Filipino people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Filipinos
From left to right: Ayta boy from Pampanga, former President Corazon Aquino, National Hero José Rizal, a Muslim woman from Cotabato, singer-songwriter Freddie Aguilar, Tboli girl.
Total population
c. 100 million
Regions with significant populations
Philippines      89,054,000 (2007)
Significant Overseas populations in:  United States 2,807,731 [1]  Saudi Arabia 966,542  Malaysia 822,910  Japan 432,425  Canada 392,120  Australia 212,516  UAE 193,144  Hong Kong 188,404  Taiwan 158,116  Singapore 130,263  United Kingdom 105,615  Italy 104,000
Languages
Filipino, Bikol, Cebuano, English, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray-Waray, and over 100 others
Religions
Predominantly Roman Catholic Various smaller Christian denominations Significant Muslim minority

Filipinos are the inhabitants of the Philippines, located in Southeast Asia. The term (feminine: Filipina) may also refer to people of Philippine descent, regardless of citizenship (i.e. Filipino Americans).

Throughout the colonial era, the term "Filipino" originally referred to Spaniards born in the Philippines, also known as insulares, criollos or español filipino. This distinguished them from Spaniards born in Europe who were known as peninsulares. By the late 19th century, the term Filipino began to widely refer to the indigenous population of the Philippines. According to historian Ambeth Ocampo, José Rizal was the first to call the native inhabitants Filipinos.

Today, Filipino is also used to signify the nationality and citizenship of one who is from the Philippines. This means that not only native Austronesian Filipinos are included but also other ethnic groups such as the Chinese.

Colloquially, Filipinos may refer to themselves as Pinoy (feminine: Pinay), which is formed by taking the last four letters of Pilipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y. The word was coined by expatriate Filipino Americans during the 1920s and was later adopted by Filipinos in the Philippines.

In various Philippine languages, Filipino is translated to Pilipino. The use of /p/ is used since many lack /f/ as a phoneme.

Contents 1 History 2 Ancestry 3 Cultural spectrum 4 Languages 5 Diaspora 5.1 Filipinos in the Americas 5.2 Filipinos in Asia-Pacific 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Philippines

American anthropologist H. Otley Beyer was the first to propose that Malays who came from Malaysia populated the Philippines in a handful of waves of migration. However, according to contemporary research by anthropologists, linguists (Blust, Reid, Ross, Pawley) and archaeologists (Bellwood) propose the opposite to be true. The vast majority of Filipinos are said to be descended from Austronesian-speaking migrants which arrived in what is now the Philippines from Southern China and Taiwan during the Iron age.

Filipinos are sometimes said to be part of the Malay race, however modern anthropologists contend the classification has little taxonomic validity. The Malay race was a term coined in 1795 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach to refer to the brown-skinned inhabitants of the Indian (Malay) archipelago, Oceania, Melanesia, and Australia. It was one of five other categories which Blumenbach created for classifying humans, including what he called the black race and the yellow race. Since then, anthropologists have debunked this concept, citing the complexities of human races being unable to fit into a handful of oversimplified categories. Genetically, there are no distinct units of human population and all human beings are genetically related. ^[1]

The term Malay is also considered misleading because it gives the impression that the route for the populating of the Philippines was via Malaysia, when actually, the current Malays of the rest of the Malay Archipelago and of mainland Malaysia are the descendants of Austronesian-speaking immigrants who first went to the Philippines before further venturing south into what is now Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, as well as to the other Pacific islands.

There were also pre-existing aboriginal inhabitants of the Philippines--the Negrito groups. Their ancestors arrived thousands of years prior to the Austronesian-speaking migrants arrival. Their descendants, the Aetas, constitute a very small minority of the population.

The Philippines, prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, was not ruled or united as a single nation. Instead, the inhabitants were mostly divided into ethnolinguistic tribal states, or barangays, with some acquiring cultural sophistication, including caste systems (Maharlika).

By the mid-to-late 16th century, the archipelago was included in the Spanish East Indies and was referred to as Filipinas (Philippines) by the Spaniards in honor of King Philip II of Spain. During the 333 years of Spanish rule, through New Spain (Mexico), the term Filipino referred to the Spaniards who were born in the archipelago. Indigenous Filipinos were usually referred to as "indios" as a result of an earlier misnomer made by Spaniards on the indigenous peoples of the Americas when they first reach that continent, believing they had arrived in India. By the time the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines the term "indio" had become synonymous with "indigenous", and so was applied in that context.

