Waray people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3.2 million (4.05% of the Philippine population) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Philippines(Leyte, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, Biliran, eastern parts of Masbate, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, Sorsogon and Metro Manila) |
|
| Languages | |
| Languages of the Philippines (Waray-Waray, Cebuano, Filipino/Tagalog), English | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
|
Filipinos Visayans |
The Waray people are a subgroup of the Visayan people whose primary language is the Waray-Waray language (also called Lineyte-Samarnon), an Austronesian language native to the islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran, which together comprise the Eastern Visayas Region of the Philippines. Waray people inhabit the whole island of Samar where they are called Samareños/Samarnons, the northern part of the island of Leyte where they are called Leyteños, and the island of Biliran. On Leyte island, the Waray people occupy the northern part of the island, separated from the Cebuano language-speaking Leyteños by a mountain range in the middle of the island.
On the island of Biliran, Waray-Waray-speaking people live on the eastern part of the island facing the island of Samar; their Waray-Waray dialect is commonly referred to as Biliranon. On the island of Ticao, which belongs to the province of Masbate in the Bicol Region, Waray-Waray-speaking people live on most parts of the island; they are commonly referred to as Ticaonon. However, the Ticaonon have more affinity with the Masbateño-speaking people of Masbate, being their province-mates. The Bicolano language has more common vocabulary with the Waray-Waray language than with other Visayan languages (i.e. Cebuano or Ilonggo).
The Waray people form the majority of the population in the provinces of Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar while they form a significant population in Leyte and Sorsogon.
The Warays are descendants of the Austronesian-speaking immigrants who came to the Philippines during the Iron Age. In 1521, the Warays were the first Filipinos to be sighted by Europeans under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan. The Warays were among the first Filipinos converted to Christianity. Paradoxically, they are also among the last Filipino ethnicities to retain traditional pagan practices alongside their practice of Roman Catholicism. From the Spanish Colonization onwards, they have been considered the underdog of Filipino ethnicity.
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Wikipedia