce. Some Filipinos are trilingual, speaking an indigenous language, Filipino, and English. Many Filipinos continue to primarily speak their indigenous language, rather than Filipino. Very few people speak Spanish, despite the country’s colonial history. Spanish never became a widely used or learned language in the Philippines, in contrast to the Spanish colonies in the Americas, because the Spanish friars used the vernacular to introduce Catholicism to the indigenous population. Arabic and various dialects of Chinese are spoken by a small minority of the population.

E. Education

Education in the Philippines is free and compulsory for children ages 6 through 12. Filipino and English are the primary languages of instruction. The literacy rate is 96.3 percent of the adult population, with little variation between males and females.

During the Spanish colonial era, only the elite population had access to education. After the United States gained control of the Philippines in 1898, a strong emphasis was placed on public education. The idea that free and compulsory education would democratize society took hold in the Philippines. English replaced Spanish as the language of instruction and as the national medium of communication. Since independence in 1946, the Philippine government has opened schools in even the remotest areas. Literacy rates in some languages have slowly improved. However, significant differences in quality of education continue to exist between rural and urban areas.

Virtually all children aged 6 to 12 are enrolled in school, and attendance is compulsory. Enrollment for ages 13 through 16 is 84 percent. At the university level, enrollment stands at 30 percent of the relevant age group. Institutions of higher learning include the University of the Philippines (1908), in Quezon City; Adamson University (1932), the University of the East (1946), Far Eastern University (1928), Feati University (1946), and the University of Santo Tomás (1611), all in Manila; Bicol University (1969), in Legaspi; the University of Mindanao (1946), in Davao; Saint Louis University (1911), in Baguio; and Southwestern University (1946), in Cebu.

F. Social Structure

Family relationships are the basic building block of Philippine society. Each Filipino is at the center of a large circle of relatives, usually extending to third cousins. Marriage is rarely permitted for members of the same kinship circle. The kinship circle is customarily enlarged through compadrazgo, or ritual co-parenthood, the Catholic custom of selecting godparents to sponsor one’s child at baptism. In the close-knit Filipino family, members are provided assistance when needed and expected to give their first loyalty to their kin. In rural areas the barangays (villages) contain sitios, or clusters of households, of an extended family. The social support provided by these close-knit communities is reflected in the absence of such institutions as retirement homes and orphanages.

Filipino women, usually called Filipinas, have more social equality than women in most countries in Southeast Asia. Since precolonial times, their social status has been generally equal to that of men. In the bilateral kinship system that is traditional in the Philippines, descent is traced equally through both male and female lineages. Because a woman’s lineage is equally valued, her rights to property and inheritance are not questioned. Today educated women in the Philippines are strongly represented in politics, business, and the professions. At home women usually manage the family income and are the primary caretakers of children.

G. Way of Life

One of the most notable characteristics of Filipino society is its strong family and community relationships. These are strengthened by the traditional Filipino concept of utang na loob, in which an act of voluntary assistance creates an obligation that the receiver must attempt to repay through reciprocal assistance. This often creates a long-term relationship of giving and receiving between individuals or families, and some obligations can last for generations. The social values of loyalty, support, and trust are deeply embedded in the Philippine identity. Respect for others, especially elder members of society and people in positions of authority, is taught from an early age.

In Philippine villages, houses are traditionally constructed of bamboo and nipa palm thatching and raised above the ground on poles. Simple wooden houses with galvanized iron roofs are also common. Except in the remotest areas, rural houses are equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing. More services and modern facilities are available in towns and cities. The influence of Western culture is more evident in urban areas, where lifestyles tend to be more modern.

Farming, fishing, and forestry are the primary occupations in rural areas. Many of the rural poor are employed as tenant farmers and landless agricultural workers. Most urban residents are employed in the service sector or in manufacturing. There is a growing middle class of government employees, teachers, and small-business owners.

The Philippine diet usually consists of boiled rice or ground corn, vegetables, fresh or salted fish, and fruits. A locally made beverage is tuba, a fermented coconut wine.

Traditional sports include arnis, a kind of fencing with wooden sticks, and sipa, a game much like volleyball except that the players use only their feet to move the ball. Cockfighting and boxing are popular spectator sports, and American influence is seen in the wide popularity of baseball and basketball. Christian holidays such as the annual patron-saint fiestas and the crucifixion reenactments at Easter are important and well-attended community events.

H. Social Issues

Significant economic divisions exist in the Philippines. About 37 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 1997. The wealthiest 10 percent of families earn more than twice as much as the poorest 40 percent. The wealthy upper class, which includes landowners and business executives, enjoys a high standard of living. Some wealthy people live in large homes in guarded subdivisions. Meanwhile, many rural families cannot afford to provide basic essentials such as clothing and medicine for their children. Income in urban areas is generally higher than in rural areas, drawing a constant flow of migrants to the cities. Some migrants live as squatters, dwelling in crowded slum areas in makeshift housing that lacks running water, sewerage systems, and electricity. They tend to work as vendors, street hawkers, and unskilled laborers.

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