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Information About Philippines

Info taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

General Facts

Consists of 7,107 islands. It was colonized by Spain and the United States who largely influences the Philippine culture today. It is a unique blend of East-West culture and the only Christian nation in Asia. It's capital is Manila where major government offices is located although major business centers were in Makati.

It is bordered on the east by the Philippine Sea, on the west by the South China Sea, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. The island of Borneo lies a few hundred kilometers to the southwest and Taiwan directly north. The Moluccas and Celebes are farther south and on the eastern side of the Philippine Sea is Palau.

Population: 81,159,644.

Languages: Pilipino (Tagalog), English, regional languages (Ilocano, Waray, Kapangpangan, Chabacano and others).

Predominant Religions: Christian (Roman Catholic, Iglesia ni Kristo - a local faith based on Catholicism), Islamic.

Weather and Climate:

The best time to visit is November-March, when temperatures are cool and pleasant (it's always 15 degrees F/7 degrees C cooler in the mountain areas). April and May are very hot and humid. Avoid the rainy season, June-September, as roads are often damaged by flooding.

History

Human fossil records indicate that the Philippines has been inhabited for thousands of years. Its aboriginal population, collectively known as the Negritos or Aetas, crossed prehistoric land or ice bridges to eventually settle in the islands' lush forests. Successive waves of migrants from the Malay and Indonesian archipelagoes, and from Indochina and Taiwan, began to pour in around the turn of the first millenium, pushing the aboriginal population into the interior or absorbing them through intermarriage.

Chinese merchants arrived in the 8th century and the rise of powerful Buddhist kingdoms precipitated trade with the Indonesian archipelago, India, Japan and Southeast Asia. The spread of Islam through conquest and proselytism, much like Christianity, brought traders and missionaries into the region. Arabs set foot in Mindanao in the 14th century and when the first Europeans arrived, led by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, there were Islamic sultanates as far north as Manila.

The Spanish claimed and colonized the islands in the 16th century and named it Filipinas after King Philip II. Roman Catholicism was immediately introduced and imposed, sparking deep resistance from tribal groups in the highlands and the Muslim separatism that rages on today. Sporadic rebellions and violence erupted in the coastal populations throughout the next three centuries in response to colonial abuses. The new territory was ruled from New Spain (Mexico) and a burgeoning galleon trade began in the 18th century.

The country opened up during the 19th century. The rise of an ambitious, more nationalistic Filipino middle class, consisting of educated indios, native born Spaniards and creoles, Spanish mestizos and an economically entrenched Chinese mestizo community, signaled the end of Spanish colonialism in the islands. Enlightened by the Propaganda Movement to the injustices of the Spanish colonial government, they clamored for independence. José Rizal, the most famous propagandist, was arrested and executed in 1896 for acts of subversion. Soon after, the Philippine Revolution broke out, pioneered by the Katipunan, a secret revolutionary society founded by Andres Bonifacio and later led by Emilio Aguinaldo. The revolution nearly succeeded in ousting the Spanish by 1898.

That year Spain and the United States fought the Spanish-American War, after which Spain sold the Philippine Islands to the United States. In the Battle of Manila Bay, only a few old wooden Spanish vessels were sunk. The battle was a farce, a smoke screen. In reality, the United States bought the Philippine Islands for a few million dollars from the weakening Spanish Empire. The Filipinos had by then declared independence and the subsequent assertion of American control led to the Philippine-American War that officially ended in 1901, but fighting continued well into 1913. Independence was finally granted in 1946, after the Japanese had occupied the islands during World War II. The following period was marred by post-war problems; civil unrest during the unpopular dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, ousted in 1986; and later, the continuing problem of communist insurgency and Muslim separatism.

Religion

The vast majority of the people are Christian (Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%) and most were converted and Westernised to varying degrees during the 300 years of Western rule. A large Muslim minority (5%) exists predominantly on the island of Mindanao. Buddhism and other faiths make up the remainder.

Languages A total of one hundred seventy-two native languages and several more dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Austronesian linguistic family.

Major Auxiliary/Regional Languages
Tagalog. spoken around the Manila area, Southern and Central Luzon
Cebuano. spoken in Central Visayas and Mindanao
Ilocano. spoken in Northern Luzon
Hiligaynon. spoken in Western Visayas
Bicolano, Central. spoken in Southwestern Luzon
Waray-Waray. spoken in Eastern Visayas
Pampango. spoken in Central Luzon
Pangasinense. spoken in Northern Luzon
Maguindanaon. spoken in Central Mindanao
Maranao. spoken in Central Mindanao
Tausug. spoken in the Sulu Archipelago
Foreign languages spoken include English, Chinese (Mandarin and Hokkien), Arabic (among some members of the Muslim population), and Spanish which ceased to be an official language in 1987 and is now spoken by less than 0.5% of the population.

Since 1939, in an effort to develop national unity, the government has promoted the use of the official national language, Filipino, which is based on Tagalog. Filipino is taught in all schools and is gaining acceptance, particularly as a second language for a diverse population. English is seen as the second official language and is used extensively in government, education and commerce.

Culture

Throughout Filipino history, no distinct national cultural identity was developed. The reason for this was partly due to the existence of an exorbitant number of languages spoken throughout the country, estimated today to be around 80 distinct languages, in addition to each of their many different dialects.

The isolation between neighbouring populations — whether from village to village or island to island — also greatly contributed to this lack of a unified identity.

Consequently, rather than being national in nature, the cultural development of the Philippines had been local. Despite this and despite their variety, a common aspect that most Filipino cultural traditions share today is that they have all been enriched and influenced both by Asia and the West, from China, Malaysia, Spain and the United States, to Islam and Christianity.