Igorot people in the context of "Philippine languages"

The Ilocos Region (Ilocano: Rehion/Deppaar ti Ilocos; Pangasinan: Rehiyon na Ilocos; Tagalog: Rehiyon ng Ilocos), designated as Region I, is an administrative region of the Philippines. Located in the northwestern section of Luzon, it is bordered by the Cordillera Administrative Region to the east, the Cagayan Valley to the northeast and southeast, Central Luzon to the south, and the South China Sea to the west. The region comprises four provinces: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan, along with one independent-component city, Dagupan City. The regional center is the city of San Fernando in La Union, which serves as the administrative hub of the region. The largest settlement in terms of population is San Carlos City in Pangasinan.

The 2020 Philippine Statistics Authority census reported that the ethnolinguistic group composition of the region is predominantly made up of Ilocanos (58.3%), followed by Pangasinans (29.7%), Tagalogs (4.1%), and various Cordilleran (Igorot) indigenous groups.

Iloco (also Ilóko, Ilúko, Ilocáno or Ilokáno; /iːloʊˈkɑːnoʊ/; Iloco: Pagsasaó nga Ilóko) is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in the Philippines by the Ilocano people. It is one of the eight major languages of the Philippines with about 11 million speakers and ranks as the third most widely spoken native language. Iloco serves as a regional lingua franca and second language among Filipinos in Northern Luzon, particularly among the Cordilleran (Igorot) ethnolinguistic groups, as well as in parts of Cagayan Valley and some areas of Central Luzon.

As an Austronesian language, Iloco or Ilocano shares linguistic ties with other Philippine languages and is related to languages such as Indonesian, Malay, Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan, and Malagasy. It is closely related to other Northern Luzon languages and exhibits a degree of mutual intelligibility with Balangao language and certain eastern dialects of Bontoc language. Iloco is also spoken outside of Luzon, including in Mindoro, Palawan, Mindanao, and internationally in Canada, Hawaii and California in the United States, owing to the extensive Ilocano diaspora in the 19th and 20th centuries. About 85% of the Filipinos in Hawaii are Ilocano and the largest Asian ancestry group in Hawaii. In 2012, it was officially recognized as the provincial language of La Union, underscoring its cultural and linguistic significance.

The Banaue Rice Terraces (Filipino: Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banawe) [bɐˈnawe] are terraces that were carved into the mountains of Banaue, Ifugao, in the Philippines, by the ancestors of the Igorot people. The terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level. These are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces.

Locals up to this day still plant rice and vegetables on the terraces, although conservationists have begun arguing that these are no longer “real” rice terraces due to increasingly higher incidence of planting vegetables in lieu of rice. More and more younger Ifugaos do not find farming appealing, often opting for the more lucrative hospitality industry generated by the terraces. The result is the gradual erosion of the characteristic "steps", which require constant reconstruction and care. In 2010, a further problem encountered was drought, with the terraces drying up completely in March of that year.