History

The Philippines were ceded by Spain to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War (dotc.gov.ph). They attained independence in 1946 after Japanese occupation in World War II. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases on the islands.

Geography

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands coverning an area of 300,000 km, comprises three main islands - Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Of these islands, Luzon and Mindanao are the largest. They alone make up 66% of the Philippines. Some of the islands are smaller provinces or regions within these main islands. The capital of the Philippines is Manila, which is situated in the province of Luzon.

The landscape is made up of the mountainous north, the flat vistas of the central plain and lakes and volcanoes in the southern pensinsula.

People

The Philippines has a population of over 81 million people which the majority belong to the Malay group and are known as Filipinos (pbs.org). Other groups include the Negritos (negroid pygmies) and the Dumagats (similar to the Papuans of New Guinea), and there is a small Chinese.

Over 80% of the population is Roman Catholic; 5% are Aglipayans, 5% are Muslims and 4% are Protestants (pbs.org).

The official national language is Pilipino, a form of Tagalog. A great number of Filipinos speak English, the nation's second language. Over 70 native languages are spoken in the Philippines (pbs.org).

The Philippines has one of Asia's highest literacy rates, about 95 percent (pbs.org).

Economy

40 percent of all Filipinos live in poverty.

Three-fourths of the poor live in rural areas.

Forty percent of the population works in agriculture.

Average annual income per capita is $1,040.

The country's main exports include electronic and auto equipment, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, and coconut products (infoplease.com).

Government

The Republic of the Philippines has a representative democracy modeled after the U.S. government (dotc.gov.ph).