the first language of a quarter of the population of the Philippines (particularly in Central and Southern Luzon) and the second language for the majority. Extent of use In the Philippines According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, as of 2014, there were 100 million people living in the Philippines, where the vast majority have some basic level of understanding of the language. The Tagalog homeland, Katagalugan, covers roughly much of the central to southern parts of the island of Luzon—particularly in Aurora, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, and Rizal. Tagalog is also spoken natively by inhabitants living on the islands of Marinduque and Mindoro, as well as Palawan to a lesser extent. Significant minorities are found in the other Central Luzon provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac, Ambos Camarines in Bicol Region, and the Cordillera city of Baguio. Tagalog is also the predominant language of Cotabato City in Mindanao, making it the only place outside of Luzon with a native Tagalog-speaking majority. At the 2000 Philippines Census, it is spoken by approximately 57.3 million Filipinos, 96% of the household population who were able to attend school; slightly over 22 million, or 28% of the total Philippine population, speak it as a native language. The following regions and provinces of the Philippines are majority Tagalog-speaking (from north to south): Central Luzon Region Aurora Bataan Bulacan Nueva Ecija Zambales Metro Manila (National Capital Region) Southern Luzon (Calabarzon and Mimaropa) Batangas Cavite Laguna Rizal Quezon Marinduque Occidental Mindoro Oriental Mindoro Romblon (This is one the few provinces in Southern Tagalog area wherein Tagalog is not the majority native language; instead, the majority native languages belong to Visayan group.) Palawan (Historically, Palawan was a non-Tagalog-speaking province; due to waves of cross-migration from various regions, Tagalog is now one of the main spoken languages in Palawan alongside Palawanic and Visayan groups.) Bicol Region (While the Bikol languages have traditionally been the majority languages in the following provinces, heavy Tagalog influence and migration has resulted in its significant presence in these provinces and in many communities, Tagalog is now the majority language.) Camarines Norte Camarines Sur Bangsamoro Maguindanao (While Maguindanao has traditionally been the majority language of the province, Tagalog is now the main language of "mother tongue" primary education in the province and is the majority language in the regional center of Cotabato City, and is the lingua franca of Bangsamoro.)