The Boholano people, also called Bol-anon, refers to the people who live in the island province of

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

. They are considered part of the larger

Cebuano people The Cebuano people () are the largest subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Visayans, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the country. They originated in the province of Cebu in the region of Central Visayas, ...

people who in turn are part of the wider Visayan ethnolinguistic group, who constitute the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group.

Language

Boholano is a dialect of Cebuano that is spoken on the island of

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, which is a Visayan speech variety, although it is sometimes described as a separate

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

by some linguists and native speakers. Boholano, especially the dialects used in Central Bohol, can be distinguished from other Cebuano dialects by a few

phonetic change In historical linguistics, a sound change is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...

s. The "y" sound in Cebuano becomes "j" ("iya" in Cebuano becomes "ija"), the "k" sound sometimes becomes "h" ("ako" in Cebuano becomes "aho"), the "l" sound sometimes if it is used in the second or following syllable becomes "w" ("kulang" in Cebuano becomes "kuwang"). The dialects used in the coastal areas of Bohol though, including Tagbilaran City, are almost indistinguishable from other Cebuano-speaking areas. Since Boholanos are a different ethnolinguistic group from

Cebuanos The Cebuano people () are the largest subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Visayans, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the country. They originated in the province of Cebu in the region of Central Visayas, bu ...

, the Boholano dialect is sometimes considered as a separate language from Cebuano.

Demographics

There were 2,278,495 of them in 2010. They are mainly concentrated in

although some also live in Southern Leyte and Mindanao (mainly in the northeastern portion). The majority of the population is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

adherents or other Christian denominations. Others practices traditional indigenous religions.

Boholano delicacies

The Boholano culture is much like the culture of the Philippines (specifically of the Visayas). It is based on the majority population of Austronesian peoples on the island. There are influences from indigenous Melanesian people such as the

Eskaya The Eskaya, less commonly known as the Visayan-Eskaya, is the collective name for the members of a cultural minority found in Bohol, Philippines, which is distinguished by its cultural heritage, particularly its literature, language, dress and ...

tribe, and from the colonizing Spanish and trade with Mexico. There is also influence in the culture from China and other Asian countries.

History

The people of Bohol are said to be the descendants of the last group of inhabitants who settled in the Philippines called ''pintados'' or “tattooed ones.” Boholanos already have a culture of their own as evidenced by the artifacts dug at Mansasa, Tagbilaran City, and in Dauis and Panglao.

is derived from the native word Bo-ol. The island was the seat of the first international treaty of peace and unity between the native king

Datu Sikatuna Datu Sikatuna (or ''Catunao'') was a Datu or chieftain of Bo-ol in the island of Bohol in the Philippines. He made a blood compact ('' sanduguan'') and alliance with the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi on March 25, 1565 at Hinawanan Ba ...

, and Spanish conquistador,

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippines, Philippine islan ...

, on March 16, 1565, through a blood compact alliance known today by many Filipinos as the

Sandugo The Legazpi-Sikatuna Blood Compact, or ''Sandugo'' ( Spanish: ''Pacto de Sangre''), was a blood compact, performed on the island of Bohol in the Philippines, between the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna, chieftain of ...

.A Short History of Bohol (Part 1)
www.bohol.ph Retrieved November 15, 2006.

Religion

Most Boholanos are Catholic, with a minority professing Protestant faith. The former indigenous Boholano religion was animistic .

References

External links

The Boholano Language

BisayaExpats.com - Bisaya Expat Forum
{{Ethnic groups in the Philippines