Tausug language in the context of "Central Philippine languages"

The Sulu Sea (Filipino: Dagat Sulu; Tausug: Dagat sin Sūg; Malay: Laut Sulu; Spanish: Mar de Joló) is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.

The Sulu Sea contains a number of islands. The Cuyo Islands and the Cagayan Islands are part of the province of Palawan whereas Mapun and the Turtle Islands are part of the province of Tawi-Tawi. Sulu Sea is also where the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, one of the World Heritage Sites is located.

Jawi (جاوي‎; Acehnese: Jawoë; Malay: Jawi; Malay pronunciation: [d͡ʒä.wi]) is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese, Banjarese, Betawi, Iranun, Kutainese, Maguindanao, Malay, Mëranaw, Minangkabau, Tausūg, Ternate, and many other languages in Southeast Asia. Jawi is based on the Arabic script, consisting of all 31 original Arabic letters, six letters constructed to fit phonemes native to Malay, and one additional phoneme used in foreign loanwords, but not found in Classical Arabic, which are ca (⟨چ‎⟩ /t͡ʃ/), nga (⟨ڠ‎⟩ /ŋ/), pa (⟨ڤ‎⟩ /p/), ga (⟨ݢ‎⟩ /ɡ/), va (⟨ۏ‎⟩ /v/), and nya (⟨ڽ‎⟩ /ɲ/).

Jawi was developed during the advent of Islam in Maritime Southeast Asia, supplanting the earlier Brahmic scripts used during Hindu-Buddhist era. The oldest evidence of Jawi writing can be found on the 14th century Terengganu Inscription Stone, a text in Classical Malay that contains a mixture of Malay, Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies. However, the script may have used as early as the 9th century, when Peureulak Sultanate has been established by the son of a Persian preacher. There are two competing theories on the origins of the Jawi alphabet. Popular theory suggests that the system was developed and derived directly from the Arabic script, while scholars like R. O. Windstedt suggest it was developed with the influence of the Perso-Arabic alphabet.

The Sulu Archipelago (Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg; Sulat Sūg: كَفُوْءْفُوْأَنْ سِنْ سُوْݢْ‎; Filipino: Kapuluan ng Sulu) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Sea. The Sulu Archipelago islands are within the Mindanao island group, consisting of the Philippines provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; hence the archipelago is sometimes referred to as Basulta, derived from the first syllables of the three provinces.

The archipelago is not, as is often supposed, the remains of a land bridge between Borneo and the Philippines. Rather, it is the exposed edge of small submarine ridges produced by tectonic tilting of the sea bottom. Basilan, Jolo, Tawi-Tawi and other islands in the group are extinct volcanic cones rising from the southernmost ridge. Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost island of the group, has a serpentine basement-complex core with a limestone covering. This island chain is an important migration route for birds.

Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano: Ciudad de Zamboanga; Spanish: Ciudad de Zamboanga; Subanen: Bagbenwa Sembwangan; Sama: Lungsud Samboangan; Tausug: Daira sin Sambuwangan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Zamboanga; Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a highly urbanized city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region of the Philippines, with a total population of 3,943,837 inhabitants. It is third-largest city by land area in the Philippines, and is also the sixth-most populous city in the archipelago; additionally, it is the second most populous in Mindanao after Davao City. It is the commercial and industrial center of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region.

According to the 2024 census, the City of Zamboanga has a population of 1,018,894 people.

Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi (Tausug: Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi; Sinama: Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital of Tawi-Tawi is Bongao.

It is the southernmost province of the country, sharing sea borders with the Malaysian state of Sabah and the Indonesian North Kalimantan province, both on the island of Borneo to the west. To the northeast lies the province of Sulu. Tawi-Tawi also covers some islands in the Sulu Sea to the northwest, Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi Island and the Turtle Islands, just 20 kilometres (12 mi) away from Sabah.

The Sultanate of Sulu (Tausug: Kasultanan sin Sūg; Malay: Kesultanan Suluk; Filipino: Kasultanan ng Sulu or Sultanato ng Sulu) was a Sunni Muslim Tausūg state that ruled the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City, and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines, alongside parts of present-day Sabah and North Kalimantan in north-eastern Borneo.

The sultanate was founded either on 17 November 1405 or 1457 by Johore-born explorer and Sunni religious scholar Sharif ul-Hashim. Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim became his full regnal name; Sharif-ul Hashim is his abbreviated name. He settled in Buansa, Sulu. The sultanate gained its independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578.

Maimbung, officially the Municipality of Maimbung (Tausug: Kawman sin Maimbung; Tagalog: Bayan ng Maimbung), is a municipality in the province of Sulu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,597 people.

It was the seat of the Sultanate of Sulu.