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PHILIPPINES > FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTRY
HISTORY
Situated in such a strategic position on the crossroads of Asia, the Philippines
have attracted adventurers and traders for hundreds of years. The discovery
of the Philippines in 1521 by Ferdinand Magellan from Spain brought about the
growth of Christianity and the beginning of a new culture. Permanent Spanish
colonization began in 1565. By 1571 the entire country, except for the strictly
Islamic Sulu archipelago, was under Spanish control after Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
established a Spanish base in the Manila. In 1898, the Philippines won independence
after 327 years under Spanish rule. However, they were under American control
from 1900 until 1942 after the Americans purchased the islands from the Spanish
for US$20 million, bringing over their educational and legal systems and introducing
their style of government. Japan invaded the Philippines in 1942, but at the
end of the Japanese occupation in 1946, the Philippines regained democracy as
a Republic. Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965, declared martial
law in 1972 and ruled as a dictator until 1986 when the "People Power Revolution"
in 1986 led to his downfall and resulted in Marcos fleeing the country. Still
one of the strongest democracies in Asia, the current president is Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo.
GEOGRAPHY
The Philippines lie in the heart of Southeast Asia, stretching more than 1,840
kilometers and composed of 7,107 islands, only two thousand of which are inhabited.
The South China Sea lies to the west, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong lie to the
north, and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are to the west. Eastern Malaysia
and Brunei are to the southwest, and Indonesia lies to the south. Luzon and
Mindanao are the largest islands and make up approximately two-thirds of the
total area of the country. Over 80% of the islands are less than one square
kilometer in size and over one third of them haven’t been named. There
are thirty seven volcanoes in the Philippine archipelago, and frequent volcanic
activity and earth tremors. The highest peak is Mt Apo (2954m) in Mindanao.
The country is subject to typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods.
CLIMATE
The Philippines are hot and humid all the year round and the average annual
temperature is 32 degrees C. The dry season is between January and June, and
the rainy season is between July and December. Hot summer is from March to June
and the wettest months are normally July to October. November to February is
relatively dry and cool, with temperatures ranging between 23 and 28 degrees
C. In mountainous regions, the temperature dips to about 15 degrees C. The best
time to visit is between December and May. However, temperatures in Manila reach
40 degrees C in May, so this is not a good month to visit the capital.
ECOLOGY
Current environmental issues in the Philippines are uncontrolled deforestation
in watershed areas; soil erosion; air and water pollution in Manila, and increasing
pollution of the coastal mangrove swamps, which are important fish breeding
grounds.
FLORA AND FAUNA
About one third of the country is still forested, despite uncontrolled tree
felling. There are more than one thousand species of birds and animals, in particular
wild dwarf buffalo, mouse deer, crocodiles and pythons. There are over ten thousand
species of tree, shrub and fern. The most common of these are palms and bamboos.
TOURISM
The Philippines attract 1.2 million visitors per year
ECONOMY
The Philippine economy is primarily a mixture of agriculture and light industry.
The government has promised to continue its reforms to enable the country to
match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East
Asia. This will include improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system
to strengthen government revenues, moving toward further privatization of the
economy, and increasing trade within the region. Natural resources of the Philippines
include timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper
POPULATION AND PEOPLE
The term Filipino originally meant a person of Spanish descent born in the Philippines;
Filipino now applies to the Christianized Malays who make up most of the Philippine
population.
Population: 74,480,848 (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.18% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 29.51-births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 65.91 years, male: 63.14 years,
female: 68.83 years (1996 est.)
ARTS
Traditional theatre, literature and love songs, known as kundimans, in the national
language have experienced a recent revival in popularity. But tourists are more
likely to be provided with entertainment in the form of beauty contests and
local cover bands.
SOCIETY AND CONDUCT
Filipinos are generally very warm and hospitable people. If you ask them for
directions they may respond by pursing their lips, raising their eyebrows slightly
and pointing in the general direction you want to go by using either their lips
or chin. Sometimes, instead of saying "yes," they just raise their
eyebrows briefly. Tipping is expected for bellhops, waiters, taxi drivers, hairdressers
and porters. Most hotels and restaurants add 10% service charge.
RELIGION
The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia, with 83% Roman Catholic,
9% Protestant, 5% Muslim and 3% Buddhist or other. The Muslims live mainly in
Mindanao and in the Sulu archipelago. There is also a Philippine Independence
Church and a small number of animists.
LANGUAGE
The official language of the Philippines is Filipino; based on the Tagalog dialect
but with linguistic elements of other Philippine languages. Tagalog is indigenous
to the people of Manila and central Luzon. In total, the Philippines has over
seventy native dialects spoken by more than one hundred ethno-linguistic groups.
Ten of these are considered important and the major ones are Cebuano, spoken
in Cebu and many parts of Mindanao; Ilonggo, spoken in Panay and Negros; and
Bicol, spoken in southern Luzon. English is widely used in education, government,
and business, especially in Manila and the major cities.
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