Culture Edit

Main articles: Culture of the Philippines, Music of the Philippines, and Kulintang
The majority of the island's inhabitants are descendants of Indonesians,
Malaysians, Indians, Arabs, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Europeans and Americans.
[12]

An American census conducted in the early 1900s noted that the island was inhabited
by people "greatly divided in origin, temperament and religion".[13] Evidence of
the island's cultural diversity can be seen in the buildings and ruins of old
Spanish settlements in the northwestern peninsula that span eastwards to the
southern gulf coast, the site of the ancient Rajahnate of Butuan in the northeast
region (Caraga), the Sultanates in the southwest (Sultanate of Sulu, Sultanate of
Lanao, Sultanate of Maguindanao), a number of Buddhist and Taoist temples, and the
numerous indigenous tribes.

Today around 25.8 percent of the household population in Mindanao classified

themselves as Cebuanos. Other ethnic groups included Bisaya/Binisaya (18.4%),
Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (8.2%), Maguindanaon (5.5%), and Maranao (5.4%). The remaining
36.6 percent belonged to other ethnic groups. Cebuano registered the highest
proportion of ethnic group in Northern Mindanao and Davao Region with 35.59 percent
and 37.76 percent, respectively. In SOCCSKSARGEN, it was Hiligaynon/Ilonggo
(31.58%), Binisaya/Bisaya (33.10%) in Zamboanga Peninsula, Maranao (26.40%) in
ARMM, and Surigaonon (25.67%) in Caraga.[4]