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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ilocano is a sister language spoken by about ten million people. It's homeland is in Northwest Luzon (the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, and La Union), but Ilocanos have populated many regions of the Philippines such as the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Benguet due to migration of Ilocanos.

Because of the importance of Ilocano in Northern Luzon, it has been called the "National Language of the North." Many groups from these regions are more comfortable in their second language, Ilocano, than the national language of the country, Tagalog.

The provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur are known to speak the purest form of the language as they are the original ilocano speaking areas. Provinces of La Union and Pangasinan speakheavily speak ilocano however there are slight difference but in their southern dialect.

The Philippines has over ninety languages spoken in the country, but only seven are considered important and have an extensive written literature and history. These are Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano (Iloko), Hiligaynon (Ilongo), Bikol, Waray Waray (Samar-Leyte Bisaya), Pampango (Kapampangan), and Pangasinan.