Austronesian · ISO 639-3 bcl
Central Bikol Language Bikol Sentral
Central Bikol is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2.5 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Central Bikol is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Central Bikol
Language family
- Austronesian
- Malayo-Polynesian
- Greater Central Philippine
- Central Philippine
- Bikol
- Coastal Bikol
- Central Bikol
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Central Bikol language
Central Bikol (Bikol Sentral) is spoken by about 2.5 million people, which makes it the 277th most spoken language in the world — just behind Batak Toba (2.5 million) and ahead of Beja (2.5 million). It belongs to the Austronesian language family and, more precisely, to the Coastal Bikol group within the Greater Central Philippine branch.
Where is Central Bikol spoken?
Central Bikol is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Philippines (2.5 million).
Central Bikol is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Central Bikol is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Filipino, Cebuano, Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Waray (Philippines), Tausug and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 bcl.
Frequently asked questions about Central Bikol
How many people speak Central Bikol?
Where is Central Bikol spoken?
What language family does Central Bikol belong to?
What is Central Bikol called in Central Bikol?
Is Central Bikol an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.