Traditions and Culture of the Philippines

The culture of the Philippines has been greatlyand business, and tribal languages are used for
influenced by the migrants that have come to thisprivate communications between tribe members,
island nation throughout time. Most of the peoplereligious ceremonies and leisure communications.
that call themselves Filipinos actually descend fromThe culture of the Philippines is made up of
Austonesian tribes that most likely migrated fromseveral religions. However, the majority of this
Taiwan to the Philippines thousands of years ago.nation is Roman Catholic. If fact Catholics make
It is suspected that the first Filipinos were relatedup 81 percent of the Filipino population. Other
to the Ami Tribe.religions practiced in the Philippines include
There are at least fifteen ethnic groups thatProtestantism, Islam and local tribal religions.
currently call the Philippines home. These groupsThe culture of the Philippines has been influenced
include: the Tagalogs, the Moro, the Bicolanos, theby a number of outside cultures. One of the most
Igorot, the Mangyan, the Chabacano, the Ivantan,influential cultures on the Filipinos was the Hispanic
the Visayan, the Ilocanos, the Kapampangans, theculture. Hispanics introduced Roman Catholicism to
Pangasinese, the Lumad, the Ibanag, the Badjaothis country. They also influenced the
and the Palawan tribes. Each of these tribes has adevelopment of Filipino music, folk art, dance and
unique set of traditions, beliefs and languages.food. The Chinese also influenced the culture of
However, while languages vary from tribe to tribethe Philippines. However, their influence was
the official languages of the Philippines are Englishmostly on Filipino cuisine. Their influence can be
and Filipino. These languages are used for tradeseen in the used of noodles in Filipino dishes.