The Philippines is an island country in Southeast Asia in the Pacific Ocean. It has 7,641 islands. Spain (1521-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), colonized (controlled) the country and Palau, which is on the eastern side of the Philippine Sea. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila.

The Philippines and East Timor are the only nations in East Asia where most people are Christians. The Philippines achieved independence after the United States left in 1946.

The Philippine Islands are surrounded on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the west by the South China Sea, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. Borneo island is a few hundred kilometers to the southwest, Vietnam is to the west, and Taiwan is directly north.

Politics 
The government of the Philippines, is similar to the Government of the United States of America. The President of the Philippines works as the head of state, the head of government, and the commander in chief of the Military of the Philippines and the armed forces. The president is elected by voting just as in America except by popular vote as there is no electoral voting. He stays as the president for 6 years. He is the leader of the cabinet.

The bicameral Philippine legislature, the Congress of the Philippines, consists of the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives of the Philippines; members of both are elected by popular vote. There are 24 senators serving 6 years in the Senate while the House of Representatives consists of no more than 250 congressmen each serving 3-year terms.

The judiciary branch of the government is headed by the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which has a Chief Justice as its head and 14 Associate Justices, all appointed by the president.

The Philippines is a founding and prominent member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is also an active participant of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a member of the Group of 24 and one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations on October 24, 1945.

Regions and States 
Local Government. The parts of Philippines are "local government units" (LGUs). The province is the top unit. There are 79 provinces in the country (2002). In the provinces there are cities and municipalities (towns). In these municipalities there are smaller barangays (villages). The barangay is the smallest local government unit.

All provinces are in 17 regions for administration (organisation). Most government offices have regional offices for the provinces. The regions do not have a separate local government, except for the Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera regions, which have their own power (autonomous government).

Regions 

¹ Names are capitalized because they are acronyms, containing the names of the constituent provinces or cities.

Geography 
The Philippines has 7,701 islands. Together there are about 300,000 square kilometers of land. The islands are in three groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon is the largest island and Mindanao is the second largest. The Visayas are the group of islands in the central part of the Philippines. The busy port of Manila, on Luzon, is the country's capital and it is the second-largest city after Quezon City. Cebu City and Davao City are the largest cities in Visayas and Mindanao, respectively.

The climate is hot, humid (there is a lot of water in the air), and tropical. The average temperature all year is around 26.5 °Celsius. Filipinos usually say there are three seasons: Tag-init or Tag-araw (the hot season or summer from March to May), Tag-ulan (the rainy season from June to November), and Tag-lamig (the cold season from December to February).

The Philippines is in the Pacific Ring of Fire (zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). Most of the mountainous islands had a lot of tropical rainforests a long time ago. They started as volcanoes. The highest place is Mount Apo on Mindanao at 2,954 m. Many volcanoes in the country, for example Mount Mayon, are active. The country also has about 19 typhoons per year.

Taal Volcano is an island in Taal Lake. It is in an ancient caldera in Batangas Province. It is about 2 hours by bus going south from Manila. The jump-off point in Talisay is suitable for day trips and overnighters.

Problems 
There are many environmental problems in the Philippines. One of them is overfishing in many areas, which lead to pitiful catches. Another problem is that only ten percent of sewage is treated and cleaned, while the other 90% is dumped back to nature and the ocean, which leads to pollution. Deforestation is a serious problem, and after decades of cutting down forests, illegal logging and forest fires, there is only 3% left of original forest cover. Forest losses have also affected the Philippines with serious soil erosion, which is threatening the Philippines biodiversity.

Economy 
The Philippines is a developing country. In 1998 the Philippine economy — a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and support services — deteriorated because of the effects of the Asian financial crisis and poor weather conditions. The economy's growth fell to 0.6% in 1998 from 5% in 1997, but recovered to about 3% in 1999 and 4% in 2000. As of 2012, it's estimated at 6.6%.

The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of Southeast Asia. The strategies are improving infrastructure, fixing the tax system to help the government income, supporting deregulation (to remove government control) and privatization of the economy, and increasing trade within the region. Future prospects depend heavily on the economic performance of the three major trading partners, China, the United States and Japan.

People 
Around 109,6 million people live in the Philippines as of 2020. Most people in the Philippines are of Austronesian stock. The ethnic Chinese, who have helped run businesses since the 9th century, also live in the country. Its now 105 million people there. The Negritos live in the mountains of Luzon and Visayas. Luzon has a lot of mestizo people, a Spanish term for someone of mixed Hispanic and native blood.

The people of the Philippines are known as Filipinos. Filipinos are divided into many groups, the three largest are the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, and the Ilocanos. When the Philippines was a colony, the term "Filipino" used to mean the Spanish and Spanish-mixed minority. But now everyone who is a citizen/national of the Philippines is called "Filipino". Even then, it is still has the most diverse ethnic groups in Asia, the other being Indonesia. People also call Filipinos "Pinoy" for short.

Languages 
Filipino and English are the official languages. Filipino is based largely on Tagalog, a native language spoken in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. The Filipino language, is a cousin of the Malay language. Other local languages and dialects are Cebuano and Ilocano and many others. English is used in government, schools and business. Other languages are Chinese which is spoken by the ethnic Chinese population and the Chinese-Filipinos. Most of the Muslims living deep in southern Mindanao and the smaller islands off of the southern Philippine mainland near Malaysia's northeastern tip. They also speak Arabic as a second language but to a very small extent. Spanish, once the official language of the Philippines in the 1970s is also spoken by a notable minority of Filipinos.

Culture 
Before the Spanish arrived, the Filipinos did not think of themselves as one culture. Most of the Philippines were Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu. The Spaniards came in 1565, and brought with them Spanish culture. They soon spread to the islands making forts and schools, preaching Christianity, and converting most of the native people to the Catholic religion. When the United States colonized the islands in 1898, the Americans brought with them their own culture, which has the strongest influence up to now. This makes the Philippines the most Westernized country in eastern Asia. The Spanish culture in the Philippines though, is not directly from Spain but from Mexico, since the Philippines was ruled by Spain, through Mexico. It was governed from Mexico City which explains much of the Spanish influence in the Philippines that one could only find in Mexico and not in Spain. Also, the Spanish that was spoken in the Philippines was Mexican Spanish, not European Spanish. A lot of the foods in the Philippines can also be found in Mexico. Filipinos, as a tradition, usually eat with hands, like that of Malay tradition. And most of Filipino cuisine is also of Malay influence for the most part.

Each year major festivities called barrio fiestas are held. They commemorate the Patron saints of the towns, villages and regional districts. The festivities includes church services, street parades, fireworks displays, feasts, dance/music contests, and cockfights. Circumcision of males is a tradition and a big cultureal event, nearly 91,7% are circumcised.

Religion 
Most of the people in the Philippines are Christians. About 92% of the people are Christians. Most people in the Philippines belong to the Roman Catholic faith (70%). A sizable percentage of the people are Protestants (many diverse Christian denominations) (17%), Iglesia ni Cristo (2%), Muslims (5-10%), Buddhists (2%). There are also some Hindus and some other minor religions with fewer adherents (6.6%).

Further reading 

 Philippines on English Wikipedia

Related pages
List of rivers of the Philippines
Philippines at the Olympics
Philippines national football team

References 

 Open Directory Project

Other websites 
 Government Portal
 Office of the President 
 Senate of the Philippines
 House of Representatives 
 Supreme Court of the Philippines 

 
1946 establishments in Asia