Philippines

Guide to PHILIPPINES

PHILIPPINES which official name is Republic of the Philippines or Philippines, is a country from Asia located at the Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. PHILIPPINES is divided in 79 provinces and 117 chartered cities . PHILIPPINES's capital is Manila which is the most populated city with about 10,443,877 inhabitants.

History of PHILIPPINES

PHILIPPINES's government is republic; a Republic with a Executive government type, with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as head of state.

Other symbols of PHILIPPINES are Philippine motto " Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa (Tagalog, God, People, Nature and Country) Philippine anthem "Lupang Hinirang (Chosen Land) Philippine flag.Philippine flag is composed by two equal horizontal bands of blue (top; representing peace and justice) and red (representing courage); a white equilateral triangle based on the hoist side represents equality; the center of the triangle displays a yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing one of the first eight provinces that sought independence from Spain; each corner of the triangle contains a small, yellow, five-pointed star representing the three major geographical divisions of the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao; the design of the flag dates to 1897; in wartime the flag is flown upside down with the red band at the top .

PHILIPPINES's history is quite long: The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected president and was tasked with preparing the country for independence after a 10-year transition. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation during WWII, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45 to regain control. On 4 July 1946 the Republic of the Philippines attained its independence. The 20-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986, when a "people power" movement in Manila ("EDSA 1") forced him into exile and installed Corazon AQUINO as president. Her presidency was hampered by several coup attempts, which prevented a return to full political stability and economic development. Fidel RAMOS was elected president in 1992 and his administration was marked by greater stability and progress on economic reforms. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases on the islands. Joseph ESTRADA was elected president in 1998, but was succeeded by his vice-president, Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, in January 2001 after ESTRADA's stormy impeachment trial on corruption charges broke down and another "people power" movement ("EDSA 2") demanded his resignation. MACAPAGAL-ARROYO was elected to a six-year term as president in May 2004. The Philippine Government faces threats from three terrorist groups on the US Government's Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but in 2006 and 2007 scored some major successes in capturing or killing key wanted terrorists. Decades of Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines have led to a peace accord with one group and an ongoing cease-fire and peace talks with another.

PHILIPPINESs geography

Guide to travel to PHILIPPINES

If you are thinking on traveling to PHILIPPINES, you will have to take in consideration some points like PHILIPPINES's currency, PHILIPPINES's weather, PHILIPPINES's national holiday and PHILIPPINES's transports.

The first thing you need to know for your travels abroad is country's currency. PHILIPPINES`s currency is called peso ( dashed P), which is divided in 100 centavos. For your consideration, peso's exchange rate is about St. John's Cathedral, Yangon per dolar.44.0140571881.

PHILIPPINES's weather is characterized to be tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April); southwest monsoon (May to October). So be sure of choosing the proper date to travel to PHILIPPINES.

You can also consider to visit PHILIPPINES on it's national holiday to get in PHILIPPINES's culture. If you do so, PHILIPPINES's national holiday is called Independence Day, 12 June.

Also, if you like natural wonders, don't forget to visit the highest point of PHILIPPINES: Mount Apo 2,954 m. And try also to get to PHILIPPINES's lowest point: Philippine Sea 0 mBut if you prefer the city, you must visit PHILIPPINES's tallest structure: ( ).

Don't be afraid to take a flight to PHILIPPINES, with more than 256 airports and 6 airlines, you will get to PHILIPPINES without problems. Once there, you can choose the transport type that better fits your needs. PHILIPPINES has about897 of railways, and also3,219 of roadways, so is a good place for a car trip.

Philippine Culture

PHILIPPINES is known by Philippines as Republika ng Pilipinas or Pilipinas in the shortened way. Philippine, about 91,077,287 people, are composed by different ethnics: Tagalog 28.1%, Cebuano 13.1%, Ilocano 9%, Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%, Hiligaynon Ilonggo 7.5%, Bikol 6%, Waray 3.4%, other 25.3% (2000 census). And they also have different languages: English, Filipino.

Another relevant point nowadays it's PHILIPPINES's religion. Philippines are divided in Roman Catholic 80.9%, Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, Aglipayan 2%, other Christian 4.5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6%, none 0.1% (2000 census). So you can visit any of it's83 like 0.

But if want to know more about PHILIPPINES's culture, the best way is by reading the most famous Philippine novelists' books like Stevan Javellana, Edilberto Tiempo or Carlos Bulosan.

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