Philippines
From Philippines Wiki
The Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas, is an island country located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city.
The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, sharing maritime borders with Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Vietnam. The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country with a population approaching 90 million people.
Contents |
General Information
Country Name: Republic of the Philippines
Form of Government: Democratic
Capital: Manila
History
The visitor to Metro Manila commonly sees the Philippines as the most westernized of Asian countries and in many ways, it is. But there is also a rich underlay of Malay culture beneath the patina of Spanish and American heritage. National cultural life is a happy marriage of many influences, as the indigenous Malay culture is assimilated and adapted to different strains in a practice typical of Malay temperament. An upsurge of Philippine nationalism stimulated a desire to preserve the ancient heritage without restricting its openness to foreign artistic influence.
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands. It stretches from the south of China to the northern tip of Borneo. The country has over a hundred ethnic groups and a mixture of foreign influences which have molded a unique Filipino culture.
Before the Spanish explorers came, Indo-Malays and Chinese merchants had settled here. In 1521, the Spaniards, led by Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the islands. The Spanish conquistadores established a colonial government in Cebu in 1565. They transferred the seat of government to Manila in 1571 and proceeded to colonize the country. The Filipinos resisted and waged Asia's first nationalist revolution in 1896. On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent from Spain and proclaimed himself president. After ruling for 333 years, the Spaniards finally left in 1898 and were replaced by the Americans who stayed for 48 years. On July 4, 1946, the Americans recognized Philippine independence.
The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country in the world. The country is divided into three geographical areas: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It has 17 regions, 81 provinces, 136 cities, 1,494 municipalities, and 41,995 barangays. (Barangay - The smallest political unit into which cities and municipalities in the Philippines are divided. It is the basic unit of the Philippine political system. It consists of less than 1,000 inhabitants residing within the territorial limit of a city or municipality and administered by a set of elective officials, headed by a barangay chairman or punong barangay). Data as of December 2007. Philippines General Information
Geography
The Philippines constitutes an archipelago of 7,107 islands with a total land area of approximately 300,000 square kilometers (116,000 sq mi). It generally lies between 116° 40' and 126° 34' E. longitude, and 4° 40' and 21° 10' N. latitude, and borders the Philippine Sea on the east, the South China Sea on the west, and the Celebes Sea on the south.
Economy
It was once expected that the Philippines would be the economic powerhouse of Asia, but instead it became one of its poorest countries. After years of corruption and neglect, there are, however, some tentative signs of improvement in the Philippine economy.
For many years, the Philippines has been one of the world’s up-and-coming emerging markets. It is included in the next top 11 economies due to recent economic growth. Many improvements are still necessary, yet the progress has surpassed other neighboring southeast asian countries in 2007, such as thailand and malaysia. It's economy is expected to slow this year to 4.6% and even slower next year due to the financial crisis around the world.
Politics and government
The Philippines has a presidential, unitary form of government (with some modification; there is one autonomous region largely free from the national government), where the President functions as both head of state and head of government, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote to a single six year term, during which time she or he appoints and presides over the cabinet.
Administrative divisions
The Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These are divided into 17 regions, 81 provinces, 136 cities, 1,494 municipalities and 41,995 barangays.
| Region | Designation | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| Ilocos Region | Region I | San Fernando City, La Union |
| Cagayan Valley | Region II | Tuguegarao City, Cagayan |
| Central Luzon | Region III | City of San Fernando, Pampanga |
| CALABARZON¹ ² | Region IV-A | Calamba City, Laguna |
| MIMAROPA¹ ² ³ | Region IV-B | Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro |
| Bicol Region | Region V | Legazpi City, Albay |
| Western Visayas | Region VI | Iloilo City, Iloilo |
| Central Visayas | Region VII | Cebu City, Cebu |
| Eastern Visayas | Region VIII | Tacloban City, Leyte |
| Zamboanga Peninsula | Region IX | Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur |
| Northern Mindanao | Region X | Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental |
| Davao Region | Region XI | Davao City, Davao del Sur |
| SOCCSKSARGEN¹ | Region XII | Koronadal City, South Cotabato |
| Caraga | Region XIII | Butuan City, Agusan del Norte |
| Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao | ARMM | Cotabato City, Maguindanao |
| Cordillera Administrative Region | CAR | Baguio City, Benguet |
| National Capital Region | NCR | Manila |
¹ Names are capitalized because they are acronyms, containing the names of the constituent provinces or cities (see Acronyms in the Philippines).
² These regions formed the former Southern Tagalog region, or Region IV.
³ Palawan was moved from Region IV-B as known as MIMAROPA to Region VI. But after a few months, Palawan was moved back to Region IV-B due to the Palaweños wish.
References
"[General information]". Government of the Philippines.
