The Philippines were under Spanish rule from the mid 1500's until late 1800's, and Spanish language was official in the country until 1973. After this time period, the decline of Spanish has been significant, although there's been a slight resurgence in public education. Standard Spanish is less spoken nowadays, but "Chavacano/Chabacano" is spoken by nearly a million in certain areas of the Philippines. A similar occurrence occurred in the islands of Guam and Northern Mariana territory. Spanish-speaking customs and traditions, as well as dialects and pronunciation can vary greatly from one region to the next.