Languages

The Philippines' national language, Tagalog, is also one of the nation's two official languages. The Philippines, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, has a population of about 100 million, and roughly a quarter speak Tagalog as their native tongue. Most Tagalog-speaking Filipinos are in the National Capital Region and in Central and Southern Luzon. And although Filipinos who live in other parts of the country have their own local or regional language, a large percentage understand Tagalog at least at a basic level or are conversant in it. Tagalog is part of the Austronesian linguistic group along with other languages such as Malaysian and Indonesian Malay, Javanese, and Malagasy.