The Gaddang are an indigenous people and a linguistically identified ethnic group residing for centuries in the Northern Luzon watershed of the Cagayan River and its tributaries.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 32,538[1] (2010) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Philippines:(Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region) | |
| Languages | |
| Gaddang, Ga'dang, Yogad, Cauayeno, Arta, Ilocano, English, Tagalog | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Predominantly Roman Catholic, with a minority of Protestants) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ibanag, Itawis, Ilokano, other Filipino people |
| Demographics of the Philippines |
|---|
 |
| Filipinos |
Gaddang speakers were recently reported to number as many as 30,000,[2] a number that does not include another 6,000 related Ga'dang speakers or any of several other small linguistic-groups whose vocabularies are determined to be more than 75% identical.[3]
These proximate groups, speaking mutually-intelligible but phonetically-varying dialects, include Gaddang, Ga'dang, Baliwon,[4] Cauayeno, Majukayong, Katalangan,[5] Itawit, and Yogad (as well as historically-documented tongues such as formerly spoken by the Irray of Tuguegarao). They are depicted in current cultural history and official literature as a single people. Distinctions are asserted between (a) Christian residents of the Isabela plains and Nueva Vizcaya valleys, and (b) formerly non-Christian residents in the nearby Cordillera mountains. Certain reporters exaggerate one or more of the cultural differences, while others may completely ignore or gloss them over.
The Gaddang are indigenous to a compact geographic area; the stage for their story is an area smaller than three-quarters of a million hectares (extreme distances: Bayombong to Ilagan=120 km, Echague to Natonin=70 km). The living population collectively comprises less than one-twentieth of one percent (.0005) of Philippines inhabitants, and share their one-quarter percent of that nation's land with Ifugao, Ilokano and others.
The Gaddang cultural-identity is determined by their language[6] and to a lesser degree was shaped by their location. As a people, Gaddang have no record of expansionism, they created no unique religion or set of beliefs, nor produced any notable government. However, they have historically implemented social mechanisms to incorporate as full members of their communities individuals born to linguistically-different peoples.
- ^ 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A: Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables), Philippines (PDF) (Report). National Statistics Office. 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ "Gaddang". Ethnologue. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Ga'dang". Ethnologue. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ "Ga'dang, Baliwon in Philippines". Joshua Project. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ Kalinga - Katalangan wordlists, sil.org
- ^ Ottenheimer, Harriet (2009). The anthropology of language : an introduction to linguistic anthropology (2 ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-0-495-50884-7. OCLC 216940204.
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