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Cebuano people
Sugbuanon

Cebuano men who served as guards in the early 20th century during the American period.
Total population
8,683,525 (2020)
Regions with significant populations
Philippines (Central Visayas, Negros Oriental, Masbate, western parts of Eastern Visayas, large parts of Mindanao) Worldwide
Languages
Cebuano, Filipino, English
Religion
Christianity: Predominantly Roman Catholicism. Minority others: Aglipayan, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism
Related ethnic groups
Boholano, Ilonggo, Waray, other Visayans other Austronesian peoples

The Cebuano people (Cebuano: Mga Sugbuanon) are the largest subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Visayans, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the country. They originated in the province of Cebu in the region of Central Visayas, but then later spread out to other places in the Philippines, such as Siquijor, Bohol, Negros Oriental, southwestern Leyte, western Samar, Masbate, and large parts of Mindanao. It may also refer to the ethnic group who speak the same language as their native tongue in different parts of the archipelago. The term Cebuano also refers to the demonym of permanent residents in Cebu island regardless of ethnicity.

History

The earliest European record of Cebuanos was by Antonio Pigafetta of the Magellan expedition. He provided some descriptions of their customs as well as samples of the Cebuano language. Ferdinand Magellan was killed in Cebu during the Battle of Mactan against the forces of Lapulapu.

Later early Spanish colonists referred to the Cebuanos (and other Visayans) as the pintados ("the painted ones"), due to their widespread practice of tattooing to record battle exploits.

Culture and festivities

The majority of Cebuanos are Roman Catholic, with many in rural areas synchronizing Catholicism with indigenous Bisayan folk religion. A minority of Cebuanos (specifically those in Mindanao) are Muslim (due to their contact with the Moro people), or in mixed Chinese-Cebuano families, incorporate Catholic beliefs with aspects of Buddhism or Taoism. A recent genetic study found 10-20% of Cebuano ancestry is attributable to South Asian (Indian) descent, dated to a time when Precolonial Cebu practiced Hinduism. Meanwhile, according to Spanish era tribute-censuses, Spanish-Filipinos compose 2.17% of the Cebuano people's recorded population.

Among the island's notable festivities are the Sinulog festival, which is a mixture of Christian and native cultural elements, celebrated annually every third week of January.

Language

The Cebuano language is spoken by more than twenty million people in the Philippines and is the most widely spoken of the Visayan languages. Most speakers of Cebuano are found in Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, southeastern Masbate, Biliran, Western and Southern Leyte, eastern Negros and most of Mindanao except Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Like with other Filipino ethnolinguistic groups, Tagalog (Filipino) and English are also spoken by Cebuanos as second languages.

Despite being one of the largest ethnic groups, Cebuanos outside their homeland tend to fluently learn the languages native in areas where they settled and assimilated, along with their native language. Hiligaynon is spoken and understood by the Cebuanos living in Negros Occidental and Soccsksargen. They often speak a mixture of Cebuano and Hiligaynon in Sagay and neighboring municipalities of Negros Occidental facing Iloilo and Cebu and municipalities bordering Negros Oriental, Bukidnon and Davao del Sur. Cebuano residents in Zamboanga City and Caraga Region are fluent in Zamboanga Chavacano, Butuanon and Surigaonon respectively, with the two latter are related to Cebuano. They have also varying fluencies in various Lumad languages, the Danao languages, Tausug (linguistically related to Cebuano), Yakan, and Sama, in which these languages are native to the areas where Cebuanos also inhabit, coexist with and even assimilated to the natives, and to the lesser extent, Ilocano (a language originated in Ilocandia), which is also spoken in Soccsksargen and various parts of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Caraga, Zamboanga Sibugay and Davao Region. Cebuanos in Masbate and Eastern Visayas can also speak Masbateño, one of the Bicol languages and Waray in Masbate, Samar and eastern parts of Leyte.

See also

• Demographics of the Philippines
• Ethnic groups in the Philippines
• Cebu
• Cebuano language
• Rajahnate of Cebu
• Tagalog people
• Kapampangan people
• Ilocano people
• Ivatan people
• Igorot people
• Pangasinan people
• Bicolano people
• Negrito
• Visayan people
  • Aklanon people
  • Boholano people
  • Capiznon people
  • Cuyunon people
  • Eskaya people
  • Hiligaynon people
  • Karay-a people
  • Masbateño people
  • Porohanon people
  • Romblomanon people
  • Suludnon
  • Waray people
• Lumad
• Moro people

References

1. "Ethnicity in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
2. Donald F. Lach (1994). Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume I: The Century of Discovery. University of Chicago Press. pp. 175, 635–638. ISBN 9780226467320.
3. Sebastian Sta. Cruz Serag (1997). The Remnants of the Great Ilonggo Nation. Rex Bookstore, Inc. p. 95. ISBN 9789712321429.
4. Blair, Emma Helen (August 25, 2004). The Philippine Islands. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Volume II, 1521-1569, by Emma Helen Blair. p. 126, Volume II. .
5. ^ Paul A. Rodell (2002). Culture and Customs of the Philippines. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 50. ISBN 9780313304156.
6. "Culture and Lifestyle". Cebu Province official website. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
7. Delfin, F., Min-Shan Ko, A., Li, M., Gunnarsdóttir, E. D., Tabbada, K. A., Salvador, J. M., Calacal, G. C., Sagum, M. S., Datar, F. A., Padilla, S. G., De Ungria, M. C. A., & Stoneking, M. (2014). Complete mtDNA genomes of Filipino ethnolinguistic groups: a melting pot of recent and ancient lineages in the Asia-Pacific region. European Journal of Human Genetics, 22(2), 228–237.
8. Kuizon, Jose G. (1962). The Sanskrit loan-words in Cebuano-Bisayan language and the Indian elements to Cebuano-Bisayan culture (Thesis). University of San Carlos, Cebu. OCLC 3061923.
9. ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO SEGUNDO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)
10. "Cebu Philippines Festivals, Fiestas and Cultural Event". eTravel Pilipinas-Discover the Wonders of Island Paradise. Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2009-11-18.

• Visayan people
• Cebuano people