Following the revolution, the Spanish-American War in 1898, and the Philippine-American War, the native indios were left searching for a national identity. The native revolutionaries then called themselves Filipinos, taking ownership of the term that had earlier been utilized by the Philippine-born Spaniards. General Emilio Aguinaldo was among the first to apply "Filipino" as the national designation for the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines, as well as all other persons born in the country. This act was intended to help unite the population and establish nationalism in the 1900s against the U.S. presence and occupation of the islands. The term indio, however, was still being used well into the mid part of the 20th century, as evidenced by Roman Catholic baptismal records.

[edit] Ancestry

While there has not yet been a genetic study of great statistical significance about the ancestry of the various Philippine ethnic groups, there have been some studies, based upon very small samples of the population, which provide clues as to their origins.

For example, a Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that haplogroup L predominates among Filipinos. This particular haplogroup is common among the southern Chinese, particularly among the Hoklo people. Another haplogroup, haplogroup H is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup H is highest among the Taiwanese Aborigines. Overall, the genetic frequencies found among Filipinos pinpoints to the Ami tribe of Taiwan as their nearest genetic relative.

A 2002 China Medical University study indicated that certain Filipinos shared a particular gene marker that is also found among Taiwanese aborigines and Indonesians. ^[2].

Furthermore, a 2003 University of the Philippines study based on 50 participants each from the islands of Luzon and Cebu provided some insight into the various places of origin of early Filipinos; some rare genetic markers were found that are shared by people from parts of Asia. ^[3]

[edit] Cultural spectrum

Main articles: Culture of the Philippines and Religion in the Philippines

Filipino culture is primarily based on the cultures of the various native groups, and has influence from Spanish and Mexican, as well Chinese and Indian cultures. The customs and traditions of the Roman Catholic faith are Spain's lasting legacy.

Unlike its Muslim majority neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippines is an overwhelmingly Christian country. As a result of Spanish colonization and evangelization spanning just over three centuries, most contemporary Filipinos, regardless of native ethnic group, are Christians; over 83% are Roman Catholic with various smaller Christian denominations. However, a significant minority of Filipinos (the majority in Mindanao and most of the Sulu Archipelago) are to this day still adherents of Islam. Filipino Muslims constitute 5% of the population.

[edit] Languages

Main article: Languages of the Philippines

According to Ethnologue, there are more than 170 languages spoken in the country. Tagalog is taught in schools throughout the country under the name Filipino. Although Filipino and English are used as the national lingua franca, many of the other major regional languages also serve as working languages where English or Filipino is not as entrenched. Ilokano, for example, is widely spoken as a second language in Northern Luzon and Cebuano is considered the lingua franca of Visayas and Mindanao.

Others major languages include Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tausug, Maguindanao, Maranao, Chabacano, Kinaray-a and many others.

[edit] Diaspora

Main article: Overseas Filipino

Filipinos form the largest ethnic group in the Northern Marianas Islands, the second largest in both Palau and Guam, and the second largest Asian American group in the United States. They also form significant minorities in Canada, Australia, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Spain, France and Germany.

[edit] Filipinos in the Americas

Main articles: Filipino American and Filipino Canadian

The arrival of Filipinos in the Americas began during the Spanish colonial era. At that time, many Filipino men were hired as sailors to man ships bound for the New World. Upon arrival, many sailors mutinied, others settled there after marrying locals.

However, Filipino migration only began in the mid-1800s, beginning with the United States. In 1903, pensionados arrived there as students in colleges and universities. Starting in 1906, Filipinos were hired as laborers for plantations, farms, salmon canneries, and the like. In the post-World War II era, Filipino physicians, nurses and other health care workers began immigrating. The United States Military also played a role due to recruitment. Additionally, many American soldiers married Filipino women.

There is also a significant population of Filipinos in Canada.

[edit] Filipinos in Asia-Pacific

Main articles: Filipino Australian and Filipinos in Hong Kong

Filipinos have been settled in the islands of Oceania, particularly in Micronesia. Also, the vast majority of Filipino exiled patriots were sent to Oceania. As a result, they now form the largest ethnic group in the Northern Marianas Islands, as well as the second largest in both Palau and Guam.

Subsequent immigrations of Filipinos also ensued. To this day, about five in ten Northern Marianas islanders have a direct Filipino ancestor.

[edit] See also

• Filipino mestizo
• Chinese Filipino
• Japanese Filipino
• Spanish Filipino
• African Filipino
• Bangsamoro
• Ibanag
• Overseas Filipino
  • Filipino American
  • Filipino Australian
  • Filipino British
  • Filipino Canadian
• Philippine nationality law

[edit] References

[edit] External links

The Filipino People | Ethnic Groups in the Philippines
	Bicolano | Bisaya | Chinese | Ilocano | Kapampangan | Moro | Pangasinan Spanish | Tagalog | Tribal groups | Minority groups | Overseas Filipinos