Austronesian · ISO 639-3 tgl · tl
Tagalog Language Filipino
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken by about 24 million people in 2 countries. It is written in the Latin and Tagalog scripts.
Where Tagalog is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Tagalog
Language family
- Austronesian
- Malayo-Polynesian
- Greater Central Philippine
- Central Philippine
- Tagalogic
- Tagalog-Filipino
- Tagalog
Writing system
Latin and Tagalog scripts
Related languages
About the Tagalog language
Tagalog (Filipino) is spoken by about 24 million people, which makes it the 68th most spoken language in the world — just behind Gan Chinese (24 million) and ahead of Marwari (India) (22 million). It belongs to the Austronesian language family and, more precisely, to the Tagalog-Filipino group within the Greater Central Philippine branch.
Where is Tagalog spoken?
Tagalog is used in 2 countries. The largest communities live in Philippines (87 million) and Christmas Island (16). More than half of the population speaks it in Philippines — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Tagalog: Philippines 74% (87 million) and Christmas Island 1% (16).
Tagalog is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Tagalog is written in the Latin and Tagalog scripts. 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, Hiligaynon, Waray (Philippines), Central Bikol, Tausug and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 tl, ISO 639-3 tgl.
Frequently asked questions about Tagalog
How many people speak Tagalog?
Where is Tagalog spoken?
What language family does Tagalog belong to?
What is Tagalog called in Tagalog?
Is Tagalog 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.