The eight rays of the large sun represents the eight provinces that led the revolt against Spanish rule in 1898. The three smaller stars stand for the three main island groups. Republic of the Philippines is a republic in the western Pacific Ocean, made up of the Philippine Islands and forming in physical geography a part of the Malay Archipelago . The republic is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the south by the Celebes Sea, and on the west by the South China Sea . These islands are Luzon , Mindanao , Samar , Negros , Palawan , Panay , Mindoro , Leyte , Cebu , Bohol, and Masbate .
Manila is the capital and largest city of the Philippines.
From June to October the Philippine Islands are sometimes struck by typhoons, which occasionally cause great damage. The term Filipino originally denoted a person of Spanish descent born in the Philippines and was comparable to the term Creole in the Spanish-American colonies. Since the 19th century it has been used to refer to the Christianized Malays who constitute the bulk of the Philippine population. The aboriginal inhabitants of the archipelago were pygmy Negritos. The present Filipinos, principally descendants of the Malay invaders, are divided mainly according to language and religion.