PHILIPPINES DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the 2000 Census, the population of the Philippines was 76,504,077. The Negrito, who are genetically akin to Andamanese islanders and constitute a distinct stock, are the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, number somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people (<0.03 percent). The overwhelming majority of the population (95 percent) are made up of various ethnolinguistic groups descended from later Austronesian-speaking migrants who arrived in successive waves to the archipelago from Taiwan and admixed with other sporadic migrations from the Asian mainland (what is today southern China).

The majority of the people in the Philippines are of Austronesian descent who migrated from Formosa during the Iron Age. The largest of these groups are the Visayan, Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicolano, Moro, and the Kapampangan. About 8% of all Filipinos are tribal peoples. The most significant non-Austronesian group are the Chinese, who have played an important role in commerce since the 9th century when they first arrived in the Philippines for trade. Mestizos, those of part-non-Austronesian parentage, form a tiny but economically and politically important minority.

The indigenous people of the Philippines, called the Negritos, who are related to the Andamanese of the Andaman Islands, now constitute only 0.003% of the entire population. Other non-Austronesian groups include the Chinese, Japanese, Americans, Spaniards, Koreans, Indonesians, and Arabs. Filipinos of Indian descent are not included in this list (see Filipino mestizo and Cainta, Rizal). The country has a tiny Greek population consisting of no more than ten families in Metro Manila and a slightly larger community in Legazpi, the latter being descended from Greek sailors who settled in the city around a century ago. Various degrees of interracial marriage between ethnic groups have resulted in the formation of a new vibrant class of peoples, collectively known as Filipino mestizos. According to a Stanford University small-n study, only about 10% of all Filipinos have European genes, most probably Spanish. On the other hand, according to a recent survey, European expatriates number about 13,661, excluding Spaniards and Basques. About 40 Russian and 160 Ukrainian families live in Metro Manila. Most of the Ukrainians are specialists employed in the petrochemical industry.