Filipinos

the indigenous population of the Philippines, comprising numerous related ethnographic groups. Filipinos number 41.5 million (1975, estimate); they speak the Philippine languages. The largest groups—the Bikol, Visayans, Ilokano, Pampangans, Pangasinans, Sambal, and Tagalogs—make up the coastal, or plains, people of the Philippines. Capitalist relations have developed among the the coastal people, most of whom are Catholic. The southern Philippines are inhabited by the Moro group, which includes the Magindanao, Maranao, Sulu, Samal, and Yakan, who profess Islam; they have retained vestiges of feudal relations. The mountain groups, which include the Ifugao, Kalinga, and Bontok, have retained characteristics of a primitive communal system and practice animism; some are Protestants.

All the ethographic groups share a common traditional material and spiritual culture, including dwellings, foods, utensils, and folklore. The chief occupation is land cultivation, primarily irrigated rice growing; fishing and handicraft production are of lesser importance. The plains peoples have shown a tendency toward consolidation into a single Philippine nation, for which the Tagalogs may serve as a nucleus. The Moro and mountain groups, which are minorities, have been little affected by the processes of national consolidation.