Cebuano people

ethnic group
group=Cebuano


poptime=20 million (2000 census)
popplace= Philippines:
Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor parts of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Camiguin, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, as well as in Bukidnon and Metro Manila.

langs= Cebuano, Chabacano (in Zamboanga Region), Tagalog, English and Spanish
rels=predominantly Roman Catholic, others
related=Other Austronesians groups (especially Indonesians, (Dayak, Malays, Meratus Dayak and other non-Muslim Pribumi)The Cebuano people usually refers to those whose native tongue is Cebuano, but more specifically the people who live in the province of Cebu. The Cebuano are the largest subset of the Visayan ethnolinguistic group and the largest migrant Filipino ethnic group in Mindanao which, in turn, is the largest ethnolinguistic group of the Philippines.

Languages

The Cebuano language is the most common indigenous language spoken in the Visayas region. It is spoken particularly in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor. It is also spoken in some parts of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Camiguin, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, as well as in Bukidnon. Estimates of Cebuano speakers range from 15 to 20 million. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ceb]

Other languages spoken, includes Spanish, English, Chinese, Chabacano (in Zamboanga Region), and Tagalog.

Demographics

Linguistically and ethnically, Cebuanos are principally of Austronesian people descent. In major cities like Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, some have Spanish and Chinese ancestries, as well as ancestries from other Filipino ethnolinguistic groups like the Tagalogs and Ilokanos. Cebuanos in Mindanao, who would rather be called Bisaya than Cebuano, occasionally have some Lumad, Butuanon, and Surigaonon, and even Moro ancestry. Cebuano-speakers make up about 1/4 of the Philippines population, of about 85 million.

Culture

Much of the Cebuano culture has been influenced by the Spanish culture and indigenous Philippine traditions. The majority of its people belong to the Roman Catholic religion. However, Chinese religion have slowly seeped in and formed part of the growing religious groups in Cebu. Evidence of this is the large number of Chinese temples found in the region.

History

The word Cebuano is a Hispanicized term derived from the Old Malay word Zugboanon. The name of Cebu was given to the Islands of Zugbo (where Hispanicized name Cebu came from) during the Spanish colonization of the Islands, which lasted for more than three centuries. Cebuanos originated from Austronesian-speaking settlers from South China who settled Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Mindanao during the Iron Age. In Mindanao, descendants of Cebuanos, along with other Visayans native to Mindanao—Butuanons and Surigaonons, were concentrated in the north in pre-Christian time, but the Cebuano-speaking population in Mindanao grew in most of Mindanao from the first years in the time of Christ and immigrants from Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental to Mindanao from Spanish colonial times to first years of independence, and this population increase pushed all Mindanao natives to the rural interior and west Mindanao, made Cebuano the "lingua franca" of Mindanao and its speakers, now more commonly identifying as Visayans rather than Cebuanos, the largest Christian population in the island. The Cebuanos were among the first Austronesian inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago to encounter Europeans and the first to be baptized as Roman Catholic by the Portuguese explorers and Spanish conquistadors.