The people of the island complex that includes Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are ethnically similar, with most speaking closely related Malayo-Polynesian languages.
Among the major “families” listed by modern philologists are: Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afro-Asian, Japanese and Korean, Dravidian, Malayo-Polynesian, and Black African.
They are both founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, both countries are of Malayo-Polynesian stock, and both are important trading partners.
Among the major “families” listed by modern philologists are: Indo-European, Semitic, Hamitic, African Negro, Sino-Tibetan, Japanese and Korean, Uralic and Altaic, Dravidian and Malayo-Polynesian.
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian).
Who lives here? more than 95% Han Chinese (including Hoklo, who compose approximately 70% of Taiwan's population, Hakka, and other groups originating in mainland China), 2.3% indigenous Malayo-Polynesian peoples.