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another main ethnic family was the *MALAYS (people from the Malay Peninsula and people from the nearby islands). They spoke languages from the *AUSTRONESIAN (languages spoken by people as far west as Madagascar and as far east as the pacific islands). In the region of the Philippines people believed in ancestor worship and shamanism ( the belief that there are some people who can communicate with spirits). -
During antiquity, the Philippine region was populated with many different ethnicities who spoke almost 150 languages and believed in different ancient religious practices. One main ancient ethnic family was the *NEGRITOS ( Dark skinned people who look like they are from Africa ),
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In the 1500s the Spanish were making the first circumnavigation of the globe. They wanted to turn the Philippines into a base so they could expand farther. The Spanish also wanted to convert the *indigenous people to Christianity. The Spanish also brought the language Spanish with them. People in the Philippines had to learn Spanish so that they could communicate with the Spanish people. -
The US took the Philippines from Spain in 1898 when they won the Spanish-American War. The US brought the English language to the Philippines. They also shaped the government, economy, and culture of the Philippines. -
Today, there are many different ethnicities and languages spoken in the Philippines, however most of the people in the Philippines are *Christian. The main ethnic groups today are Tagalog and Cebuano. Some minority groups are the Chinese, Indians, Spanish and many more. There are two official languages being Filipino and English. There are many other dialects with the main ones being Tagalog and Cebuano. In the Philippines, 96.4% are Christian, with only about 4.6% of people being Muslim.