page_title: Philippines
section_title: Colonial rule (1565–1946)
hierarchical_section_title: Philippines / History / Colonial rule (1565–1946)
caption_attribution_description: Spanish artillery located on the Intramuros in Manila.
context_page_description: The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both within the single urban area of Metro Manila. Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.
  The Philippines' position as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the country prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The country has a variety of natural resources and a globally significant level of biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of around 300,000 km², which supports a population of at least 100 million.
context_section_description: In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the area, claimed the islands for Spain, and was then killed at the Battle of Mactan. Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565, establishing control of Cebu, Panay, and Luzon. The Spaniards established Manila, at what is now Intramuros, as the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571. The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of the Reconquista.
  Spanish rule brought what is now the Philippines into a single unified administration. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as part of the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain, and then was administered directly from Madrid following the Mexican War of Independence. Manila galleons were constructed in Bicol and Cavite. Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade.
  Under Spanish rule, Catholic missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity. They also founded schools, a university, hospitals, and churches. To defend their settlements, the Spaniards constructed and manned a network of military fortresses across the archipelago. The Spanish also decreed the introduction of free public schooling in 1863. Slavery was also abolished. As a result of these policies the Philippine population increased exponentially.
  During its rule, Spain quelled various indigenous revolts, as well as defending against external military challenges. The Philippines was expensive during Spanish rule. War against the Dutch from the West, in the 17th century, together with conflict with the Muslims in the South and combating Japanese-Chinese Wokou piracy from the North nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury. There was a high desertion rate among the Latino soldiers sent from Mexico and Peru, and also to Filipino warriors and laborers levied by Spain, this was due to repeated wars, lack of wages, dislocation and near starvation. Immigration blurred the racial caste system Spain maintained in towns and cities. Increasing difficulty in governing the Philippines led to the Royal Fiscal of Manila writing to King Charles III of Spain, advising him to abandon the colony. However, this was successfully opposed by the religious and missionary orders that argued that the Philippines was a launching pad for further religious conversion in the Far East.
  The Philippines survived on an annual subsidy provided by the Spanish Crown, usually paid through the provision of 75 tons of silver bullion being sent from the Americas. Financial constraints meant the 200-year-old fortifications in Manila did not see significant change after being first built by the early Spanish colonizers. British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 during the Seven Years' War, however they were unable to extend their conquest outside of Manila as the Filipinos stayed loyal to the remaining Spanish community outside Manila. Spanish rule was restored through the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and the Moro Muslims in the Sultanate of Sulu formally recognized Spanish sovereignty.
  In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Filipino society. Many Spaniards born in the Philippines and those of mixed ancestry were wealthy, and an influx of Hispanic American immigrants opened up government positions traditionally held by Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula. However, ideas of rebellion and independence began to spread through the islands. Many Latin-Americans and Criollos staffed the Spanish army in the Philippines. However, the onset of the Latin American wars of independence led to doubts about their loyalty. This was compounded by a Mexican of Filipino descent, Isidoro Montes de Oca, becoming captain-general to the revolutionary leader Vicente Guerrero during the Mexican War of Independence. To prevent the union of both Latinos and Filipinos in rebellion against the empire,
caption: Spanish artillery along the walls of Intramuros to protect the city from local revolts and foreign invaders.
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