Arabs in the Philippines
mga Arabo | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| Estimated 2% of population have partial Arab ancestry | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mindanao · Metro Manila · Visayas | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic · Filipino · Philippine English · other languages of the Philippines | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam · Greek Orthodox Christianity · Catholicism · Others | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arab diaspora |
Arab traders have been visiting the Philippines for about 2,000 years, playing a prominent role in the trade networks of the time. They used Southeast Asia for stopovers and trading posts. Since the 14th century, Arab travelers such as Makhdun Karim are known to have reached the Philippines and brought Islam to the region. They moved from the southern islands such as Mindanao and traveled towards the north and converted the Filipinos to Islam, many of these early Arabs married Filipina women.
That same century Syrian Arabs also brought Christianity to the region along with pre-Islamic belief systems. An estimated 2% of the population of the Philippines, about 2.2 million people, could claim partial Arab ancestry.