Philippines

The Philippines (/ˈfɪlɪpiːnz/ ( listen); Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs] or Filipinas [ˌfɪlɪˈpinɐs]),

officially the Republic of the Philippines(Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas)[a] is
a unitary sovereign and archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western
Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands[18] that are categorized broadly under three
main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital
city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part
of Metro Manila.[19] 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, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east
and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south.
The Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the
Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural
resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of
343,448 square kilometers (132,606 sq mi)[5] and, as of 2015, had a population of at least
100 million.[7] As of January 2018, it was the eighth-most populated country in Asia and
the 12th most populated country in the world. Approximately 10 million additional
Filipinos lived overseas,[20] comprising one of the world's largest diasporas.
Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric
times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed
by successive waves of Austronesian peoples.[21] Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian,
and Islamic nations occurred. Then, various competing maritime states were established
under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans.
The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the
beginning of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de
Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the
arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in
the archipelago was established.[22] The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for
more than 300 years. This resulted in Catholicism becoming the dominant religion. During
this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-
Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. [23]

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the Philippine Revolution followed in quick
succession, which then spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic, followed by the
bloody Philippine–American War.[24] Aside from the period of Japanese occupation,
the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, when the
Philippines was recognized as an independent nation. Since then, the Philippines has often
had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a
dictatorship by a non-violent revolution.[25]
It is a founding member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia
Summit. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.[26] The Philippines is
considered to be an emerging market and a newly industrialized country,[27] which has an
economy transitioning from being one based on agriculture to one based more on services
and manufacturing.[28] It is one of the only two predominantly Christiannations in Southeast
Asia, the other being East Timor.