Language
There are 175 estimated languages spoken in the Philippines. Almost all are classified as Malayo-Polynesian languages. Among those languages, there are 13 indigenous languages with nearly 1 million speakers.
For more than three centuries Spanish was the official language under Spain's colonial rule. It was spoken by 60% of the population as either a first, second or third language in the early 20th century. However, the use of Spanish began to decline after the United States occupation in the early 1900's. In 1935 the Constitution of the Philippines named English and Spanish the official languages. In 1939 the Tagalog language was named the national language. The language was renamed "Pilipino" in 1959 and finally "Filipino" in 1973. The present Constitution names Filipino and English as joint official languages.