Demographics of the Philippines

• Philippines
  • History of the Philippines
    • Demographic History of the Philippines

The majority of Philippine people are descendants of Indonesians and Malays[?] 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.

About 90% of the people are Christian; most were converted and Westernized to varying degrees during nearly 400 years of Spanish and American rule. The major non-Hispanicized groups are the Muslim population, concentrated in the Sulu Archipelago and in central and western Mindanao, and the mountain groups of northern Luzon. Small forest tribes live in the more remote areas of Mindanao.

About 87 native languages and dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Malay-Polynesian linguistic family. Of these, eight are the first languages of more than 85% of the population. The three principal indigenous languages are Cebuano[?], spoken in the Visayas; Tagalog, predominant in the area around Manila; and Ilocano[?], spoken in northern Luzon. Since 1939, in an effort to develop national unity, the government has promoted the use of the national language, Pilipino, which is based on Tagalog. Pilipino is taught in all schools and is gaining acceptance, particularly as a second language.

English, the most common nonnative language, is used as a second language by many, including nearly all professionals, academics, and government workers. Only a few Filipino families retain Spanish usage.

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.

Population: 81,159,644 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (male 15,344,555; female 14,807,320)
15-64 years: 59% (male 23,777,245; female 24,285,565)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,312,646; female 1,632,313) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.07% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 27.85 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 6.13 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 29.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 67.48 years
male: 64.65 years
female: 70.46 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.48 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Filipino(s)
adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups: Christian Malay[?] 91.5%, Muslim Malay 4%, Chinese 1.5%, other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 5%, Buddhist and other 3%

Languages: Pilipino (derived from Tagalog), English (official)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.6%
male: 95%
female: 94.3% (1995 est.)

See also: Philippines, Demographic History of the Philippines