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The Moro people are a population of indigenous Muslims in the Philippines, forming the largest non-Christian group in the country, and comprising about 5% of the total Philippine population.<br/><br/> There are ten Moro ethnic groups, although other smaller tribes are also called 'Moro', as the majority of their populations are also Muslims. The term came into use during the colonial period, when the Spaniards used the term Moros (Moors) to describe Muslim natives.<br/><br/> The Moro people mostly live in Mindanao and other parts of the southern Philippines. Due to continuous movement of peoples from before the 16th century until the modern day, Moro communities are found in all large cities in the Philippines such as Manila, Cebu and Davao City. In the last half of the 20th century, many Moros have immigrated to Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Newer communities are found in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Semporna, Sabah (once part of the Sultanate of Sulu), as well as in Brunei.
Moro's reign was marked by the beginning of a long war between Venice and the Turks. In 1463 Pope Pius II sent Moro a consecrated sword with the intention of convincing Venice to join the anti-Turk alliance. The reaction in Venice was initially hesitant as the Republic's main priority was their economic interests.<br/><br/> In April 1463, 10 years after the conquest of Constantinople, Turkish troops occupied the Venetian fortress of Argos in Greece. The Latin Patriarch Cardinal Johannes Bessarion traveled to Venice to call on the Republic to join the 'defense of the faith'; ie join the war against the Turks. That same year a coalition was formed between Venice, Hungary and the Albanian prince Skanderbeg with the blessing of the Pope to counter the threat of Sultan Mehmed II's aggressive policy of conquest. The coalition succeeded in temporarily halting Turkish expansion, however the new territorial limits acquired by the Turks in their conquests had by and large accepted.<br/><br/> In 1469 the Venetian fleet commander Niccolò Canal retook the town of Ainos in Thrace, but he was not able to defend the island of Negroponte (Euboea), a major granary of Venice, from Turkish attack. Euboea was conquered by the Sultan while inflicting enormous losses on the Venetian forces.